World War II Era
A Navy boat driver remembers Tarawa’s biggest fight. By Stephen Motsinger
I
n Wolfe, Texas, a small town about the size of a dime in the northeastern corner of the state, Lawrence (Larry) H. Wade was born in September 1924. While attending high school in Abilene, Larry learned the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. After convincing his parents he would be drafted by the Army soon after his 18th birthday, he got them to agree to sign enlistment papers instead. At the recruiting office, in the Abilene Post Office, Larry enlisted in the Navy on December 15, 1942. He chose the Navy because liked the bell-bottom pants and white hats of the naval uniform. Larry and his fellow recruits were shipped to San Diego for 12 weeks of Boot Camp where he was selected for amphibious training. He then spent eight weeks in Landing Craft School, after which he was promoted to the rank of Coxswain. He now commanded and drove an LCVP, or landing craft vehicle personnel.
The day after Larry completed training, he boarded the Heywood, an old passenger liner converted into a troop transport, and headed to San Francisco. While there the Heywood took on a load of Army soldiers and set sail for Kiska in the Aleutian Island chain off the coast of Alaska. The Japanese had invaded both Attu and Kiska Islands. Attu had recently been taken back from the Japanese with heavy losses on both sides. At Kiska Island Larry drove his landing craft full of soldiers toward the beach with much anticipation. They hit the beach with no shots being fired at them. The Japanese had sneaked out in a fog bank that hid their departure. He was grateful that his first landing was uneventful. That would soon change.
Back to San Francisco then on to Hawaii. As the Heywood approached Pearl Harbor the realization of what had happened on December 7th, 1941 hit the entire crew. The utter devastation of the ships that had been attacked and the knowledge of the great number of men
42 VETERAN FAMILY NETWORK h AUGUST 2011
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