My father (Earnest Alcide Trahan) served aboard the USS Ormsby (APA-49) in the Pacific theater during WWII. The Ormsby carried Dad to Tarawa, Kwajalein, Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam, Peleliu, Leyte, among other lesser-known locations and eventually to Tokyo. Dad was short in stature (5 foot 6 & 1/2 inches tall & weighing 116 pounds). He had a hard time enlisting in the military, first trying to join the paratroopers who were afraid he would just blow away in the wind. He tried various other branches of the service before enlisting in the US Navy. The Navy recruiter told him that he should reject Dad on the grounds that he had not tried to join the Navy first, but on November 10, 1942 Dad enlisted in the Navy. On November 13 he arrived at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Illinois and his WWII experience began. It ended on October 28, 1945 when he was discharged in San Pedro, California

Click on any picture below to enlarge.

Six friends aboard the USS Ormsby (APA-49) I think this is Dad's gun crew. Dad is top row left.	Six friends aboard the USS Ormsby (APA-49) Earnie Trahan (Top Right) Howard "Pappy" Marlar (Bottom Right)	Six friends aboard the USS Ormsby (APA-49)
Six friends aboard the USS Ormsby (APA-49)	Six friends aboard the USS Ormsby (APA-49)	Sailors playing ball aboard the USS Ormsby (APA-49)
Sailors standing on a stack of life rafts. That may be a movie screen below them.	Dad saved this bottle of whiskey which he and his friends drank to celebrate the end of the war with Japan.	Names on this bottle (to the best of my ability) are: E. A. Trahan K. E. Wimberly C. S. Eidson, Jr. ?. R. Smith T. J. Egelston M. T. Alexander
Dad had a 20-day leave allowing him to be home for Christmas 1944	Dad's Medals & Ribbons	Ledgend for Dad's Ribbons

This webpage was first created 10/12/2007