Harry Miller
Born: August 3, 1923, North Hollywood, California.
As written to me by Dodie Miller, April 11, 2000.
A couple of weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Harry Miller and some of his former classmates from Manuel Arts High School went down to enlist. After the physical, Harry was told that he had a hernia and was classified as 4F, so he returned to his job at North American Aircraft.
In January, 1944 he received a draft notice, and was informed that he did NOT have a hernia and was drafted into the Navy. On March 3, 1944, Harry was sent to boot camp at the U.S. Training Center at Point Loma, San Diego. He was in the Navy now.
After boot, he was sent to QuarterMaster school — also at Point Loma. After QM School, he was given two weeks leave to go home to Los Angeles. It was during this leave that he met Helyn Murphy, his first wife and mother of his four children. Helyn’s brother Bill was in boot camp with Harry and they bunked near each other. Bill was 17 years old and Harry was 20 at the time. Harry had is 1932 Ford Coupe with him, and Bill’s father owned a gas station, so Harry would bring Bill with him to L.A. and Bill provided the gas stamps, since gas was rationed during the war.
Upon returning to base after his leave, he had another physical, and was told that yes, he DID have a hernia and was sent to the hospital in San Diego for surgery. He was there for a month and a half. After recovery from surgery he was sent next to a receiving station at Mira Loma Air Base. He was there several weeks.
His orders now were to board a minesweeper named the USS DEFENSE at Pearl Harbor. He was put aboard a Coast Guard LST that had never been in the Pacific Ocean — it had just arrived from the east cost of the USA. It took 11 days to reach Pearl because they couldn’t find Hawaii. Harry remembers that the food was terrible and they all got trench mouth, so upon arrival at Pearl they all went to sick bay. Harry says it felt like they sprayed liquid fire in their mouths, but it took care of the trench mouth. He also remembers that they were ordered to wear their dress blues when they went ashore at Pearl. Everybody was laughing at them because nobody wore blues at Pearl.
The DEFENSE was in San Francisco at this time, and they were supposed to be heading for Pearl. When Harry arrived at the receiving station, he was told that the DEFENSE had turned back. He remembers that the duty was good while he was waiting for the ship to arrive. He had played drums during high school, so when he heard they had a band at the receiving station, he joined up and passed the time playing drums. They played the big band music of the time.
Harry went aboard the DEFENSE as QuarterMaster when it arrived at Pearl. This was probably the fall of 1944. There were four QuarterMasters on the DEFENSE: Gerald VanDeWater (assistant to the navigator); Merrit M. Lowry; Thomas J. Twitchell; and Harry Miller.
As soon as they left port, Harry’s duty was to stand watch on the bridge 4 hours on and 8 hours off. VanDeWater didn’t stand watch, so only the other three did the duty. The first few weeks aboard the DEFENSE were devoted to maneuvers — sweeping all day in an area off of Maui and anchoring at night at Lahaina Roads (an old whaling village) to train the crew for their dangerous task.
Harry thinks they went to Eniwetok when they left Hawaii, then on to Saipan. Their orders then were to sweep for mines in preparation for the February 19 invasion of Iwo Jima. Many of the larger sweepers were equipped with the type of gear that allowed them to serve as convoy screens — radar, sonar, hedgehog depth charge launchers. The DEFENSE was equipped for the same kind of duty as a destroyer. They swept the Iwo Jima area and then began escorting convoys between Iwo and Saipan.
After sweeping on the day of the invasion, the DEFENSE dropped anchor, their work completed, and became spectators as the Marines hit the beach. They were then sent back to Saipan to pick up mail and return to Iwo. It was at this time that the family’s holiday appplesauce cake caught up with Harry. His mother had sent it to him for Christmas. This cake is something like a fruit cake but wrapped in cheese cloth soaked in rum. Harry remembers it was well aged and one of the best cakes he has ever eaten.
