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| Photo courtesy of: Julius A. Family |
A Story From the Life of Julius A.
Ghostwritten by Jack A.
Special Assignment
“Do what the Jewish boys do. They go into the Navy because they stay on a boat where they get 3 meals a day and a bed to sleep on every night. In the Army you can never be sure where you will get your next meal or next bed.”
My father told me this after we got the notice that I had been drafted.
January of ‘44, 1944, that is. For the first 3 months after being drafted, I spent time at various training camps, including Cape May. While there I did undergo a physical where they determined my eyesight was poor. Instead of sending me home, they just stamped on my tag that I didn’t have good eyesight and advised my superiors not to make me do jobs that would require good eyesight. In March of ‘44, I went to Cape Henlopen, an Army base in Delaware. I worked the radios in the Naval facility, there we received codes from incoming ships to clear them to dock. After the war ended in ‘45, I was sent to a naval facility in the Pacific.
I was sent the the Pacific to relive personnel who had been in combat. Initially, I boarded the AP 168 “Warhawk” as a passenger but after a number of days with the crew I requested an assignment change to the AP 168 an an Apprentice Seaman. Once a member of the crew, I was directed to deck crew. This meant washing and repainting the deck to maintain it’s integrity.
One day, the boy that was supposed to be in the crow's nest was sick so they picked someone random to do the job; I was selected to fill the role.
“I shouldn’t be up there,” I told my officer.
“Why not son?”
“I have poor eyesight, I can’t I.D. ships.”
“Well you were selected, so you better hope you don’t mess up.”
I reluctantly climbed the tower, slowly, trying to show I didn’t want to be up there. It was quiet at the top; you couldn’t see anything but the open expanse of blue water. It reminded me of the Atlantic ocean off the coast of New York, where I lived until I was 18. Off in the distance, I noticed a dark figure appearing under the horizon.
“Unidentified ship approaching sir” I reported to command.
“What type of vessel is it?” they replied. I began to sweat in fear. We were taught how to identify ships by their silhouette but because of my poor eyesight I couldn’t make out the details of the ship. I wasn’t about to guess.“I’m not sure,” I told them.
“Well you better figure it out seaman!” command replied.
“I can’t see it clearly enough”
“Report down to command immediately” they told me. I felt like I was walking to my own execution ready to be ridiculed for not doing my job. When I entered the room. I was met with a frown. I looked down at the floor.
“Look at me soldier!” the officer scolded.
“Sir?”
“Don’t Interrupt me!”
“Sorry Sir, but.”
“You are not giving yourself a good name right now soldier”
“Sir, it’s just I wasn’t supposed to be up there” I told him. I pulled out my tags. On them was printed a “Special Assignment” symbol. The officers face turned the color of New York street lights.
“Report straight to the bottom deck.” he told me.
“Yes sir.” I replied. I took the long way to the bottom of the ship. I know nobody liked it down there. It was dim lit like in subway stations and musty, almost unbearably musty.
Over the rest of my service, I would learn to respect my position in the lower decks of the ship. I was able to use my experience with the DC current during my time at Cape Henlopen to run the gennies. I quickly became one of the best electricians on the boat, that is of those of us who had no formal training. I loved this job. I used my math skills from high school to help with maintaining the gennies.
After I got out of the service, the US government paid for me to attend college at the college of Manhattan where I learned more about Electrical Engineering, met my wife, and got my first job. I went on to work at New York Telephone and eventually I was sent to Bell Labs in Ohio. I moved my family to Upper Arlington where I still reside. I have seven children and thirteen wonderful grandchildren.
I am grateful for the experiences that the Navy provided me. If I had never been sent below, I never would have discovered my skill with electricity and gone on to get my degree in Electrical Engineering that has allowed my wife and I to provide for our family.
