Crossing the Pacific
In the four years I spent aboard this ship we crossed the Pacific 3 times. Our Captain was a great leader and each time we crossed, he found a reason to lay over in Pearl Harbor for a week or two. I was fortunate to see Honolulu before the Japanese money turned it into another new york city. |
Duty in Japan
Our ship, when assigned in Japan, ferried cargo to and from Korea. I don't remember much about Korea, but I have fond memories of Yokosuka and Sasebo Japan. We had some great "Liberties" there. Click on this link for pictures of Early History of LST 1122 www.Picasaweb.google.com/LST1122 |
Prisoner of War Exchange
In 1953, the LST1122 was selected to be one of the ships that would take north Korean prisoners back to Inchon Korea in a prisoner exchange ceremony. We built wood and wire cages on the tank deck to house 1000 prisoners each trip. The Marines were acting as guards with automatic weapons and gas grenades. We almost had an uprising when the prisoners protested the way we cooked their rice. The prisoners were climbing the cages and shouting anti-american slogans, so the marines pulled out the gas grenades and were about to pull the pins, when suddenly it got very quiet. End of protest.
send an email
High Tide
The LST 1122 carried pressurized tanks of Helium gas to an Island just off the coast of North Korea where our Army troops were fighting. As our ship approached the beach, we payed out the stern anchor and stopped with our bow on the beach. The tide in the Yellow Sea is the highest in the world, sometimes 22feet. When the tide went out our ship was sitting high and dry. The USS Missouri was close by, and fired one shell every hour for about 24 hours. The tide eventually came back and we pulled off the beach and got out of there. Many years later in Desert Storm, the Missouri once again fired on the enemy and a news reporter said, thats the first time her guns have been fired since Korea. |
Harold R. Outten, Captain of the LST 1122
Harold Outten was our Captain from
late 1954 to late 1957. Ray Sizemore made a phone call to Harold Outten's home. Jane Outten answered the phone saying that Harold had been in a nursing home for quite some time and was well enough now to be transferred to an assisted living home. Jane Outten said she was told Harold would not be coming home. Sizemore and I put some figures together and desided that Harold Outten was 87 or 88 years old. The crew of the LST 1122 wish our Captain the best and we will miss him at our annual reunion. Harold Outten will always be our leader. 14 April 2009
hand1122@cox.net |
