WHAT HAVE I DONE « Jenny La Sala

29 Apr

WHAT HAVE I DONE

jennysala Uncategorized 0 0

My dad, Clell B. Elliott was in the Navy during WW ll.

Dad went into the Navy in 1942. He was in from 1942 to 1945 and was the mail clerk on Okinawa right after the invasion. I could never get him to talk much about it. He told how they lived and how they made their hut from a bomb crater, downed trees and sand bags. Attached is Dad’s service picture. Although Dad used to say that he was never in combat, he also said that he remembered the Betty Bombers that would bomb them three times each day. I don’t know about you, but to me, that is combat.

I was on the carrier U.S.S. FORRESTAL C V A 59 and served between 1970 and 1976 in the U.S. Navy. I worked as a Hull technician and did damage control, plumbing, carpenter, and welding in the sheet metal shop. We had the roofer’s card. We covered everything. We fought fires and manned the fire pumping stations for foam needed for flight deck fires if any. I just noticed spots on my service picture. They must be my mother’s tears. One of my other brothers and older than I, Jerry I. Elliott served on the USS Forrestal CV59. Here is also a picture of me and my dad holding a plaque that his church gave him on Veteran’s Day.

My son-in-law, Lenny Legg was a Marine and was a Lance Corporal in administration. The proud Marine in this picture is his son, Lance Corporal Austin L. Legg, USMC. He is 19 years old and is currently serving and in security. He followed in his father’s footsteps in the Marines. He was a Lance Corporal.

What I can remember as a seventeen-year boy who had never been away from home on my own was asking myself, “What have I done?” Oh, there are things that I cannot speak of here. I loved every one of the men I served with. I heard later on that we were known as the animals on board ship. I learned a lot from these men. Thank you guys.