Veteran's History Project - R. Wayne Adamson

R. Wayne Adamson

Yeoman 2nd Class

U.S. Navy

1941 to 1945

Editor's Note: This story is one of many American Veteran accounts published in The Sidney Sun-Telegraph. The writer, who is from Potter, is conducting the interviews as part of the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project.

R. Wayne Adamson was doing alright. He was 21. He had graduated from Bushnell High School three years prior and was helping on his family dairy farm.

In November 1941, before the attack at Pearl Harbor, Wayne knew that the draft board was more than interested in him.

Two young men his age and from his area had entered the Navy. A recruiter from Scottsbluff, Neb., came to see him. Wayne's parents were opposed to him going into the service. Wayne was seeing a young lady regularly. The recruiter made a second trip and prevailed.

A group of recruits from the area, eight or nine young men, went by bus to Denver. They took their physical exams and – those who passed – boarded a train bound for San Diego.

Once there, he was to train for six weeks, learning to be the entry-level sailor. Within three weeks of initial training, the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. Things changed.

All training stopped and very soon, Wayne was on a Navy ship headed to Pearl Harbor. His first trip was on an older WWI transport ship that slowly made it to Honolulu. Things were not off to a good start.

The group he was a part of was sent to a recreation area on Oahu. He was sent to an ammunition depot where he helped sort, store and prepare to ship items of war. He lived there in a two-man tent. They had a dining facility. There were more than 100 guys there.

They did some rifle marksmanship by shooting at stuff they had thrown into the ocean. Probably, there wouldn't be a marksmanship medal. He was in something much bigger than he originally thought. During off hours, they could compete in baseball and beach games. They could go to church or rest on Sundays. The pay was $21 a month – when paid on time.

And, within six weeks, he was assigned to the U.S.S. Balch DD363 – a small destroyer. It was anti-aircraft and anti-submarine vessel.

He was a Yeoman, but his battle station was being a loader for a five-inch gun. The five inches describes the diameter of the round being fired. It's about the same as the main round fired from an Army tank. He held this position going into the Battle of Midway.

The Balch was among several providing escort for the U.S.S. Hornet. The planes making up the group led by James Doolittle were aboard this ship. Soon the battle group was headed to the Coral Sea.

About halfway there, the battle of the Coral Sea had ended. The Balch was ordered to turn around and head for Pearl Harbor – with the rest of the ships in the group. They were to re-load and go back out to sea. His destroyer was part of those providing cover for three aircraft carriers: the Hornet, the Enterprise and the Yorktown. They were moving toward the islands named Midway.

The U.S. forces knew the Japanese were headed for Midway. There was going to be a heck of a fight. On the first day, the U.S. Navy sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers.

The next day, the U.S.S. Yorktown was struck by enemy bombardment and torpedoes. At first, the crew manning the engines on this carrier worked and worked to get them re-started.

Another destroyer was sent alongside the Yorktown to see what assistance was needed. This destroyer was hit almost immediately with a torpedo and sunk. The Yorktown's engines came back to life, but was soon hit by more shelling and began to list to the starboard side.

All ships in the immediate area began taking on sailors who were ordered off the Yorktown. The Balch was very close-by and rescued more than 550 men. In all, more than 2,300 men were rescued. Sadly, the U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5) sunk on June 4, 1942.

Wayne was a yeoman – by training and on-the-job experience. In other branches of service, this would be a man or woman in the command offices. He was close to the events happening on the ship. His wire frame cot with a 3-foot by 6-foot mattress was below decks. They had a galley on the ship. When the ship ran low on fuel, they could get some groceries from a nearby battleship or from an oiler.

The destroyer sent down a few depth charges. When they detonated, the crew always felt the bursts of displaced water. The Balch did take enemy fire. At one point, a kamikaze pilot tried to ram his plane into the Balch. It missed.

