On October 8, 1942, with a group of about forty other civilians, I was sworn into the U.S. Navy V6. It was my father's 39th birthday.
About 18-20 of us boarded a bus and were taken to USNAB Glenview, Il. No boot camp for us, we were all supposed to have some training the navy needed at Glenview. After ten days of shots, clothes (uniforms) and obstacle course training, we were given liberty.
I was assigned to Public Works as an F2C. My dream was to be an AP (Aviation Pilot), but the navy had other ideas.
In February 1944, I joined up with the crew to be of LST 561. Camp Bradford, Va., was home for a couple months. Then on to Great Lakes for anti-aircraft gunnery. In April I was assigned to NATTC, Navy Pier, Chicago, for Diesel Engine School.
On 25 April we boarded LST 561 at the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co. yard in Evansville, In. Together with a civilian crew we sailed to New Orleans, La., where the ship was finished and commissioned on May 15, 1944.
We trained on the beaches at Panama City, Florida, along with many other LST crews. We returned to New Orleans, where we took on provisions, for our trip to Europe.
We proceeded to Norfolk, Va., where we took on tanks, equipment and troops. With an LCT on the forward deck, we then joined a 150 ship convoy to the Mediterranean. Twenty-one days later we docked in Bizerete, Africa. From there, we went to Salerno Italy, then on to Corsica, where we loaded on troops, tanks, and support vehicles for the August 16 invasion of Southern France.
Through August and September we shuttled back and forth with troops, equipment and supplies to support the invasion. Shipping two of our LCVP's to the front by truck, gave us clues to the major battles going on in Germany and France.
After months of shuttling troops all over the Mediterranean, we wound up in Athens, Greece (Port of Phireas). As I remember, it was governed by the British Navy, and LST 561 and one other LST were the only American ships to get to Greece. While there, the insurgents came out of the mountains and were fighting the Greek Army. One of the gunners on the other LST was injured by sniper fire, so after three trips from Southern Italy to Greece, we were pulled out, so that we didn't get involved in fighting.
In April of 1945 we were sent to Oran, Africa, where we reworked our LCVP engines and got ready to go to the Pacific. Lo and behold, the Germans surrendered in May and we loaded up an LCT, with a PT Boat in its well, and headed for the States, arriving off New York, 3 July 1945.
Most of the rest of the 'plank owners' and I were sent home on rehab leave, during which time the Atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. While we were on leave, the 561 was outfitted with new guns and repainted for the Pacific. After leave, we went to Green Cove Spring, Florida, where the 561 was decommissioned on April 30, 1946. I was decommissioned (discharged) on January 24, 1946.
Due to the hostilities in Korea, LST 561 was recomissioned on September 18, 1950 and assigned to Commander, Amphibious Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet, where she participated in the Far East, the Arctic and the West Coast of the U.S.
On July 1, 1955, she was renamed as Chittenden County, after a county in Vermont. Chittenden County (LST 561), was decommissioned again on June 2, 1958 and struck from the Navy list on June 27, 1958. Chittenden County (LST 561), was sunk as a target, south of Oahu on October 21, 1958.
LST 561 earned one battle star for WWII service and two battle stars for Korean service.
I have been in touch with 3 or 4 of my 'black gang' shipmates, Clay Johnson in Oneill, NE, John Phelps, Dallas, Oregon, Roy Schaaf, Halifax, NC., and Pasquale Fallonardo, Cotton, MN.
I would like to know the whereabouts of John Vislosky, Pa., Bob Rogers, Chicago, Il., and Al Wareham, Chicago Il.
Bob Avery MOMM2C LST 561
7123 N. Willow Bend Pt.
Peoria, Il. 61614
309-693-1988 or
