From The Crew Of The Lst 18

From the Crew of the LST 18 is a group of light-hearted, semi-satirical shipboard stories intertwined with five invasions in the Southwest Pacific during the last year of World War II. The Landing Ship Tank-18 was manned by coastguardsmen. The stories are not of blood and guts, but of the other war that everyone in the Armed Services had to endure, the war of Hurry up and wait. Most of the book takes place aboard a large, slow, green-painted amphibious vessel that could go full speed (ten knots) onto an enemy beach, open its bow doors, lower a ramp, and then allow the Army and Marine Corps to drive their tanks, trucks and equipment ashore. We were part of MacArthurs Navy, the Seventh Fleet. The book starts with my transportation across the wide Pacific to a wet, muddy, green New Guinea jungle paradise named Naval Receiving Station Gamadodo. My transportation was typical to my shipmates. I wrote this book to honor the surviving members of our crew and to help Americans of today understand the importance of the Naval Amphibious Force of World War II. The Amphibious Navy has almost been forgotten. David L. Wischemann, Chief Warrant Officer, USCGR, Ret.