He became a member of the Fleet Commander's staff. The commander and his group of 12 men moved from ship to ship. They remained a group. Their job was assuring the command that procedures were being followed and dependability was not compromised. His job was maintaining the flow of paperwork.

He did get a chance to pilot some of the ships when a good-hearted helmsman would let him. He could lock in on the compass and course and go for it! He spent some time on the range finder in the gunnery control element.

He moved about on six different ships. In all, he was on ships that were in 13 battle engagements. Wayne could name each of the ships – 70 years later. His carrier group went to the area of Saipan where fights were launched off the decks of the carriers. He liked watching the B-29s – especially since his girlfriend worked at a plant in Washington where the B-29s were built.

He kept in touch with his family by letter-writing. The more rank he accumulated, the better the pay. He said he was an amateur musician. He borrowed a buddy's trumpet and played occasionally. They played the board game acey-deucy.

When in port at Honolulu, he and others could go ashore. Sometimes there were entertainers, including hula girls! He did get to see the musician Ray Milland while at sea. When the ship was in the battle areas, shore leave wasn't allowed, of course.

He knew an officer who liked adult beverages a little too much. At one time, he and the officer switched hats and went to the Chief's club. The officer, wearing an enlisted man's hat, pulled out a jug of whisky in the company of beer drinkers. Time to pary!

Wayne missed his ship once. They were docked at night. His ship was along several others that looked alike. He went ashore with some others to check the mail. When he left one ship, he became disoriented and got lost. By the time they got back, his ship was leaving. He waited it out and the ship came back in the evening.

Wayne had one term of "leave," or vacation. In October 1943, he was in Seattle. He knew a young lady from Bushnell. She and her parents had moved from Nebraska to Washington where there were jobs. He renewed his acquaintance with her and they hit it off well.

In a short time, she decided to quit her job in Seattle and they traveled to Kimball, Neb. They were to get married and found a judge to provide the ceremony. Not having witnesses, the judge found a couple of kids playing nearby. The kids were to become part of the wedding party right then and there. The marriage lasted more than 55 years. But, he still had to return to the battles of the Pacific. He still had about two years left to serve.

One of the ships in his group got close enough to Guam that they noticed that a man from the island was trying to get their attention. Some sailors went ashore to see the man. He had been on Guam for three years, hiding mostly. The local islanders helped him some. He was from Sweden and his life was saved by the sailors.

Wayne was aboard for burials at sea. They were some of the sailors saved from the Yorktown.

He had accumulated lots of points while in battle. The Navy kept track of months served, job ratings, time without leave, etc. With enough points, a sailor could request an early out.

Wayne was in Saipan at the time. Since his captain was leaving, he told the administrative personnel that he qualified to return to the states. The personnel man told him they could put his name with the list of several hundred awaiting transportation or put his name in a jar and take a chance on the first available transport going to the U.S.. The slip of paper with his name was pulled from the jar. Two days later, he was put on the U.S.S. Kassen Bay, a small aircraft carrier.

He made it back to San Diego fairly soon. The next transport was a train to the Seattle area. Closer to Seattle, he phoned his wife and told her that he was going to be aboard a ferry boat from Seattle to Bremerton – where she was. Could she come to the ferry dock to meet him? Perfect.

When the ferry arrived, he was on one end, she on the other. They couldn't fine one another. DANG!

Not finding him, she went back home. It was late in the evening and raining, but Wayne found a working taxicab. He told the driver the address, but the driver didn't want to go there.

Wayne explained the situation to the driver and changed the guy's mind. Soon, he was re-united with his wife and discharged from service in the U.S. Navy shortly after that. The couple returned to Nebraska, where Wayne was a dairy farmer, a crop producer and a postal worker.

Wayne earned several medals in his service in the U.S. Navy. He volunteered for service to his country and should be proud of his accomplishments. His time in the Navy had a major impact on the way he would live the rest of his life.

Thank you for your service, Yeoman Second Class Wayne Adamson.