Sid Note: It seems to be a characteristic of World War II vets that they never talked much about their experiences. Recently the widow of Bill Harrison shared this brief story -- one of the few he ever told her about the war.

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A very short story from a member of UDT-14

Bill told of going ashore with his team, not sure where, and after he had completed his assignment, he swam back out to where he was supposed to rendezvous with the pickup boat, only to find that he had somehow missed the pickup.

So, his only alternative was to swim to a nearby coral reef where he stayed for three days.

He said that his legs and feet were cut up badly by contact with the coral on the swim in and while he lay on the rock, hoping to be picked up.

Eventually he was picked  up, of course. He said he spent several days in sick bay aboard the USS BULL (I think) recovering from the infection from his contact with the coral. Evaline (his widow) said his legs forever after carried the scars of his encounter with that coral reef.

Update -- 22 June 2000

Awards and some duty stations listed in Bill Harrison's Naval records:

Bronze Star, Victory Medal, Asiatic-Pacific 6 stars, Philippine Liberation,and American Theatre.

On the back of his 1949 discharge is World War II Victory Medal, American Defense, Philippine Liberation Campaign Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, China Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and Bronze Star.

Also listed on the 1947 discharge are the duty stations: NRS Indianapolis, Indiana; Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois; Submarine Net Depot, San Diego, California; USS J. Franklin Bell (APA-16); Underwater Demolition, Maui,T.H.; USS Askari, (ARL-30); Advance Fire Control School, Washington, D.C.; Fleet Training Center, Tiberon Island, California; and USS Lloyd Thomas (DD764).

At one point during the swim a destroyer could not get in close enough to render fire cover, because of it's draught. Commander Onderdonk radioed the BULL (our A.P.D.) and she steamed right in all guns blazing. In fact they had to hose the barrels to cool them down.

The Kimakazes played hell with our ships. One Australian cruiser, with four big stacks, took seven planes. Asked if she needed help, she replied, "No thank you, we've been hit before." Two of her stacks were curled in half, which, had it not been so tragically real, it would have done well in a Laurel & Hardy movie. Before leaving Pearl Harbor, Cmmdr. Onderdonk obtained 12 50-cal machine guns with the help of the famous piano player Eddie Duchin. While the skipper of the BULL agreed to mounting some 50s on the fantail, he was shocked to find 6 on each side ... but allowed them to remain. As it turned out, this was a wise decision since the team was so convinced that both Bill Harrison and Herb Spears each splashed a Kamikazi. These guns also played a big role at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

One comical incident occurred at Lingayen which kept the team laughing for some time. Cmmdr. Onderdonk had two swimmers in his command boat as backups. Standing off the river that bordered the town of San Fabian, he spotted some suspicious objects floating down to the Gulf. Additionally a few hundred yards south of the river was not being reconnoitered so he dispatched Joe Flynn and Ted Kelsey - the backups - to cover the area. Flynn was told to check out the objects that were floating down the river... they may be mines. In his best sneak and peak fashion, Flynn swam up to the mouth of the river, took an exceptionally deep breath and went under water as far as he could up river. On surfacing, he was right in the middle of the objects .. but they weren't mines ... they were the results of the villagers' morning "constitutions" replete with toilet paper and all! What a revolting experience on one's first U.D.T. operation. But it was, as before mentioned ... a great laugh.