Category: Letters from Bill

Back in San Diego, October 6, 1937

Dearest Laura Sueva:

Arrived San Diego yesterday. Tied up to the dock about noon. Boy did San Diego look good? Did we cheer when we sighted the first islands about 100 miles out. We had a pretty good trip. But we nearly froze in Peru and almost roasted alive just this side of the equator. Not many of the guys want to go back to Peru. We had quite a lot of fun there but I would hate it like H _ _ _ to have to live there. It is a little more than 4000 miles down there. We took 11 days each way. We could make it in half that time but we poked along at 13 knots all the way. I can tell you lots about that country but it would take to long to write about it. We are to get underway for Bremerton Washington on the 28th. for overhaul.

I received your most welcome letter yesterday (Hope you can read my writing). Talk about the Navy having bad luck! We lost five planes while on the cruise. Two of them went over the side while landing and fell into the ocean. One went over the side and caught between two stacks and two of them cracked up while landing without going in the ocean. Most miraculously noone hurt. Not seriously anyway.

Also while in Peru a guy stole our (one of our) motorboats to desert. They finally found the boat and finally found him. The boats cost about 20 or $25,000 so it would have been quite a loss.

That’s right! You did have a birthday….slipped my mind. I got you something but will have to wait till I get around to sending it. We are pretty rushed right now. Two section watch list, etc.

Did you see my mug in “Our Navy”? it was a h _ _ _ of a picture.

About Peruvian cigars etc. A cigar costs almost four bits in Peru. A pack of cigarettes cost almost 50c. Cigarettes awful high. So hardly anyone smokes down there. Most of their cigarettes are made in America; Wings, Old Gold, etc. Peruvian cigarettes are so bad the Peruvians won’t hardly smoke them. Everyone in Peru was continually trying to get a cigarette from us sailors. Because we get them cheap aboard ship, about 6c a pack. They have a law down there that no one can bring matches or cigarettes ashore from a ship, but must buy and use those from Peru. Of course a lot of guys didn’t obey the law and some of them got to see the Peruvian Bastille, have to pay a small fine and then got turned loose.

Talk about policemen. I didn’t dream there were so many in San Diego as there is in Callao and Lima. Every where you look there is dozens of them directing traffic or just resting or something. They say they have them to help keep down the revolutions. They have a revolution every once in a while and shoot the President and raise Heck in general. All of the stores and business houses have steel doors which let down to cover up the front of the places. They close them every nite, so about 9 or 10 o’clock the streets look like buildings with no doors or windows or lights. The steel doors protects the stores, etc. when the people start firing. One guy here was telling us that in their last Revolution there were dead people laying all over the streets. They won’t let the people get together in big crowds.

I guess I will go out to the Training Station and see if Stanley came down last month. I haven’t heard from anyone whether or not. I don’t know where Harrich Harris is now.

Well I better knock off for now. I wish I wasn’t so busy.

Did I tell you I took the examination for 3rd Class Radioman. If there is any rates and there should be I will be a Third Class Petty Officer when I go home.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

With lots of love

Bill.

PS. Will Julie giving milk in December?

PSS. Do you still buy stamps?

—–Next Day.

I got a letter that Stanley is at the Training Station so I went out last nite. I saw him and he seems to be getting along all right. Doesn’t seem to mind it at the T.S. so much. It sure seems funny seeing him in uniform. He hasn’t been here on liberty yet. This weekend will be his first liberty. I am going to go and get him and bring him aboard the Ranger.

Well, I have to get to work now.

Lots of love.

Bill.

USS RANGER

Callao Peru..S A.

Dear Laura + Charles

Well we are in Peru at last. Anchored off Callao, which is about 7 miles from Lima. I think Lima is the capital of Peru. Some country I can’t say I care a heck of a lot for it though. Too many Peruvians and everybody speaks Spanish. A few of them speak English. We have a great time getting them to understand what we want. The ship gave everyone a little pamphlet with a lot of the most important words in Spanish; it is a help. Nearly everyone aboard knows a little Spanish.

The monetary system is sure funny. Their unit is the SOL which is equal to $.25 in our money. A SOL is made of silver and is as big as one of our dollars. Get one dollar changed into Peruvian money and you get four coins as big as you started with, Getting it changed into smaller coins and you get more yet. Whenever one of these storekeepers see one of our sailors coming they raise their prices about double, so we have to jew them down.

