Officers and Crew of USS LCI (L) 35

Officer and Crew Photo Taken in Newhaven, England - August 1944

Pictured Left to Right:  Bottom Row: Woolsey, Spicer, Smith, Miller, Galloway, Lewis (CO); Second Row: Berkley, Eichorn, Finnerty, Gronlund, Holman, Tuggle (partially hidden); Third Row: Michaelson, Abney, Peters, Byrd (standing), Price (standing), Reed (standing), Berry (top of head visible), Galik (top of head visible); Back Row:  Bassett, Lee, Robins, MacNeal, Breshears, Roachell, Cutillo (in front of Robins and MacNeal); Not Pictured: Laga

According to the Muster Rolls for the USS LCI (L) 35, the crew of the LCI (L) 35 were first received on board on January 25, 1943 at the Amphibious Training Base NNYD, Portsmouth, VA. However, the first entry in the ship's Deck Log for January 28th indicates that the ship was in the Philadelphia, PA area and commissioned at 1100 on this date.

The LCI (L) 35 was originally part of Flotilla One that was organized in March 1943 but become part of Flotilla Two shortly after they arrived in Nemours, Africa on April 13, 1943. Flotilla Two was under the command of Lorenzo Sherwood Sabin Jr.  See Commander Sabin's general comments on LCIs and their officers and crew below:

USS LCI (L) 35 Officers

Enlisted Personnel - LCI (L) 35
Below is a record of the all Navy personnel that were listed on the Muster Rolls for the USS LCI (L) 35 from January 1943 through November 1944. Included in this listing of personnel are a photograph (if available), the final known rating, the service dates aboard the LCI (L) 35, any transfer information, and the date and city where the sailor enlisted. Immediately following this listing is photographs of the adopted mascot for the LCI (L) 35. "Lady Luck" as she was called was a stray dog picked up in North Africa in 1943 and was on board until September 1944.

Name of Enlisted Personnel	Photo	Final Rating	Service Dates on Board LCI 35	Comment	Date Enlisted	City Where Enlisted
James Marion Abney		BM2/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		09/09/42	Macon, GA
Ralph E. Aurand	Not Available	S2/c	01/25/43 To 04/28/43	Transferred to LCI # 3 on 04/28/43	01/27/42	Not Available
Clyde Vestor Bassett		GM1/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		07/07/42	New Orleans, LA
George Berkley		MoMM3/c	12/05/43 To 11/15/44	Received Bizerte, Tunisia	09/10/43	Louisville, KY
Jonathan Berry		StM1/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		11/25/42	Richmond, VA
William "Bill" Earl Breshears		S1/c	04/08/44 To 11/15/44	Received 04/08/44 AATB Bizerte, Tunisia	07/23/43	Kansas City, MO
Edward Byrd Jr.		MoMM2/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		07/30/42	Dallas, TX
Cleo Camberg	Not Available	RM3/c	11/01/43 To 04/07/44	Received from LST #6 on 11/01/43 Transferred 04/07/44 to USS LCI(L) 10	10/07/42	Omaha, NE
Richard Joseph Cutillo		BM2/c	03/13/43 To 11/15/44	Received 03/13/43 ATB, Little Creek, VA	10/21/42	Boston, MA
Earl William Eichorn		QM1/c	03/01/43 To 11/15/44	Received 03/01/43 Amph TrBase, NNYD, Portsmouth, VA	08/21/42	New York, NY
Soloman Fanarow	Not Available	F1/c	01/25/43 To 04/28/43	Transferred to LCI #2 on 04/28/43	01/16/42	Not Available
John "Clubby" Joseph Finnerty		MoMM2/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		08/24/42	Philadelphia, PA
Stanley Galik (Dad)		SC2/c	08/17/43 To 11/15/44	Received 08/17/43 from LCI (L) Flotilla 2 Pool Bizerte, Tunisia	06/29/42	Pittsburgh, PA
William Gronlund		BM1/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		10/19/42	Jacksonville, FL
Windel Hall	Not Available	S2/c	09/13/44 To 11/15/44	Received 09/13/44 COMLCI(L) Flot 18	Not Available	Not Available
Wallace Henry Holman		BM1/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44	08/21/44 to 09/03/44 US Hospital #12, Southampton, England	07/13/42	Seattle, WA
John Laga		QM3/c	10/25/43 To 11/15/44	Received 10/25/43 AATB Bizerte, Tunisia	11/20/42	New Haven, CT
William Jackson Lee		MoMM1/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		09/01/42	Birmingham, AL
Merle E. Lovell*	Not Available	S2/c	01/25/43 To 08/16/43	Transferred 08/16/43 Naval Hospital, Bizerte Tunisia	10/28/42	Not Available
George Elmer MacNeal		RM1/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		07/02/42	Baltimore, MD
Richard Johnson Michaelson		SM1/c	03/01/43 To 11/15/44	Received 3/1/43 Amph TrBase, NNYD, Portsmouth, VA	03/11/42	Denver, CO
Harold L. Phillips	Not Available	QM1/c	01/25/43 To 10/25/43	Transferred to AATB Bizerte, Tunisia 10/25/43	07/08/42	St. Louis, MO
Allen Peters		MoMM2/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		07/28/42	New York, NY
Robert W. Procht	Not Available	S2/c	01/25/43 To 03/01/43	Transferred to ATB Little Creek 3/1/43	Not Available	Not Available
Delmar C. Price		BM2/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		10/30/42	St. Louis, MO
Walter Prosser	Not Available	S2/c	01/25/43 To 03/01/43	Transferred to ATB Little Creek 03/01/43	Not Available	Not Available
David H. Reed Brother of Philip	Not Available	S2/c	01/25/43 To 03/01/43	Transferred to ATB Little Creek 03/01/43 (Passenger – Flotilla One)	10/31/42	Milwaukee, WI
Philip Winspear Reed		MoMM1/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		10/31/42	Milwaukee, WI
Frank Roachell		GM3/c	03/18/44 To 11/15/44		10/30/43	Hattiesburg, MS
Clarence Wilford Robins		SM2/c	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		06/07/42	Oklahoma City, OK
Walter Henry Slonchka	Not Available	F1/c	09/17/44 To 10/02/44	Received 09/07/44 ComLCI(L) Flot 18 Transferred 10/02/44 Com LCI (L) Flot 18 FFT to Vicarage FFA	Not Available	Not Available
John Oran Smith		CBM	03/09/43 To 11/15/44	Received 03/09/43 Amph TrBase,, NNYD, Portsmouth, VA	11/01/23	Indianapolis, IN
William C. Spicer		CEM(AA)	01/25/43 To 11/15/44		11/02/42	New York, NY
Harvey Summers	Not Available	RM2/c	03/01/43 To 09/12/43	Received 03/01/43 Transferred to Naval Hosp, Bizerte 09/12/43	03/06/40	Not Available
Henry Grady Tuggle	Not Available	PHM1/c	03/18/44 To 11/15/44		10/29/42	Atlanta, GA
Glenn A. Vickjord	Not Available	MM3/c	01/25/43 To 01/05/44	Transferred 01/05/44 AATB Bizerte, Tunisia	07/16/42	Minneapolis, MN
Frank Joseph Votto	Not Available	S1/c (RM)	09/07/44 To 10/02/44	Received 09/07/44 ComLCI(L) Flot 18 Transferred 10/02/44 Com LCI (L) Flot 18 FFT to Vicarage FFA	Not Available	Not Available
Charles Henderson Woolsey		MoMM1/c	03/01/43 To 08/21/44	Received 03/01/43 Transferred 08/21/44 COMLCI(L) Flot 18, FFT to USA	04/13/37	Omaha, NE