Along with the mail they also picked up some Marines who had missed their ship and brought them back to Iwo. One of the Marines had a back that he would not turn loose of. Later, after they had settled in, he finally showed them what he had in the bag. In previous battles, every time he had killed an enemy, he would cut off one of the ears — and had all of them in this bag. Apparently the Captain didn’t get wind of it, so the bag left the DEFENSE with the soldier at Iwo.
The DEFENSE now headed for Ulithi, a large atoll. The lagoon was huge and all of the ships gathered here for the invasion of Okinawa. There were probably 600 ships. A week before the invasion, the minesweepers and their destroyer escorts arrived at Okinawa and began sweeping the island. They would sweep all day and at sundown head west to Keama-Rhetto islands and into the South China sea. They could not anchor because there were too many Japanese on the islands and they would swim out and try to board the ships at night and kill crewmen or come alongside and attempt to disable the ships with explosives, so they would sail west until about midnight and then reverse course and head back to Okinawa to resume sweeping. They swept until the April 1 invasion.
After the invasion the DEFENSE was assigned picket duty. Picket duty was "area defense" — an outer defensive line to keep Japanese submarines and planes from getting close to the invasion fleet. (Remember that the DEFENSE was equipped with radar and sonar like a destroyer for this kind of duty). It was during this picket duty that the DEFENSE was hit in a kamikaze attack on April 6. The attack lasted about 30 minutes but probably seemed like 30 hours.
During the attack, Harry was standing watch on the bridge. He remembers two events that were taking place at about the same time. This is how he remembers what happened: The 3"50cal. shot down one one plane and another came over the after end of the boat deck and went into the sea. The kamikaze that was splashed was a direct hit and was blown apart. It was headed right for the bridge when it exploded. Harry saw the shell casing from the shell that destroyed the plane roll under the ready box when it came out of the gun. Later he recovered the casing and put it in his locker. Several days later he went into the machine shop and cut the end off, and 55 years later it’s mounted on his den wall. Who knows what the fate of the DEFENSE would have been if they hadn’t shot that plane down.
Later a parachute was spotted on the mast and a signalman went up and brought it down, and they cut it up and divided it among the crew.
Several days later there was a terrible stench aboard the ship. Harry was on watch on the bridge when the Captain gave the order — "We all know what it is, let’s find it." A signalman found a piece of the pilot in a flag bag.
The other kamikaze came over the after end of the boat deck and went into the sea. This pilot is the one that the gunner was shooting at in the water — the gunner was on a 50 caliber machine gun and the Captain was hollering to cease fire because he wanted to take him prisoner, but it was too late. There was nothing left to recover.
During the attack Harry was on the wheel for some of the time. The Captain was shouting orders and they were zig-zagging trying to avoid being hit. The constant switching directions must have made it very difficult for the gunners to hit their targets.
The DEFENSE had 4 diesel engines, two on each shaft. After the attack they only had one engine they could use, and they could only go about 6 knots. Although crippled, they took a destroyer in tow and kept it afloat all night heading west. The following morning another ship pumped it out and shored up the hull.
Then the DEFENSE headed for Siapan, crippled and in need of help, but they couldn’t help them there and sent them on to Pearl. When they arrived at Pearl, they found all of the drydocks full. They received orders to stay at Pearl until space was available for repairs.
The navigator on board was Pete Peterson, and he was the senior man on the DEFENSE. Peterson had joined the Navy in World War I, and was about to retire when World War II started, but stayed in because his country needed him. The Captain relied heavily upon his many years of experience. Peterson’s title was Chief Warrant Officer — he had turned down a commission as a Lieutenant earlier in the war.
Peterson had been a QuarterMaster on the first ship that Ensign Chester Nimitz was assigned to after his graduation from Annapolis during World War I. Peterson and Nimitz became good friends. (of course, Chester Nimitz was now and Admiral, and chief of the Pacific naval forces) Chester’s headquarters were in a house on the water at Pearl — he could see Ford Island, Battleship Row and the submarine gates from his veranda. Whenever the DEFENSE was in Pearl, Peterson would leave the ship and go visit his old buddy Chester.