It is about as cold here as San Francisco. Been here three days and the sun hasn’t came out once—not even for five seconds. About the first three days out of San Diego it was about as hot as I have seen it anywhere but about two days before crossing the equator it started getting cold. When they initiated us upon crossing the line, we nearly froze when they put us in the tank of water.

It was some initiation….a long story. Putting us in stocks and giving us a royal shocking with their electrical apparatus….electrical chairs, electric shoes and other manner of shocking devices. They put all the polliwogs (which is a person who has never been across the equator) in stocks and then lay on with half a dozen clubs, etc. They also put graphite grease on our faces while in the stocks. Then they spray some stuff that tastes like fly spray in our mouth, it sure leaves an awful taste. They have lots of other tortures for the initiation too, so that when a person becomes a shellback he really rates it. They end up by putting us in a chair which tips us over backwards into a tank of salt water. Before tipping us over they put real black grease on us.

About five guys in the tank to hold us under the water to make sure we get wet. Then they throw us out head first and we slide down an incline on our stomach. Then when hitting the bottom there is two rows or ranks of shellbacks waiting with clubs etc. Which we must run through. A guy wastes very little time going through. As one sailor said, “It seems like the faster a guy runs the faster he runs.” It seems like no one misses with their paddle or club. So a person really knows it when he gets through.

But that is the climax of the initiation and a guy is a shellback after that. I pity the guys that are polliwogs the next time I cross the equator. The shellbacks started on us about three days before we got to the line …..Tying polliwogs up, cutting their hair in all manner of shapes, literally scalping some of them. No one did a thing to me before crossing so I was one of the lucky few.

We had three planes crack up coming down. One of them fell in the ocean but as it had flotation gear, which is two big rubber bags under the wings which are automatically inflated if the pilot or radioman presses a button.They got them inflated before hitting the water. The plane went over the side while landing. They picked the plane up after a couple of hours. No one killed. The destroyers picked up the pilot and his radioman. After they got the plane back aboard ship it was the worst looking wreck that I have seen on our ship except one of our planes that crashed in Honolulu.

Peru hasn’t much of a Navy here; about five or six ships which are all pretty old. The Peruvian sailors wear a uniform which looks almost like ours, more like ours than any navy I have seen yet.

We fired a twenty one gun salute when we entered the harbor. The ambassador came aboard this morning and we fired a nineteen gun salute for him.

I took the examination for Radioman Third Class a few days ago. It was pretty easy so I am pretty sure of getting rated if there is any rates this quarter and there should be.

Peru is as far east as Washington DC. I always thought it would be west of California even. We will pass through four seasons of the year on this cruise. We left San Diego when it was still summer; got down here while it was still winter; it will be spring here in a few days; and when we get back to the states it will be fall.

Well I will close for now.

With Lots of Love

Bill.

Coronado Calif. Sept 2, 1937 a.d.

Dearest Laura:

We are leaving for Peru Sat. and leaving San Diego for Coronado Roads tomorrow so I will write you one last letter before we shove off and leave the dear “United States,” thousands of miles off our stern. You know, of course, that the stern is the after part of the ship or the part that trails behind. Yep! in about twelve days we will be down where they have dark girls again. I am going to get you a birthday present–oh! oh!–bet you are thinking of your mother;—down there. I think I can get you something real nice. I hope. Maybe I can bring you back a Peruvian lass to keep house for you.

By the way; as long as you are thinking of your mother, I received a letter from her the other day. -Quote- “Why don’t you write. I have not heard from you for almost two months maybe more. Maybe someone took your letters out of the box if you wrote. I would sit down and cry if it would do any good. I feel that way anyway. Please write and–etc.” unquote. So I broke down and answered. I wonder if she ever found out I was home in June?

Yesterday was payday so I had to buy a box of cigars to pass out to the radio gang which is a tradition which must be followed when a bluejacket makes a rate. You know—sort of unwritten law. I will get Charles some Peruvian cigars down there if he smokes cigars, I will get them anyway if I can and if he doesn’t like them he doesn’t have to smoke them.

Remember the smelt Charles bought that time? The water around the ship here is full of smelt. Some of the guys go fishing on the docks and catch them all the time. That is what Parz would or will like.
I am sending some clippings, etc. that I have cut out from time to time. I cleaned out my locker today. If you find anything worth reading ok! if not throw them away or give them to the folks or something.

