GUARDIANS OF FREEDOM
Saluting Those Who Served in the U.S. Navy
Louis Reid in WWII, Part 1
by Janis Stein

The following is written in honor and in memory of Louis John Reid, Sr., who joined our heavenly Father on October 11, 2006. As I sat at Louis's kitchen table and listened to memories of his Navy days during World War II, I realized what a privilege it was to make his acquaintance. What a neat guy. After I wrote a rough draft, I went back to visit Louis and, with a wink and a smile, he told me I had it just right. I am so very proud Louis allowed me the opportunity to write his "memoirs".

Let's begin with a brief overview of the history of the United States Navy, and then we'll take a look at the experiences of a young man from White Rock as he readies himself for war.

The United States Navy originated as the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War; the Navy's official birthday is October 13, 1775. The Continental Navy operated some 50 ships over the course of the war, serving in anti-shipping and raiding roles as they were not equipped for battle against the opposing British. After the Revolutionary War, Congress sold the surviving ships within a two-year time period due to high operating costs.

The United States would be without a navy until the 1790s when the French Revolutionary Wars broke out in Europe. Because the United States remained neutral, the states were allowed to continue to trade with both Great Britain and France. Unprotected American ships, however, came under attack and Congress ordered six frigates to be built on March 27, 1794. In 1797, the first three of the six to be constructed began their service.

The War of 1812 also required action on behalf of the U.S. Navy, and after the war, the Navy focused its attention on protecting American shipping assets. Naval power played a significant role, too, during the Civil War.

Modernization of the Navy began in the late 1880s, and in 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt demonstrated the strength of the United States Navy and the capabilities it could extend to the rest of the globe when he ordered several of the Navy's fleets to circumnavigate the world.

While the Navy saw little action during World War I, the Navy grew into a mighty force in the years leading up to World War II. Faced with a war on two fronts, the Navy became instrumental in the Pacific Theater and also participated in many famous battles including the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Okinawa.

The U.S. Navy remains the world's largest. The mission of the Navy is "to maintain, train and equip combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas." Louis Reid, a young man from rural Michigan, helped achieve that mission during World War II.
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Born in 1926 young Louis Reid was one of five children raised on his parents' small farm in White Rock. He, like many other young men across the country, wondered what the future might hold when the United States declared war on Japan after Pearl Harbor had been bombed on December 7, 1941. The first American forces arrived in Great Britain on January 26, 1942, and when the Great Lakes waters thawed in the spring, Michigan's shipping industry boomed. With scores of sailors going off to war, jobs needed to be filled on the lakes. At the young age of 16, Louis Reid left the farm for a short time to try his hand at sailing.

The only place a 16-year-old could work aboard the freighters was the galley, but Louis didn't mind - he knew he had to start somewhere, and so his sailing adventure began, working in the galley aboard the Daniel J. Morrell. Because jobs were plentiful, sailors came and went, and after working a few weeks, Louis left the ship. A hunter at heart, Louis left the lakes in search of game in the woods. It was hunting season, and the rabbits and pheasants, plentiful. Wild game would help feed his parents and siblings during the long winter months ahead.

In the spring of 1943, Louis went back to the lakes. At 17 years of age, he could now work as a coal passer and eventually a fire man, securing his place aboard the Wyandotte. When Louis was off duty his attention turned to world news.

The waters of the Great Lakes were calm compared to the waters of the Atlantic: From March 16-20, the Battle of the Atlantic climaxed with 27 merchant ships sinking after attacks by German U-boats. The Navy needed additional antisubmarine ships, but destroyers took too long to build. More than 300 PC boats went to war with nearly 50,000 men serving aboard them. Rugged ships, the PCs would eventually help defeat the U-boats and later cross the Atlantic and Pacific, serving as control ships leading landing craft in invasions.

As the Wyandotte hauled ore to the steel plants dotting ports along the Great Lakes, the Allies bombed Rome and the British executed a bombing raid on Hamburg. Talk of the war and the soldiers who were fighting filled every conversation.

World War II raged on, and Louis decided to leave his job on the Great Lakes and head for bigger waters. He would do his patriotic duty and enlist in the United States Navy. No doubt the Reid parents, Whitlow (Buck) and Margaret, were proud - they now had three sons serving their country; one had joined the Coast Guard and now two were serving in the Navy.

Louis traveled to Port Huron in November of 1943 and, at just 17 years of age Louis joined the United States Navy. Whisked away by train to Chicago, Louis found himself at the Great Lakes Naval Station where he along with other seamen would train their minds and their bodies for eight weeks, preparing for the horrors of war.

Louis awoke before the crack of dawn anxious and ready to begin this new chapter in his life. The first day's physical training was challenging for many young men who were a bit soft and had not yet developed their strength. Louis persevered, focusing not on the rigors he was putting his body through but rather the thought of his first Navy breakfast just around the corner.

When Louis got in line at the mess hall, he quickly realized he wasn't going to get the Navy welcome he had expected. What he did get was a dish of beans. The beans - minus the pork - weren't bad, but they weren't ham and eggs, either! Louis knew things had been tough on the farm back in White Rock, but never once did he have to eat beans for breakfast!

A total of 250 men belonged to Company 1733RGM, and Louis and his fellow Navy men spent their days exercising and going to school where they learned how to identify enemy planes - Japanese and German aircraft. While intense weaponry training wasn't a high priority for this naval company, Louis and his comrades did go out to the rifle range from time to time and learned the basics.

Louis grew accustomed to this Navy life, and made some new friends along the way. All of the Navy men were called by their last name, and so it was Louis Reid ended up sharing his living quarters in the barracks with Byron Range, who hailed from Luzerne, Michigan. Since the men weren't allowed to leave the base, Reid and Range hung out together whenever they had a little time off on the weekend, becoming fast friends in the process.

After eight weeks of intense training, Louis was granted an eight-day leave. With his mother's ham and eggs on his mind, Louis traveled home: White Rock never looked so good!

While the Reid's reunited, across the globe Soviet troops advanced into Poland.

Louis, amazed at how quickly eight days could pass, packed his bag once more, traveling back to the Great Lakes Naval Station before moving on to a receiving station in New York. There, the Navy men in Louis's company waited three weeks for ships to return from Cuba.

As the ships arrived, another convoy was organized to make the trip once more, one of many in a series of convoys and antisubmarine patrols from New York City to Guantanamo Bay. Louis briefly thought of his loved ones back in White Rock as he boarded the Navy patrol craft he would call home for the next seven months: PC568.

Be sure to look for the continuation next month when Louis Reid crosses the Atlantic en route to the United Kingdom.

© 2006 Stein Expressions, LLC