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TI: Okay. And then you were there for a couple months. And then, and then what happened?

MW: Yeah, a couple months and came back to the company, and then waited for a ship to come home. 'Cause most of us had enough points. So the last several months in Italy was fun. I mean, I enjoyed it.

TI: When your company went back on a ship, what was the mood of the company?

MW: You mean back on the ship coming home?

TI: Yes.

MW: We all didn't come back together like we went over.

TI: Oh, you didn't. I thought you would go back as, sort of, L Company.

MW: No. But it went, we went back according to points and location. In fact, I came back on a small Liberty Ship. And our quarters, unlike the five-layer beds, we stayed in the quarters where the gunners for the Liberty Ships were. So there were just a few bunks in a room. And we were mid-ship. And it would have been nice, much nicer, but we got home in November. So it was rough seas and little Liberty Ships, you know? You're rockin' all over the place. In fact, it took us an extra long time to get home. We got blown off course several times. It was... very interesting.

TI: Other than a rough ship ride, what was the mood coming back? Were you guys pretty, all pretty excited to come back to the States?

MW: Well, we were gettin' very impatient, because it was taking us so long. And these small ships didn't have the power to go through the... like most of the fellows came home in big transports, that didn't, weren't affected too much by the weather. But I happened to catch a Liberty Ship, and you know how small they were. Took us a long time. In fact, they told us we'd, they thought we, they might have to go to South America to avoid a storm. That's the only time I said, "Oh boy." [Laughs] But it didn't happen. Took us a long time to come home.

<End Segment 40> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.