Papaw’s Story
The wind violently rocked the Navy APA Ship back and forth, the sound of waves beating on the sides of the ship were heard from everywhere on the ship, and men were being thrown back and forth like they were rag dolls. The crew was doing its best to maneuver out of the storm, when suddenly the ship’s rudder was lost. So the only thing the men on the ship could do was radio to the nearest port.
"Yes, this is the Navy APA Ship, we’re somewhere off the coast of Guam, lost in a typhoon…" the voice shouted across the radio. "We have no way of getting out either. We lost one of our rudders and can’t move around. Can you send another ship after us?"
"The USS DULUTH is the closest to you. It’s one of the biggest ships and , they also have a strong crew. We’ll radio them and send them out right away. They’ll be coming from the direction of Pearl Harbor."
"Come in USS DULUTH! This is Captain Myers! Sargent Carl Hill are you there? Hill?"
"Yes, come in captain, this is Sargent Hill. The Japanese are firing on us, out of all respect, would it be possible for me to radio you in a few minutes?"
"Unfortunately not Hill, the APA is in the middle of a typhoon off the coast of Guam. The ship lost its rudder and needs help. Your crew is the strongest and the best. It’s up to you all."
"Okay captain, we’re on our way – all 33,000 watts of us. Ten-four."
"Ten-four Sargent. And thank you Hill. We have some good men out there."
Sargent Hill went straight to the blow horn and gathered all 1,225 of his men down in the meeting room of the enormous boat. "Okay men, the Navy APA ship is off the coast of Guam in a typhoon. We need to radio all our men back onto the ship and take off. I need men to fill the ship to its potential 750,000 gallons of diesel fuel, I need the three CH-53 helicopters back on board, and then have all the runways cleared off. We will take off at 14 hundred hours. Go to it, men."
The men scattered as Sargent Hill commanded them to do. Hill was a much respected man on the ship and Hill showed the same respect to every man. Many times he was the teacher and the crew were his students. Other times on the ship the men would have fun, acting like boys. Hill was a man of character, a man that everyone dreamed of being. Hill took his responsibilities seriously, and because of that Sargent Hill’s crew did their jobs well too.
Hill went down to his bunk and said a quick prayer asking God for protection over his crew and ship as they headed into the huge storm. Then he got up, looked at the clock and realized it was time to head into one of the biggest challenges he had ever faced. Knowing that God was on his side he walked up to the top deck and started the ship’s four turbo generators, which gave off 4,800 amps of power (that’s enough to run 20,000 average size homes).
As they traveled over the seas, the skies got darker and darker and the winds slowly picked up. The waters became rougher, and soon the rain poured from the skies. Many men were very scared and went below the deck to stay safe. Sargent Hill told the pilots of the helicopters to take off and head to the shore before they got into the middle of the storm. Hill had heard the horror stories of helicopters being blow over the landing decks, sometimes killing people. Hill sent away the helicopters away so he wouldn’t have to worry about his crew dodging the air crafts.
"Sargent Hill! What’s that there?" one of the officers asked as he gazed through his telescope.
"That would be the APA!" Hill exclaimed looking through a pair of binoculars. "Quick, blow the emergency horn again and get everyone below the deck. Hurry!"
The men weren’t able to hear the loud horn, because by this time the wind had picked up. The waves were also beginning to show their power by rocking the boat back and forth, and the rain was coming down so hard by this time that you couldn’t see your hand if you were to stick it in front of your face. Men were falling down steps, into rooms, safety boats, and others were just hanging on for their lives. Most men though had already made their way below deck, because they saw the danger that was about to face them.
Hill met the few men that were down in safety, "Alrighty men!" Hill yelled. "Get up on that deck and get every last man below deck. I want to see all 1,255 men down here! Not one man had better be lost!" So every man, including Sargent Hill made a challenging climb to the deck. Men ran into one another and grabbed each other before heading down to the lower deck. In less than 30 minutes the whole crew had descended to the lowest level of the ship.
"All here! I’m sure of it Sargent." One of the men exclaimed.
"Good work men! I’ll save the praises for later. We have a few more lives to save. I don’t know what we are going to do. We may have to wait this storm out. For now all I want is for each of you to strap yourselves into your bunks and don’t leave your quarters till I have given the okay. Now go, I don’t want anything to happen to you. GO!" Hill quickly ran up the stairs to the upper deck, knowing that his men would be safe. Also Knowing that God could take his life at anytime.
