John W. "Jack" Frank (my daddy) served in the US Navy during WWII on board the LST-910. The 511 Class Tank Landing Ship was laid down, 23 February 1944, at Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, MA.; Launched, 8 April 1944; Commissioned USS LST-910, 24 May 1944.

Dad was consider a 'plank owner' having been aboard the 910 from it's birth until she was decommissioned. During World War II, according to Naval records, the LST-910 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the following operations: * Battle of Surigao Strait, November 1944 * Lingayen Gulf landing, January 1945 * Zambales-Subic Bay, January 1945 * Palawan Islands landings, February and March 1945 * Mindanao Island Iandings, April and May 1945; Balikpapan operation, June and July 1945 Following the war, LST-910 performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until early April 1946. She was decommissioned 27 June 1946 and struck from the Naval Register, 31 July 1946. Her final Disposition: sold for scrapping, 25 November 1948, to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA. LST-910 earned five battle stars for World War II service.

I was able to obtain a copy of the original ship's log from the NARA at College Park, MD and placing it next to my Dad's 'secret diary' (it was unlawful to keep one that listed dates and places), I was able to savor his view of daily activities on his ship. He was always a real prankster and the favorite butt of his jokes were the poor hapless Marines (he refered to them as sea-going bellhops) and Army guys which they so often transported into battle. One of his former crewmates remembered his escapade concerning a load of beer brought on board for transport. On board, there was also a group of Marines and the 910's captain feared the beer would never arrive to its destination safely, so he devised a plan to weld the door shut to the cargo hold. This job was given to my dad, a welder par excelence. The beer was indeed safe from the Marines, however, it was not safe from my dad, who unwelded the door, removed enough beer for him and his buddies and rewelded the door shut!

Dad has always been known to have a soft heart, especially when it came to children (he was, after all, the eldest son in a family of twelve children!). He found himself before a Captain's Mast when he gave Hershey Bars out to a number of starving Phillipino children (the candy was meant for soldiers at various island stations. The captain relented after hearing the particulars of the story and Jack Frank ended up doing another stint of shore patrol as punishment (which he actually liked). The captain told Dad that he never wanted to catch him again giving out candy to the children. Dad was much more careful after that and was never caught!

Dad was wounded once, but never received a Purple Heart, although it is mentioned among his awards in his service record. He liked to tell the story of being onboard ship during a typhoon and also having the 910 narrowly miss disaster when a kamikazi crashed near them during a battle. He never made mention of specific things…bad things, so it wasn't until I was an adult (long after after he was gone) that I watched "Saving Private Ryan". By the end of that opening scene, I realized why he never did. Still, I knew it had haunted him. He had been a gentle man who went down to the sea in a ship in order to protect all the things he loved in life. He was and always will be my hero.

For a transcript of the Operation Plan concerning the Battle of Leyte Gulf see: http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/rep/Leyte/OpPlan/13-44-A.html

To the Navy's website for the LST910 which also has photos of the Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons see: http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160910.htm

For a military tribute to our "two dads" see: http://twodads.tripod.com/id1.html

Other crewmember's web presence:

Donald Clay Forney, Ship's Cook 3rd Class - US Navy http://www.huntington.in.us/county/veterans/memday/memday2002/folders/forney/forney.html

(Note: Donald's website has been removed as of 2011).

Robert E. Shanes http://www.memphisfuneralhome-mo.com/obit-display.jhtml?DB=update/obits/dbase&DO=display&ID= 1128377298_27495

Millard Hathaway of Williamsburg, MA was a crewman, but I do not have his contact info. He is the source for several photos listed here.

John William Frank WWII Navy Veteran - LST 910