Carter, William B., St. Helena Parish, Louisiana File prepared by D.N. Pardue and submitted by Inez Bridges Tate. ************************************************ Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ From "St. Helena Vets Remember World War II: Personal Interviews With World War II Vets", published by St. Helena Historical Association, 1995. Compiled and edited by Inez Bridges Tate and reprinted with permission. William B. Carter (Billy) graduated from Greensburg High School, Greensburg, Louisiana in 1943. He attended Texas A&M College for one year and upon returning home, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy just before his 18th birthday. Due to his age, his mother was required to sign giving her permission. This was in the thick of World War II. He was sworn in at New Orleans on June 30, 1944, and reported to San Diego, California, for basic training. Upon completion of basic training, he attended Land- ing Craft School at Coronado, California, located across the bay from San Diego. Here he received specialized training in opera- tion of landing craft boats used in transporting troops and personnel from ship to shore in the war zone. Billy then went aboard the U.S.S. Granville (APA 171) at Astoria, Oregon (which had been assigned to the Pacific Fleet) on November 21, 1944. There he attained the rating of Coxswain and operated one of its 26LCVP landing crafts as well as one of its two smoke boats used to generate smoke screens around the mother ship during enemy attacks. The Granville was an Assault Personnel Amphibious ship built by a Kaiser Shipyard in Portland, Oregon, in 57 days. Thus, the crew dubbed it a "57 day wonder." The ship carried torrps to many of the South Pacific Islands, including the Marshalls, Marianas, Caroline, Philippines, Admir- alty, and New Guinea. They participated in carrying in the occupational troops and transported the sick and wounded from the islands back to hospital ships or back to the U.S. It was during some of these trips to the islands that he was able to go ashore and that he saw the vast destruction of the islands. The Gran- ville participated in the assault on Okinawa on May 6, 1945, and later brought in security personnel on August 5, 1945. Although the war was officially over on the last trip to Okinawa, there were several Japanese suicide aircraft attacks on the U.S. ships in the harbor, including the U.S.S. Granville. These attacks rendered several of our ships disabled. It was during one of these attacks that his ship, along with her sister ships, fired upon and destroyed one of the suicide planes before it crashed into his ship. The Granville received a unit citation for its action and received a battle star for its efforts. Later, his ship helped in delivering the first occupational troops to Japan where they established a Command Post at Osaka, Japan. Billy's last endeavor aboard the Granville was in "Operation Magic Carpet," a task force wherein many, many troops on various islands in the South Pacific were gathered up and transported back to the United States. His last voyage aboard the Granville ended on December 4, 1945, when they delivered 2018 veterans to the docks of San Fran- cisco after having chalked up a total of 58,113 miles at sea. At this time, he departed his ship for a much needed leave back to Greensburg. After his leave, he spent several weeks at the Algiers Naval Base in New Orleans before being sent back to San diego where he was asigned to the U.S.S. Williams (DE 372). He spent several months aboard the Williams as Deck Coxswain and aided in the preparation of the ship's "moth ball" storage pro- cedures. When he had obtained his necessary points for discharge he was sent to Camp Wallace, Texas, where he received his dis- charge on June 8, 1946. One incident Billy happily recalls was that on one trip when the Granville was transporting troops overseas, he was walk- ing the deck and saw Glen Rohner (who was among the troops being moved overseas). Glen told him that Murphy Bridges was also a- board ship. Billy mused about the odds of seeing these former school mates among the thousands of men aboard ship. For his service in the U.S. Navy, Billy received credit for 15 months sea duty and was awarded medals for his partici- pating in the American Area Campaign, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (with one battle star), the Occupation of Japan, as well as the World War II Victory Medal. Billy returned to his home in Greensburg and, like so many of his compatriots, returned to college. He entered Southeastern Louisiana College (now University) majoring in Agriculture. He married Betty Anderson on May 6, 1948, and thereafter continued his college part-time while working as an instructor in the On- the-Farm Training Program for returning veterans. He graduated from SLC in 1951. Among his work career were 30 years service with the Louisiana Public Health System, retiring in 1982. He and Betty are the parents of a daughter and a son and they now have three granddaughters. Since retirement, they have enjoyed traveling and particularly in connectin with Billy's hobbies. He is an avid rock and fossil collector and has many interesting specimens from throughout the United States and South America. One of his most prized pieces is some petri- fied wood found in St. Helena Parish. He is also interested in Native American artifacts and culture. His hobbies have prepared him well for his retirement, which he enjoys. Billy has also attended several reunions of each of his Navy ships and he has enjoyed visiting with his ship buddies and recounting their days aboard their ships. - - - - - Newspaper Clippings: 29 Sept. 1944 "Billie" Carter, Edlest son of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter and the late Mr. R.T. Carter, is home on a 10 day furlough after completing his basic training. He is now sta- tioned at San Diego, California. 5 Jan. 1945 William B. Carter (Billie) s 2/C is on board ship somewhere in the Pacific. He left for the Navy June 30th of this year after finishing one term of work at Texas A & M College. He completed his boot training at San Diego, California, after which he was on leave for a few days here at his home visiting his mother, Mrs. Robt. T. Carter and two brothers, Bob, Jr., and Burrell. He is the eldest son of the late Robt. T. Carter. * * * * *