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Forum: Willie's Stories

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TRAVEL BY RAIL 1944

Created on: 01/24/16 02:37 PM Views: 1521 Replies: 2
TRAVEL BY RAIL 1944
Posted Sunday, January 24, 2016 02:37 PM

 When Yorktown pulled into Bremerton Washington in Sep 1944 I was looking forward to my first leave in twenty months. I was happy to see the USS Dale as one of the three destroyers that escorted us in from the fleet because one of my back home buddies, Lutchie Wieland was serving on her. I was even happier to learn his leave would start the same day as mine and we would be going home together.

My mother had recently been transferred to Washington D.C. which meant I would have to go there as well as New Orleans where I had enlisted. The way things worked out I would have to go to New Orleans first. Lutchie and I boarded the train to New Orleans together. The train ride would be an ordeal. The coach we were in was an old one which meant we would have to sit up. I tried crawling up into the luggage rack to stretch out but I couldn't fit. It was a tough ride.

Most of the men in our car were Yorktown sailors or other servicemen; they were boisterous and raising hell and in the process one of the windows was broken. The conductor came around and said that if we didn't straighten up he was going to take our car off the train and leave it on a siding somewhere. Of course our reply was; “this train ain’t going anywhere without us“. There were MPs on the train checking leave papers which had to be shown every time they changed shifts. One of them told me that all he did was ride the trains looking for AWOLs etc. He said both he and his partner were cops in civilian life. He said he was cutting us a lot of slack because we were coming out the war zone. This fact was indicated on our leave papers.

After being told the train would be delayed in Minneapolis a half hour, Lutchie and I got off the train leaving our dress blues, leave papers and other personal item under the seat in the car. In our undress blues we went to a little tavern nearby and upon return were told by an MP the train would be there at least another half hour. We went back the tavern and unfortunately the MP was wrong and the train was pulling when we returned. Someone told us that if we got a cab we might be able to catch it in St. Paul. Though we went screeching through the streets and over the bridge we were too late, the train was gone.

So there we were in St. Paul in our undress blues and no leave papers. Fortunately we had our wallets. A kind lady ticket agent advised us there was a fast train, a streamliner called the Hiawatha, leaving at 7AM the next morning and would get in Chicago just a couple of hours behind the train we had missed. She would take care of the tickets etc., and it wouldn't cost us any more money. We went out into St. Paul where there was a lot of activity even though it was late at night by this time. We met some kind hearted souls who put us up for the night and brought us to the train station the next morning.

The Hiawatha was luxurious compared to the train we missed. We had reclining seats and no loud mouthed GIs aboard. Because I was able to remember the car number (1102) of the train we missed the Chicago station master gave us a ride out to the yards where we spotted it and found our bags right where we left them. We had a long layover, before boarding another train for New Orleans due to arrive there in about 23 hours. Once on that train Lutchie and I decided to try and get separate seats hoping to have more room to stretch out and get some sleep, of which we had had very little. We were able to do this and did get a good bit of rest before arriving in New Orleans the next day.

One of first things I remember on being home in New Orleans for the first time in almost two years was the muggy air and the smell of honeysuckle. That aroma made me realize where I was. Lutchie and I had agreed to meet that evening at the old gang hangout on Danneel Street where we had congregated most of the time. Just about all the old friends were there except Freddie Cunningham who was on his way to the Aleutians, and Paul Rowan, who had joined the Navy with Lutchie and had been on the destroyer USS Abner Reed when he was KIA. I stayed in New Orleans for three or four days and I remember Franny now all of 16 gave me a pint of whiskey to take on the trip to Washington.

The Southerner was a reserved seat train very similar to the Hiawatha. My seat mate was a naval officer, a full lieutenant of about 30 who was downright friendly. I think for awhile we both forgot about the gulf that existed between enlisted men and officers. We went together to the club car where we met two young ladies and partied with them for just about the whole trip 24 hour trip to DC. Fortunately I had the pint to keep the party going when the train passed through “dry” areas and couldn’t serve alcoholic drinks.

I spent three or four days in Washington. When I departed D.C. for Seattle I had a quart of whiskey given to me by family and friends. After the train ride to Chicago, and a long layover I finally boarded a train to Seattle. I met a sailor from Yorktown named Schmuck whom I had not known before, and would be riding out with me. He and I had the second to last seat in a car in front of two girls who were sisters also going to Seattle. We were able to fold down the back of our seat creating a bunk so that one or two of the four of us could stretch out on it. During the two or three day ride we consumed that quart of whiskey and later one of two quarts the girls were bringing back to their father.

On my twenty day leave, which was the only one I ever got in over three years of service, I spent eleven of them on trains. However we did manage to party somewhat on the trains. I didn't see Lutchie again in Seattle but did see him later at sea in the Pacific when Dale delivered fleet mail to us. All we could do was wave at one another but it was almost like a brief visit home.

 
Edited 04/04/16 09:36 AM
RE: TRAVEL BY RAIL 1944
Posted Thursday, March 3, 2016 12:39 AM

Thank you Willie, where else can anyone read such detailed experiences of a young sailor having to spend over half of his leave traveling. We're happy you were able to make the best of it.

 
TRAVEL BY RAIL 1944
Posted Thursday, March 3, 2016 01:13 AM

When you consider where he had been before his leave started and knowing he would soon be heading back into combat, even a train ride was a pleasure.

 
Edited 03/03/16 01:14 AM