Source: National Archives Muster Rolls USS LCI (L) 35

* Merle E. Lovell - Ships Cook until replaced by Stanley Galik (Dad) on 08/17/43

Cully Hartman Jr. S2/c -Passenger - Received on Board 03/18/43 -Transferred as Base Personnel to AATB Mostaganem on 04/30/43

Charles I. Walker S2/c – Received 03/11/43 Enlisted 02/02/42

John Popma S2/c – Passenger - Received on Board 03/18/43 -Transferred as Base Personnel to AATB taganem on 04/30/43

Willie Jones STM2/c – Received On Board 04/11/44 from AATB Bizerte, Tunisia – Transferred to USS LCI (L) 209 on 04/14/44

Lady Luck

Lady Luck - LCI 35 Mascot John Finnerty adopted "Lady Luck" while the LCI 35 was in North Africa.  She instantly became part of the LCI 35 family and served as the ship's mascot.   John indicated that she was extremely friendly and playful and became his "good drinking buddy". Lady remained on board the LCI 35 throughout the war until her death in September 1944. After Lady died, Dad placed a "halo" on "Good Old Lady!" in the photo on the left.

Commander Lorenzo Sherwood Sabin, Jr. - Comments

Age and Experience of Officers and Crew

For the most part the crew of the LCI (L) 35 were young and inexperienced with most of the shipmates enlisting in the Navy in mid-1942.

Officers on LCIs, including the LCI 35, were also young and inexperienced. In fact, the initial observations of Commander Sabin in evaluating the overall experience of the officers and crews of the LCIs under his command and noted in his War Diary report of December 29, 1942 generally found that:

"Officers are woefully lacking in instructions in celestial navigation, communications, engineering and navy customs. The majority are willing, earnest, sincere and anxious to learn."

In the same report he noted that:

"With regard to enlisted personnel, the principal difficulty has been of course lack of experience again..." However, Commander Sabin further noted that since the LCIs were ships with small crews, "...there are 3 ratings which are essential and which should be properly filled. These are loading deck petty officer (Boatswains Mate), the leading engineering petty officer and the ship's cook...Someone who knows how to cook is essential on this type of craft because of morale..."

Note: The Deck Logs for the LCI 35 indicated that Commander Sabin was on board the LCI 35 for chow on 2 occasions during his tenure as Flotilla 2 Commander. The first was June 8, 1943 and the second time was on September 17, 1943 shortly after the Invasion of Italy at Salerno. I'm sure that Dad, who trained as a cook and served in this capacity on the USS LCI (L) 229, with the Flotilla 2 Staff (Pool), and aboard the USS LCI (L) 35, would have really appreciated hearing the comments regarding the importance of a cook that Commander Sabin made.

These initial observations related to the inexperience of the officers and crew made by Commander Sabin may have been accurate when he assumed command of this Flotilla of LCIs, but during the many months that the LCI (L) 35 and other LCIs participated in naval operations during World War II, LCI officers and crew not only gained the needed experience to perform their duties, but also earned the respect and admiration of Captain Sabin and the Allied Forces for a job well done during the war. When Captain Sabin turned over the command of Flotilla 2 to E.W. Wilson on October 12, 1943, he expressed his appreciation for the Flotilla and the value of the LCIs and the work of their officers and crew. He said:

...Nothing would please me more than to continue with Flotilla Two. They are a fine bunch of sturdy little fighting ships with an inspiring bunch of fighting American men. Big men in little ships. We don't have all of them we started with...But our losses have been amazing light...One ship lost [LCI 1] and not more than twenty [men wounded] out of a total of 30 ships with approximately 105 officers and about 800 men. I mean MEN!!!...

- Personal War Notes - Commander Lorenzo Sherwood Sabin, Jr.