hertha

Bill starts by noting he has not received a letter in 6 days. He regularly complains about mail service, but I suspect it is less about the service and more about the desire to stay in touch. In today’s army, they would all be on social media and in constant communications.

He then observes that officers overseas are more “democratic” than those state-side. He then talks about a colleague, Mike Natishyn, and then several of the other men he works with.

As it is 60 days since the voyage from San Francisco, he is now allowed to write about it. They shipped out on the USAT Tjisadane, a Dutch Ship that had been converted from a passenger ship to a troop transport ship. The original Dutch Officers continued to operate the ship. Bill notes that his last meal in the US was coffee and cake from the Red Cross. Walking aboard the ship was the moment he felt most homesick.

They left San Francisco June 28th. The journey took 24 days. Once they cleared the harbour, the seas became rougher, and men started to get sick. Bill seems to have weathered it. They crossed the equator at 9AM on July 5th. They docked in New Guinea on the 20th of July.

This letter is one of the longer ones at 7 pages. It means he had the time to write it.

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The USAT Tjisadane

The Tjisadane was a Dutch merchant ship that was taken over by the United States during World War II and used as a troopship:

1. The Tjisadane was originally built in 1931 as a passenger/cargo ship for the Dutch shipping company Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM)[6][7].
2. During World War II, the ship was taken over by the U.S. War Shipping Administration and rebuilt as a troopship[7].
3. It was operated by the U.S. Army Transportation Corps as part of the wartime merchant fleet[7].
4. On May 11, 1945, while at Okinawa, the Tjisadane was struck by a Japanese kamikaze plane that it had already hit and set on fire[1].
5. The plane struck the booms of the No. 2 hold and disintegrated, throwing wreckage and flaming gasoline over the forward deck and bridge[1].
6. Just before hitting the Tjisadane, the plane had launched a torpedo that passed astern of the ship[1].
7. Despite the damage, the Tjisadane managed to shoot down another enemy plane, bring its fires under control, and leave the area under its own power[1].
8. The attack resulted in four Army and Navy personnel killed and nine wounded aboard the Tjisadane[1].
9. The Tjisadane made a round trip to Leyte before the end of 1945 and was then released from Army service, being returned to the Netherlands[4].

Citations:
[1] World War II
[2] Iwo Jima and Okinawa: Death at Japan’s Doorstep
[3] Military history of the United States during World War II
[4] Troopships of World War II
[5] Action at Okinawa
[6] Tjisadane 1931 – 1962
[7] Dutch Motor Ship M.S. Tjisadane