It was a real scary feeling to go charging into Tokyo bay without our guns blazing. The mine sweeper had gone in
first and none of the Japanese guns had shot at him. We could see the large shore batterers along the bay. They
all had white flags flying over them. That did not mean that we were not afraid that they may pull another Pearl
Harbor on us. Of course we were on full alert.
We dropped anchor about a mile off shore awaiting further orders. We could see people along the beach. Suddenly
some of them started swimming toward the ship. We launched one of our small boats and picked up about six or
seven British men. They were almost like skeletons with flesh on them. The Japanese were releasing the
prisoners they had been holding since the war started. I had never seen any one eat as much as they did.
When the rest of the fleet came in we were anchored off the starboard bow of the Battleship Missouri. We were
there the day that General McAruther, Admiral Halsey, and all the other high command officers accepted the
Japanese surrender. I watched it take place.
Our next duty assignment was to destroy a kamikaze boat harbor on a small island in the bay. Our landing party
was to be alert for some combat action. Not all the Japanese were aware that the war was over. When we got on
the land no one was there but a few very old men. The women and children had taken off for the hills. There was
a bank in the little village. Some guys in our group took bundles of the money as souvenirs. This later created
quite a problem. We were to be paid in this type of money.
Before we could return to the bay orders were to have a complete shake down of the crew. The money was never
found. I do not know how anyone could hide that much loot. I guess they threw it overboard.
The boats we destroyed looked like the Chris Craft that were popular boats in the states. They had a bow area
that a bomb was loaded in to ram ships with. The motor was a six cylinder General Motors engine. We saved one
of them and fixed it up as a fun boat for the crew. When the officers decided to take it over, some one cut the
bow line one night. We never saw it again.
We dropped anchor about a mile off shore awaiting further orders. We could see people along the beach. Suddenly
some of them started swimming toward the ship. We launched one of our small boats and picked up about six or
seven British men. They were almost like skeletons with flesh on them. The Japanese were releasing the
prisoners they had been holding since the war started. I had never seen any one eat as much as they did.
When the rest of the fleet came in we were anchored off the starboard bow of the Battleship Missouri. We were
there the day that General McAruther, Admiral Halsey, and all the other high command officers accepted the
Japanese surrender. I watched it take place.
Our next duty assignment was to destroy a kamikaze boat harbor on a small island in the bay. Our landing party
was to be alert for some combat action. Not all the Japanese were aware that the war was over. When we got on
the land no one was there but a few very old men. The women and children had taken off for the hills. There was
a bank in the little village. Some guys in our group took bundles of the money as souvenirs. This later created
quite a problem. We were to be paid in this type of money.
