A Young Sailor at War

The World War II Letters of William R. Catton Jr.

Theodore Catton

• Publisher: The Kent State University Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781631013973
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

While a number of published collections of World War II letters are available to readers, few rise to the level of war literature. A Young Sailor at War: The World War II Letters of William R. Catton Jr. is remarkable for the narrative skill of its letter writer, for his exuberance and candor, and for his youthful but thoughtful commentary. Edited by his son Theodore, Catton's letters give us a truly intimate look into an essential piece of history.

William R. Catton Jr. volunteered for navy service on his 17th birthday in January 1943 and served as a plane handler onboard the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga from August 1944 through the end of WWII. He learned how to rebuild an aircraft engine and fire a 50-caliber machine gun before he was 18 and made two voyages across the Pacific and saw a year of combat before he was 20. He was wounded in a devastating kamikaze attack in January 1945, and he was on deck to watch the sunrise on Mount Fuji when Ticonderoga entered Tokyo Bay after the Japanese surrender seven months later.

Bill was a prolific correspondent who displayed a wide-eyed sense of adventure and a self-conscious pride in being a witness to history. He reported events and personal interactions in clear, often colorful prose. Upon returning home, his sea stories mostly went untold, his Purple Heart medal and stripes went into a box of mementos never to be shown, while his letters from the war—carefully saved by his mother—went unread until his son began to examine them after his father's death. Bill Catton, who went on to become a sociologist well known for his work on the environment and human ecology, has indeed left us a unique commentary.

CHAPTER 1

Naval Training Station,
Great Lakes, Illinois

Dear Pop,

28 February 1943

Things are starting to move around here now. On Friday, we were given another physical exam. My feet are O.K. apparently. We were then issued our uniforms and transferred from receiving station to permanent barracks.

The chief in charge of our company is a southerner with a very interesting accent. We got our bunks made up and stowed and our stuff in our sea-bags and he gave us a lecture on saluting, keeping the barracks clean, how to stand watch, etc.

Saturday morning, we had to be ready for inspection by some officer. Our bunks had to be just so. Sea-bags had to be properly strung and hung from the jack stays. The decks and windows were spotless, all waste baskets empty, papers picked up from the grounds around the building.

About 11 o’clock the officers came around and we came to attention. They looked the place over and told the Chief it was very good for a new bunch. It looked good to me for anybody.

Yesterday afternoon we got our haircuts. On some of the guys it was a marked change. On me they just trimmed up the back and sides and left the top as is. When we came in all the fellows already here yelled at us, “Barber Bait,” and “You’ll be sorry!” Now we can be the ones to yell when new guys show up. Some fun.

This morning we all went to church. (Required.) The whole place goes in three shifts. We went in the middle shift, 9:30. It was very interesting. There must have been a couple thousand in the congregation. The choir is made up of seamen and is one of the ones which sing on the radio. They’re pretty good too. The chaplain wasn’t bad at all. He had a very good voice for the bad speaker system.

As I understand it, we have the rest of the day off. I think I’ll get some sleep this afternoon as I was up most of the night before last on watch. It wasn’t much fun as there were no fires and nobody tried to break in or out. All I did was stand around and stay awake. I had to salute the chief when he came in once and say, “Front door guard, Co. 262, reporting, sir.” That was all. At 3:30 I woke up the guy who followed me and he relieved me as soon as he was dressed. I turned in again at 4:00 and was up at 5:00! Ho-hum!

We start getting our shots tomorrow. We get I think six or seven shots and a vaccination. That takes two or three weeks. During that time, we are in quarantine and can’t have visitors. They say the sore arms aren’t bad except for pulling off jumpers. If the shots are no worse than the needle they took blood out with, then they’ll be a cinch. Several guys fainted when they took blood samples, though. I would say it was a matter of psychology.¹

Have my clothes arrived yet? Please have the “M” sweater cleaned and have Mom put it away in moth balls. I think I may be able to wear it still after the war.

