We were shipped to Newport News, Virginia. We boarded a small ship which was equipped for prisoners in the fore part and cargo in the rear. The ship was a Liberty ship, the USS John S. Pillsbury. The bunks were nose to butt close. Sweltering! and the odor of the human detectable with a first whiff. I was worried about getting sea sick. I am very susceptible to motion sickness. I took the precaution of buying two cartons of Hershey bars for energy in case I got sea sick. I had the boxes in my barracks bag which hung from the bunk I was assigned.
It didn't take long for the motion sickness to come on. In a few hours just floating out of the harbor and I was over the rail losing my guts- all of 'em. Lordy how I hate sea sickness! I wasn't alone. My sea sick buddy and I stayed side by side up on deck for about a week with out food. We laid together and when the deck hands came along with the fire hoses to swab the deck, we just moved over a bit. My sea sick buddy was a sailor just out of boot camp, I paid a ship's sailor 35 cents to go stand in line with my mess kit to get me some food. He brought the food to me and I took one look at it and gave him a few more dimes to dump it in the Head. He washed the mess kit out in salt water. When I got my "sea legs", my mess kit had corroded through from the salt water bath!
The food was for pigs only. The powdered eggs smelled like a fart. I had to actually hold my nose to get some nourishment down! I became ravenous. I remembered my stash of Hershey bars. I went down to my bunk which I hadn't visited for a great length of time--going down to the bunks made me sick again--to get a Hershey bar! They were gone! Stolen! Some bastard saw the edges of the boxes in my barracks bag and stole those precious bars! Y'know? at that time I wished he wouldn't make it home just for that! I laid a curse on him. I wonder if that thief did come home! He didn't deserve it! At one time I suspected the thief. A guy was auctioning off an Oh Henry or Babe Ruth Bar! I bid five dollars and I lost it! He didn't have the guts to auction off Hershey bars though! That would be a dead giveaway.
It took us about 23 days to reach Bizerte. I wrote letters every day to pass the time even though they wouldn't go anywhere 'till we got to port. We witnessed destroyers shooting their Y guns--depth charges. You could feel the charge as it went off. The walls of the ship would vibrate. I saw many of the charges go off near our ship. We only cruised going about 10 knots. The German subs were lurking out there some where. There were ships as far as the eye could see on the ocean. I watched the dolphins play along side as I leaned over the rail. I gained full control now of my body and was starved. We were fed just twice daily and very meagerly--it was like prison fare.We were allowed to have salt water baths in the nude on deck. Once we were allowed to walk through a fresh water shower which was too much of a haste and really wasted the water.
We had to "pull guard" on the only fresh water fountain. The weapon we were given was a rusted
action "03" with no rounds. It was good as a club only. There was a water ration of a canteen probably for a day. The water fountain was right by the Galley door, I was on guard one night and the cook was making fresh bread. The odor wafted past my nostrils--I couldn't stand it any longer! I went inside OFF my post and sawed a big chunk of bread off a loaf which was already sampled. They even had a jar of straw berry jam there and real butter! I heaped some on the bread and gulped it down. Even while an officer or two came by and glanced at this brazen soldier ravenously chomping on the bread. I could have been tossed in the brig but which was easier to live in? the brig? or the bunks? The unfairness of it all! I envied those sailors.
The sailors had really good food on their ship. Meat, bacon and eggs and pancakes! and turkey and fresh bread and real coffee! As good as Uncle Sam ever had! I could see the difference in our treatment. Our food was prison fare ! It was pure cruelty equal to being in a medieval evil prison. When you are as hungry as I was you could eat an old shoe. I suppose you wont believe me when I tell you I had to hold my nose though to eat the powdered scrambled eggs--I am telling you they were very bad--It was a cruelty.! I remember once getting a half rotten potato about the size of a goose egg. I complained and the cook took it back tossed it into the big stainless steel vat and handed me another which had a small vine already growing. It was like being on Columbus' Nina or Pinta. I wager to say.
Actual
photo.