With no drydock available, they tied up at Pearl, and Peterson came to the bridge and requested permission to leave the ship and go visit Chester. Permission was granted, and when he returned to the ship he informed the Captain that they were cleared to sail to Seattle. The crew were overjoyed — they were headed home!
And so began the long journey home — a crippled minesweeper with only one engine, barely managing six knots and 2,000 miles ahead of them. But they were happy. The DEFENSE arrived at Seattle in late May of 1945.
This is the end of Harry Miller’s time aboard the USS DEFENSE — but the Navy wasn’t through with Harry.
On May 30, Harry was transferred to the receiving station at Bremerton, Washington, then he had a two week leave in Los Angeles. He was to report to Long Beach Navy Station after his leave. After that he was sent to Treasure Island in San Francisco, where he met the big band leader Artie Shaw through a buddy of his who was a friend of movie actor Guy Madison.
Soon there came a draft for radio men, signal men, and QuarterMasters — because they could read code. One hundred of them were reassigned to set up a communication beach head — near Tokyo, Japan. They were supposed to hit the beach with the first wave. He boarded the communication ship USS TYRON and headed for Pearl and then on to Guam. On the way to Guam they heard that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and three days later another on Nagasaki.
The TYRON arrived at Guam on the morning of August 15, and they thought an invasion was going on because everybody was going crazy and shooting guns — they were celebrating the end of the war.
President Truman had expected to land a million men in Japan, and it was estimated that 250,000 would have been killed and 500,000 wounded. If he had not given the order to drop the bomb, Harry Miller probably would not have lived, since he was to go ashore with the first wave to set up communications.
From Guam they were sent to Saipan on an LCI — just overnight, about 200 miles. With the end of the war there were thousands of guys the Navy no longer needed. They ended up on a barge called the SEA HAG that was tied up in Saipan. They were there for about a month. The barge was used to house men until they were reassigned, since many did not have enough points to be discharged. There was a mess hall, bunks, head and showers. The showers were very popular because the heat was an unbearable 125 degrees. Harry remembers that he had a headache the entire time he was there. Sick bay would issue two aspirin a day — not much help.
Harry remembers a hospital on Saipan, and the officers aboard USS LUZON (ARG2 — a repair ship) would invite the nurses aboard for parties. The nurses had to walk across the SEA HAG to the pier to get to the LUZON, and they sailors stuck on the SEA HAD didn’t appreciate it very much, so one time they all stripped when the nurses arrived. That ended the nurses trips across the SEA HAG.
When Harry’s orders finally came through, he transferred aboard the LUZON and they shipped out for occupation duty in Japan. Their first stop was Wakayama, then on to Negoya, where they stayed until close to Christmas of 1945. After the LUZON made port, her crew were reassigned to a large warehouse where they stored many of the weapons that the Japanese people were ordered to surrender. Harry’s quarters were still aboard ship during this duty.
When MacAurthur and the occupation forces arrived, the LUZON received orders to go home, and all the men who were going to stay with the occupation forces were transferred to the USS BEAVER and USS BIG HORN. Harry’s buddy Webster moved to the BEAVER at this time.
On December 22, 1945, the LUZON, streaming the "going home" pennant, left for Pearl Harbor. They expected to reach Pearl in about 14 days.
Christmas of 1945 was celebrated aboard the LUZON, and by Dec. 27 they still had 2,500 miles to reach pearl. On December 28, Harry was changed in classification to a Motor Machinist’s Mate — he was glad to be off the deck since the weather had turned foul.
On New Year’s Day they listened to the Rose Bowl, and Alabama gave USC a beating, which cost Harry $15 and a lot of ribbing. On Monday, January 7, 1946, the LUZON arrived at Pearl and tied up at about 0830. Two days later they left again, this time headed for the Panama Canal.
By Wednesday, January 30, the LUZON was easing her way through the Panama Canal and later dropped anchor in Gatun Lake to allow the fresh water to kill and remove the barnacles from her hull. On February 5 they passed the west end of Cuba, and by February 8 they were anchored in a fog just outside of Port Arthur, Texas.
On February 11 Harry was reassigned as a jeep driver, and on May 4 he received his honorable discharge.