A YOUNG MAN GOES TO WAR

Personal recollections by Lewis Davidson (ex BM3C)

Former Crew Member of the USS Idaho

On December 7, 1941, Japan set upon the United States in a very vicious manner and without the normal declaration of war. All our forward Pacific bases came under attack. Pearl Harbor was given priority because our navy was there in force. Extreme damage was done to the ships there but the ships that were most sought, the carriers, were at sea and not damaged.

At the time my older brother was already in the navy. He was on the cruiser the U.S.S. Portland, which was on its way in to Pearl Harbor with the carrier force. The Portland continued on in to Pearl Harbor and assisted in the gathering of bodies of those killed and in the water. The Portland was sent to join the carriers and assist in the search for the Japanese force. They did not locate them and it was good because they were out numbered and out-gunned and would surely have lost in the encounter. All these ships would be desperately needed later.

Meanwhile back at home I was a young man of 18 years of age working for Western Union as a uniformed messenger. I was of course worried about my brother and the news of one base after another in the South Pacific falling to the to the Japanese and our men being captured and brutally treated. By early May I could stand it no longer and went to the Federal building and signed up to go in the navy. I never did sign for the draft because I had volunteered for the navy before I was asked to register. I was told to report the following morning and would be sent to Houston for physical. I had no difficulty in meeting the health requirements. I was then told that it would be nine days before swearing in and shipped out to boot camp. I would be able to stay in Houston in a hotel for those days or return to my home in Austin, Texas and later return to Houston to be shipped out. I chose to go home because the hotels were bad and I knew nothing about Houston.

Nine days later I was again back in Houston where I found I would be sworn in with a thousand other men as "Houston Volunteers". We were to replace the men lost on the cruiser Houston that sank in the South Pacific with a heavy loss of life. On the morning of May 30, 1942, we formed up in rows of 16 in front of City Hall and prepared to march to Main Street where we would be sworn in by mass ceremony. We marched from City Hall with four bands; Corpus Christi Air Station Band, The Fireman's Band, Reagan High School Band and the Houston Shipbuilding Band. Forty-eight bombers from Ellington Field flew over in salute.

A 60-foot model of the cruiser Houston was set up as stage in front of the old Rice Hotel. It was used as a stage for the swearing in ceremony. At 6:30 p.m. with the Corpus Christi Band playing "Anchors Away" 115 radio stations in the United States and Canada and all over the world via short wave broadcast the program. Ted Nabors was the Master Of Ceremonies. Comdr. J.H. Brooks, Chaplain of the Corpus Christi Naval Base gave a tribute to the men lost on the cruiser Houston and the Corpus Christi Band played "The Eyes of Texas". Rear Admiral Glassford Jr. delivered a message from the President of the United States. Glassford was in command of the American Naval Forces in the South West Pacific when the Houston sank. At 7:00 p.m. the oath was given followed by the playing of the National Anthem by the Corpus Christi Band. Then the men formed up in rows of 16 and marched to the Union Station to board a train to be transported to the San Diego Naval Training Station. This was the largest coverage of any event in the south and watched by 250 thousand people. It was quite a sendoff!

The route of the train was supposed to be secret to avoid sabotage, but every time we stopped at a station crowds would appear to cheer us on. After three days of travel through a very scenic route we entered San Diego Train Station. We were transferred to buses and taken to the Naval Training Center. We were no longer civilians. We removed our civvies and while were naked we were checked and given shots. We then were issued navy clothing and given the "famous navy haircut". We were then assigned to a company. My company was 42-281. For the next five weeks we were taught navy discipline, how to march, to take care of our clothing and sent to various areas to check what we were adept at.

After five weeks were assigned to schools or to sea duty. My assignment was sea duty. We went to a temporary receiving station that had been set up in Balboa Park in San Diego. After one day I was sent to Treasure Island in San Francisco. The following day two of us were to taken to the dock where the U.S.S. Idaho was tied up. We were no sooner off the gangway than they pulled it up, cast off the mooring lines and got under way. I was very confused for the next few days because I knew very little about the ship. We passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and stood out for Hawaii. My life in war was now set for the next four years. I had become a sailor in the United States Navy. A young man had gone to war.