GUARDIANS OF FREEDOM
Saluting Those Who Served in the U.S. Navy
William A. Silverthorn in World War II, Part 3
by Janis Stein

Join in the continuation as Bill shares his World War II memories. After the Marshall Islands, Bill learns his new orders will be sending him to Guam.

After the store had been built on the island of Ebeye, the carpenters also constructed a hospital, a meeting hall and some other necessary buildings. With many of their goals completed, it was almost time for Bill to ship out. Before he left, the natives traveled up to Namur and offered Bill the gift of a hand-carved boat. When the brass spotted the boat, they decided to confiscate it from Bill, and instead, gave it to the island commander to set on his fireplace in the private home they had built for him.

Though Bill was upset, he knew he couldn’t go up against the commander of the whole company over the issue. When the natives realized what had happened, his island friends crafted a smaller version of the canoe for Bill and slipped it to him in a gunny sack.

Several sailors in Bill’s outfit, who had been hit and injured during the bombing, had been transported to Hawaii to recover. The Seabees had taken a blow; they needed time to recoup and rebuild. After spending about one year on the Marshall Islands, from Namur, Bill traveled by ship back to Oahu, Hawaii. There, they picked up their injured sailors, now healed, and ready to return to duty. While in Hawaii, the Seabees received their new orders: They were sailing to Guam.

While Guam had already been taken, it wasn’t yet completely occupied by allied forces. Before the Seabees arrived, a good number of Japanese hid in the caves and in areas of the island where they weren’t easily found.

When the Seabees arrived, the first course of action was to set up their tent city atop a hill, where they created somewhat of a village. The harbor needed to be filled in with coral, as they were building a naval repair yard at the site. The officers in charge then allowed the Seabees to pick a job, so each sailor could see what might be a good fit for them. If they didn’t like the job they chose, six weeks later, they could choose something else.

Bill’s first choice was operating an A-frame style bulldozer. So sore was his backside from the repeated heavy vibrations, that there was no question in Bill’s mind he’d be changing jobs after six weeks! Bill worked as an oiler for the next six weeks, helping on a crane. It didn’t take long to realize this job was filled with more boredom than work.

Six weeks later, Bill decided he would try his hand at operating a piece of heavy equipment with a huge scoop shovel. Bill drove up into the mountains, scooped up coral, raced back down the hill, and dumped his load of coral into the bay. There, the dozers pushed the coral into level areas where huge Quonset huts would soon be erected as part of the new naval base.

After Bill tried these different jobs, he went back to being a carpenter. For Bill, carpentry was the most fun, and it was easier and much cleaner work. While on Guam, the best job Bill ever had was building backsets for the stage in the theatre hall and fun palace.

During this time, Bill’s first cousin, Bill Tageson, came to see Bill. It was a blessing to see family, and they enjoyed a great visit.

Sometime after Bill arrived on Guam, the news of VJ Day quickly filtered through the ranks. The Seabees celebrated the victory, but Bill, never a drinker, had learned early on that beer was a great bargaining tool. While a sailor could drink all the Coke he wanted on Guam, cans of beer were limited to two per sailor.

Bill shared a tent with five other sailors, all between the ages of 18 and 20 – youngsters in comparison to many of the Seabees. These sailors might have been young, but they were wise and knew an opportunity when they saw one. Shortly after they settled into their tent, they retrieved a shell casing, which was comprised of metal, with a top that sealed. By adding ice and cold water, they quickly transformed the shell casing into a makeshift refrigerator, and within their cold storage system, they chilled all 12 cans of their combined rations of beer. Cans of beer were good trading material when Bill and his comrades needed something for their tent. They had the best tent set up in the battalion, complete with a screen door and screens all around, with a pull-through flap if the rain came down (and it came down often). The non-drinkers would get items made for them by older Seabees thirsty for a cold beer, trading work on their tent in exchange for beer!

After the war was over, sailors began to ship out, and Bill hoped to make it back to the states soon. When asked if anyone wanted to rejoin by going to Officer’s Candidate School, Bill, like many of the Seabees, jumped at the chance, because joining meant they would be sent stateside at the first opportunity.

From Guam, Bill sailed first to Hawaii, and then the troop ship came into San Francisco, California. After Bill arrived, they asked again who really wanted to attend Officer’s Candidate School, because they decided they didn’t need as many to attend as they first thought. Bill readily changed his mind; he had done his duty and would happily go home. First, though, the older sailors were released so they would have a better chance of obtaining a job to support their families.

Younger sailors, like Bill, were held back, and Bill was shipped to the Great Lakes Training Station in Chicago, Illinois, to complete his time. At the Great Lakes Training Station, Bill worked in the warehouse. On the weekends, he had another goal.

Bill began traveling regularly to Port Huron to see his girl, Bette Mae. The first time, he hitchhiked the distance without incident. The second time when he attempted to hitchhike, the vehicle was filled with drunks; the experience scared him enough to seek alternate transportation. He tried the bus, and then discovered the Feather Merchant, a train that traveled direct from Chicago to Port Huron. His efforts to spend time with Bette Mae were a good investment. Within a few months at the Training Station, Bill was released, and by August 1946, the two became one.

Though Bill served his country well, he never received the recognition he truly deserved. After the bombing of the island of Namur, Bill had received a letter from the military stating he was entitled to a purple heart. Shortly after, Bill received a second letter, stating that, since he wasn’t wearing his shoes at the time of the bombing, he wasn’t officially considered “in action,” and he would not be receiving a purple heart after all.

Perhaps those distributing the medals hadn’t experienced 100-degree temperatures and nighttime bombing raids. Perhaps these officials hadn’t spent day after day after day picking up the dead – enemy and allied alike. Perhaps they just didn’t know. We owe a great debt to our veterans; God bless them, one and all. Years later, Bill would have liked to have had that purple heart, not so much for himself, but to show his grandsons, who were serving in the military at the time.

The Lakeshore Guardian salutes William Silverthorn for the three years he spent serving in the United States Navy during World War II.

My heartfelt thanks go to Bill Silverthorn for sharing his World War II Navy Seabees memories with me, as well as providing a plethora of photographs. The personal memories shared by Bill for this article are as accurate as his memory allows. I would also like to thank his son, William D. Silverthorn, for inspiring the interview and for making the photographs so easily accessible to me, and his daughter, Cindy Hill, for providing the transportation for Bill to meet with me.

©2011 Stein Expressions, LLC