The food here is reasonably good tasting and comes in very pleasant quantities. I tried coffee the first day and have not taken any since. It was sickening. Ruth would enjoy our meals. We have beans every day, even sometimes for breakfast.²…

Please send me that little column on the front page of the [Detroit] Free Press which summarizes the news. Send three or four days at a time. We have a radio here but it’s turned on jazz music most of the time. Bill

Dear Mom,

3 March 1943

I just got the section of the New York Times Dad sent. I haven’t yet had much time to read it. What’s going on in the world, anyway? Our radio here is busted, and I haven’t heard any news since Sunday.

I got a letter from Grandma Catton with an enclosed newspaper clipping. I’m sending the whole thing on. The clipping expresses somewhat the same thoughts I had last week.³

As I was being sworn in, all the things which had led me to that ran through my mind. I was filled with determination and felt “Let’s get going.”

We did some drilling today out on the field. It was pretty cold, but I didn’t mind as we kept moving. I’ll be glad when we get good and snappy at marching. Then it ought to be really a lot of fun.

They announced today that we would graduate about May 12th. At that time we get 9 days leave. In the meantime we get no weekend liberties. It used to be 5 days at the end with a couple weekends. But I’d say it was a fair exchange.

We got all cleaned up in our barracks today, decks, bunks, racks, bulkheads, windows, everything spotless and then the officers didn’t come to our dorm. Both our chief and the one upstairs said it would have won high praises. Fooey.

Tell Ruth we had beans for breakfast today. Also, she better get in practice if her pies are going to satisfy me when I come home. They have excellant pastries here. Write soon—Bill

Dear Mom,

4 March 1943

The candy and gum came this morning. Also, your letter with the enclosed letter from Uncle Tubby.⁴ I am enclosing a postcard which I got from him this morning.⁵ Thanks for the candy. We can get it (sometimes) here at the canteen but the variety is small.

As to the rouge on my undershirt: I hadn’t thought how suspicious that might look. But to begin with it isn’t rouge, it’s mercurochrome. At Detroit, they painted numbers on our chests when we got examined. When we put our clothes back on it rubbed off onto them. I’ll bet you were surprised when you saw it!

I stood watch again this morning—from 8 to 12 A.M. Several officers came through and I had to salute them but otherwise it was uneventful.

It’s fairly cold here, with a reasonable wind. The barracks are warm but your face gets cold when drilling.

We are to drill some more this afternoon and then I think we get swimming tests. Luckily, we haven’t had any shots yet or swimming would be work.

Mail seems to take about a day and a half to get here from St. Johns. How long does it take to get there?

We are in “detention” till Mar. 19. After that we can see visitors on Saturdays and Sundays 1 to 6 P.M. They are required to write for visitors passes ten days in advance. I don’t suppose this means anything to you but we are supposed to write it to our folks.

I must write Uncle Tubby now so—

Oh river.⁶ Bill

Dear Mom,

5 March 1943

We got our first shots today. We got one typhoid and one tetanus shot in the left arm and a vaccination in the right arm. So far, my arm is not sore. It’s a little stiff when I raise it. They told us to keep moving them, so I’m taking time out between lines. One of the shots I actually didn’t feel—even the pinprick. The guy said, “Move on.” and I said, “What for?”

We had our swimming tests yesterday. The pool was 50 yards long and we were supposed to swim the length of it. We all swam bare tail. I made it easily. It was the most effortless swim I’ve ever had. The water temp was 74°.

We are allowed to swim from 1:00 to 5:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. I think I’ll go over there tomorrow.

Some of us went to a movie they had here last night. It was “Lucky Jordan” with Alan Ladd. Pretty good. There was also a Popeye cartoon, a sports-reel, and a newsreel. It was shown in the drill-hall and the first ones to get in formation were the ones who got to go to it.

Well, I’m going to stop now and work on my arm.

Yours truly, Bill

Dear Mom,

6 March 1943

After I wrote you yesterday about our shots, the reaction came on a little stronger. Some of the guys got real sick. One fellow fainted, one vomited, and several got chills. However, I got off fairly easy. My hands turned blue for a while, but otherwise I was O.K. In the afternoon when we were cleaning up I felt very lazy but I don’t know whether to attribute it to the shots or to me.