Sargent Hill, slowly made his way to the outlook post of the boat. The rocking of the boat slammed him down to the deck a few times. The wind rammed him into the sides of the ship, but with persistence, Hill finally made it to his post. Nothing was going to prepare him for what he was about to see.
The USS DULUTH was about two miles from the APA, and when Hill looked into the direction of the boat, he saw that the boat was being carried at least 30 feet in the air by a wave. Then the wave would drop the 10,000 ton ship back into the ocean. Suddenly, after the blink of an eye, Hill was looking down at the APA! The same wave that had just carried the APA, was now carrying the DULUTH into the air. After another blink the DULUTH was dropped back to it’s place in the sea. Sargent Hill had to make a decision: should he back off and just wait or should he risk the lives of his crew to save the men of the APA.
"Lord show me your way!" Hill cried into the storm. Suddenly the DULUTH started backing away from the APA, but Sargent Hill was still able to keep an eye on the ship that was before him. Hill made his decision: he was going to wait the storm out.
Two days went by. The APA and the DULUTH were stuck in the furious typhoon, the wind tortured the boats by rocking them back and forth, the rain began to flood the ships, and the waves continually raised and lowered the boat. Sargent Hill was able to communicate with the APA through a transistor radio, but the talk was short due to the "mad" storm. After two days of patience and prayers, the enraged storm died down and the two boats were able to get close to one another. The men were finally able to emerge from their rooms.
Sargent Hill radioed in a tug boat to take the APA back to shore after the storm was clear. Amazingly, no lives were lost, and everyone was safe. After the APA was taken back to the harbor for repairs, Sargent Hill took the DULUTH to the shores of Guam to fix the ship’s damaged bow from the storm. After a few repairs, Sargent Carl Hill gathered his crew on July 21 to head back to the sea to rejoin the ships in the air strike against the Japanese.
Questions:
- What is the setting in this story?
- Who is the main character?
- What happened to the APA Ship that it needs help?
- What is the USS Duluth crew’s mission?
- What are some of the characteristics of the USS Duluth?
- Who does Sargent Hill rely on?
- What makes you think Sargent Hill’s crew worked as a team?
- What did Sargent Hill decide to do about rescuing the APA Ship?
- What did Sargent Hill do after he rescued the APA Ship from the storm?
- Putting yourself in Sargent Hill’s position would you have done anything differently?
- What do you think would have been the scariest thing in rescuing the ship?
Outline:
- Introduction
- Setting
- What’s happening?
- Mission
- Communication
- Assignment
- Team Gathered
- Information
- Facts and Information about USS Duluth
- Sargent Carl Hill
- Chaos
- The Storm
- Spotting the APA Ship
- People to Safety
- What to do?
- Send people away
- Fear!
- Cry to God
- Answers
- Wait it out
- Patience and Prayers
- Safe
- Home Again
- Repairs
- Next Mission
Answers to the Questions
- The setting starts off of the coast of Guam in a typhoon.
- The main character is Sargent Carl Hill.
- The Navy APA Ship needs help because it got stuck in the typhoon and lost it’s rudder.
- The USS Duluth crew’s mission is go and rescue the APA Ship that is stuck in the storm.
- The characteristics of the USS Duluth is it is run with over 33,000 watts, there is a 1, 225 member crew, it has a potential of carrying over 750,000 gallons of diesel fuel, it carries three CH-53 helicopters, , it has runways, four turbo generators that gave off 4,800 amps of power (enough to run 20,000 average size homes).
- Sargent Hill relies on the Lord for his strength.
- One of the examples that we know Sargent Hill’s crew worked as a team is when they were in the storm and some of the men had not made it down to safety. Those that were safe went to the upper deck to find all their friends and take them to safety.
- Sargent Hill decided to wait the storm out instead of endangering his whole crew’s life.
- After Sargent Hill rescued the APA Ship from the storm, he took his ship in to the coast of Guam to get repaired. Then he took his boat and crew back out to help in the war.
- Accept legit answers.
- Accept legit answers.
Props
* One of Carl Hill’s uniforms he wore while in the Navy
* Pictures of the ship from Carl Hill
* Internet resources
* Letters Carl Hill wrote to his wife
Sources
Hill, Carl. Telephone Interview. September 1999
http://www.navsource.org/Archives/CA/cl87.htm
http://www.surfpac.navy.mil/shipsnav/Duluth/dulhome.htm
Sarah Schlicher