Well, I guess I will go to the show tonight, I haven’t been to a show for a long time.

With Lots of Love (always)

Bill.

My address is still Coronado, Calif .

Honolulu, Hawaii
May 12, 1937

Dear Laura & Charles:

At last I have time to write. During this war I haven’t even had time to sleep. We are at Honolulu now anchored right off the famous Waikiki Beach. You have probably heard of it. The “Royal Hawaiian Hotel” is just off the beach. It is a big pink building. Kind of pretty. We were at Tahaina Maui for a week. I went ashore there a couple of times. One day 250 men from our ship went on an excursion trip there. We rode in seven sugar trucks. You know the islands must have a million acres of sugar cane and pineapples. Anyway we were gone all day so we saw quite a bit of the island of Maui. Did we get sunburned!

Maui is one of the islands in the Hawaiian group. It is about 70 miles from Honolulu which is on the island of Oahu. (pronounced o a hoo). That is the biggest island ([sic] The Island of Hawaii is the biggest island.])

There is lots of coconuts and bananas here in the islands. The population is mostly Japanese with quite a few Chinamen and Filipinos. I think the real Hawaiians are in the minority. We have seen quite a few Hula dances since we were here. You know with the grass skirts. I had my picture taken with a couple of them. I sure hope they turn out good. I have taken about four rolls of film already. I want to take a lot more but I haven’t got them developed yet. It costs too much here. About 55c. I know of a place in Los Angeles where we can get them developed and printed for 15c., reprints 2c. I will give you the address. We can get film pretty cheap aboard ship. 21c a roll. They cost 36c at the YMCA.

I am going to try to get every one something from here. I have a couple of things for you already. I saw a nice little album about four by five inches over at Honolulu. It is kind of pretty. After the Cruise I will put one of all the pictures I take that are any good and put in it and send it to you.

These are sure pretty islands. These guys at the beach here sure can ride the surfboards too. There is lots to see here alright. But the Golden Gate will sure look pretty when we go through it in a little more than two weeks.

The people of Tahaina sure fell in love with our ship. It was the newest ship there. Also the best. There is more than 100 ships in Pearl Harbor now. (146) There was supposed to be 15,000 sailors ashore in Honolulu Sunday. There was sure a lot of them.

At Tahaina the Captain invited a bunch of the Hawaiians Hula girls etc. aboard to give us dances etc. They were sure good. I’m no good at writing so I will have to tell you about the islands when I see you. The twentieth of this month will make a year in the Navy for me. Only three more. I’m getting anxious for the time when the U.S.S. Ranger ties up at the dock in San Diego. Everybody is. It is nice to go someplace like this but hardly anyone likes to go to sea. Especially for battle practice or maneuvors. [sic]

I’ve got a moustache now although it isn’t very dark. Nearly everyone has. We said we wouldn’t cut them off till we got back to the “Coast” as everyone out here calls the U.S.

I am running short of anything to say now so I will wait and finish this after the mail comes. Maybe I will hear from you by then.

U.S. Naval Training Sta.
c/o Co-36-16 San Deigo Cali.
May 24, 1936

Dear Eva & Charles:
Well I’ve got my hair cut to about a half inch. I think most of it is less than a half inch. They cut every body’s hair that way when they first go in. They average less than a minute on our hair cuts. Pretty fast hair cutting I call it. Some of them don’t look so hot. My cut looks better than most of them. They examined every square inch of our body, figuratively speaking, both here and in Frisco. The guys over us sure are tough. They curse us and everything else.

I’m scared to hang around them. There is several hundred of us fellows that are new. We have to stay in a detention here for three weeks, and then we go in with the rest of them.

They gave us $87 worth of clothes. More clothes than I ever saw at one time. For instance; 6 pairs of sailor pants, 6 jumpers, 3 pairs of shoes, every thing imaginable. Even a shoe shining outfit, comb, wash cloth, clothes brush, etc.
We have to drill, march etc. and boy if we don’t catch on the first time they give you….. But this sure is a fun place, nice library, etc.

Well, I must close. I don’t think I will be able to write very often. There is so much to do. And I want to make the trade school. But I will write often as I can.

My address
U.S. Naval Training Sta.
c/o Co. 36-16.
San Diego Calif

With Love, Bill
Pardon the writing. I’m in a library. You have to be here.
Write Soon

I am sending some pictures of this place.