We had inspection this morning and were put down as very good. Chief says our salutes are excellent and also our positions “at attention.” I went swimming again this afternoon. My arm is feeling swell so I thought I’d go while I could. The water was swell. I did some diving off a 10 ft. springboard, swam the length of the pool several times and did between 60 and 70 feet under water.

There is an Andy Hardy movie on tonight and I believe I’ll go.

The St. Johns paper came today and looked good to me. I also heard that my name and address had appeared in the Manistee News Advocate.

I ate the last Milky Way today. We were told not to eat too many sweets just before our shots. I’m just starting on the gum.

We get our Bluejacket’s Manuals next week.⁷ There is a desk-copy here in the barracks and I’ve been looking it over. It’s a lot different than Dad’s.

Yours truly, Bill

Dear Mom,

7 March 1943

I got your letter, written Saturday morning, today. We get one mail delivery on Sunday. I also got Butch’s card and letter. He said, “Dad carried the ashes out today. He misses you.” Clever Butch.⁸

I haven’t heard from Jane or Stege or any of the other classmates yet. I have sent my address to all and sundry, though.

Our whole company is in one big room in the barracks here. It is an even 100 fellows. I have a lower bunk. The guy above me is a fellow from Kentucky, Carl Burnette. About half the fellows are from Ky. and most of the rest from Mich. There is a constant North-South feud.

We get up at 5:30, clean the barracks, go to breakfast, clean the barracks, drill or something, clean the barracks till 11:30. Then we can write, read, etc. till 12:30 when we go to lunch. Then we clean the barracks, march, or exercise or some other thing, clean the barracks, and get off at 4:30. Our time is our own till 5:30 chow, and again till about 8:30, when we clean the barracks before taps at 9:30.

On inspection days (Saturday) we spend most of our time cleaning the barracks. Sundays, we clean them once in the morning, go to church and have the rest of the day off till 8 or 8:30 when we clean the barracks. “We joined the Navy to see the world. And what did we see? We saw the dustpan and the broom!”

I went to another movie last night. “Andy Hardy’s Double Life.” It was reasonably good. There I met a guy from Cadillac who knew Laurent La Mond, and Herb Holland, who were at Mt. Pleasant this summer. Also, Joe Rumbel from M.H.S. is in his Company. I may get to see him this afternoon.

Naturally you didn’t see the Chicago Tribune today,⁹ but if you can get a copy there’s a big illustrated article in one picture-section about Great Lakes [Naval Training Station].¹⁰

’Bye Now, Bill

Dear Mom,

8 March 1943

This morning we got up at 4:45 and went to the drill hall at 5:45. We had a session of calisthenics which really were nice and rigorous. It took me back to the first days of my senior year at M.H.S. when [Coach] Holzaepfel gave us our workouts.¹¹

Later in the morning we went to a “visual education” movie which showed how to tie several useful knots. They looked easy in the picture. We get a crack at them in a few days.

This afternoon we had a lecture from Chaplain McCormick (a protestant) on religion’s place in the Navy. He was very interesting. He is a lieut. j.g. [lieutenant junior grade].

Then we had a “musical” session singing some Navy songs. We are to practice them in our barracks and get the time perfect so we can sing while marching instead of having the C.O. [commanding officer] say “left, right, left.”

Tonight, I went over to the canteen and had a strawberry sundae and a chocolate sundae. Those and the exercises, working together should put some weight on me, like they used to in football.

I stand watch tonight from 8:00 to 12:00, so I’ll get about five hours of sleep. That isn’t as bad as the 12:00 to 4:00 A.M. one that I had last week. We rotate in alphabetical order and it doesn’t come out even, so we have a different watch each time.

’Bye now. Write soon. Bill

Dear Dad,

9 March 1943

This Navy is beginning to get a little less housewifish and somewhat more nautical now. Yesterday we had a movie on knots and today we had a session of learning to tie several of them. Overhand, figure eight, square, bowline, fisherman’s bend, clove hitch, ...