Effect of Ship's Daily Routine
on Some Sailors
Besides the stress caused from being under enemy attacks, LCI 35 sailors
had to contend with other situations that may have affected them even
when the enemy wasn't around. Throughout the war, and especially in
1944, the daily routine of cleaning, maintenance, painting, deck duties
and preparing for inspections started to take its toll on some of
the sailors. Since LCIs offered little in the way of recreation or
space to relax, the LCI 35 crew looked forward to time away from the
ship when granted liberty.
Even Dad was affected by the daily ship routine, especially since
he was responsible for cooking three meals a day for the officers
and crew. In some of his letters he occasionally bemoaned the
"boring routine" aboard the LCI 35
and the fact that he was "just a cook".
It didn't matter or he really didn't realize that a cook was one of
the ratings that Commander Lorenzo Sherwood Sabin, Jr. called absolutely
essential for good morale on this type of ship. Dad probably wasn't
aware that his shipmates considered him a good cook. In conversations
with several of Dad's shipmates they really did think he was a good
cook who made the most of what he had to work with. A couple of shipmates
including John Finnerty and Wally Holman went so far as to say that
"he was the only one that could make Spam taste like chicken or
steak".
The information that follows continues Dad's story as told in his
letters to his sister Mae. A detailed account of the LCI 35's entire
chronology can be found here.
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"...Mae...I can't get home and
this ship and type of work is getting me all messed up. Oh, I
have fun and can take it but it's the same old thing over and
over."
- February 26, 1944 |
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