Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
2:23 | Levin and his company were training an Australian beach party on the island of Morotai. After spending a few weeks with the Aussies, Levin quickly learned that their standards of cleanliness were a bit different from that of his American troops.
Keywords : Morotai Dutch East Indies Australian beach parties Tarakan mess kits funny story
After 3-4 months on the Admiralty Islands, Levin and a massive convoy of ships bombarded the beaches of Leyte. The sky was ablaze with explosions, and Levin and his men did their best to secure the beaches and bring in the LST’s and LCI’s.
Two nights after landing at Leyte, Levin saw flashes of light out in the gulf. Levin approached his beach commander about the incident. When the men finally realized what the flashes were, all they could do was watch, and a gruesome aftermath awaited them the next morning.
When the harbor at Leyte was loaded with ships, Japanese kamikaze pilots started flying in. The enemy pilots were near impossible to hit, so there was no way to stop them. Levin even witnessed an Australian transport ship fall victim to the kamikazes.
The night before leaving for the bombardment of Tarakan, Levin’s beach master Danny Meyers had a bit too much to drink. Meyers came into the barracks claiming that their troop had invaded Halmahera. Levin thought nothing of it and told Meyers to go to bed. The next morning, Meyers had a meeting with the Commanding Officer of the beach.
