Author: steve

8-31-13  

So, I’ve finally reached the end of the Baked Beans adventure.   After publishing the first CA-69 book, A Bird’s Eye View, my brother Bill and I put our heads together and created first a “book website” (www.ussbostonbook.com), and later a “ship-in-the-war” website (www.ca-69boston.org).

People started sending me stuff – pictures, documents, etc. of their loved ones.   Through a series of “serendipitous events,”   I was able to meet 7 men who served aboard CA-69   –   six sailors   –   all “plankowners”   (original crewmembers who were on board on Commissioning Day   –   6/30/43) and one officer – Norm Bayley, commander of the Marine detachment on board.

I decided to retell the Boston story   –   this time through the thoughts and memories of the guys who served, their diaries and notes, official documents (decklogs, war reports, etc.) and a treasure trove of official photos from the National Archives.

Volume 3 is finally finished, and is now available on Amazon, book retailers can order it, and readers can order copies that I will sign on the book website (see above.)

Also,   we will be working on major changes to both websites   –   content and visuals     –   coming to a computer near you   –   someday (soon – ish?)

steve

Aug. 9, 2013

On this day in 1945, the United States of America unleashed a hydrogen bomb over the Kyushu city of Nagasaki.   The Nagaski disaster tends to take a back seat to Hiroshima, the Honshu city that was leveled by the first Atomic bomb three days earlier.   History kind of lumps them together, as if one was just an extension of the other.

It just so happens that late yesterday, I submitted Volume 3 of “Baked Beans” to the publisher.   The events of August 6 and August 9 are very fresh in my mind. Why?   Because they get a lot of attention in this book.   For the first time in print anywhere, we meet Marine Major Norman C. Bayley, commander of the Marine Detachment of the USS Boston.   Norm came aboard in late July, 1945.   Aboard for only about a week, Norm was visited by an Admiral from the Almogordo Base (Los Alamos, NM).   He wanted Norm to go “boots on the ground” to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki (which had not been bombed yet) and determine “ground zero,” measure the width of the blast, and report “eyewitness” facts – the extent of the damage, casualties, etc.   I interviewed Norm last year.   Here is an excerpt from what he told me:

Nagasaki was a different problem [than Hiroshima] because of the terrain. The bomb took care of all those caves. But the big damage it did at Nagasaki was all the scientists and engineers   –   most of them were in Nagasaki because that’s where their factories were. They lost all these people, which they felt was their biggest loss.

When I left the ship, they said they’d meet me in Sasebo three and a half days later. So we went to Nagasaki and we knew what to expect   —   except that it was different.   How far did it penetrate into the caves?   What are the vectors of ground zero?   What were the differences between the two bombs, etc.   We spent about a day and a half there. People on the outskirts were jamming the roads. They had all kinds of injuries — walking alongside the road with all kinds of injuries — a terrible mess.

Nagasaki after the bombing. Photo by ship’s photographer Bernie Oster.

Lest we forget . . . .

 

 

 

 

7-19-2013

In the early 70’s, I met a guy named Dennis Westerlind.   We were in the same photography courses at the Worcester Art Museum School and later found ourselves in the same college.   We were pals, but I was newly married and we spun in different orbits.

Thirty years later, I began working on my first Boston book, A Bird’s Eye View.   My father had just died.   I came across a bunch of pictures in a scrapbook.   There were the usual mysterious and unidentifiable family members.   And there were dozens of pictures of Navy guys   –   guys my dad served with on the Boston.   In one of the pictures of a group of guys was a guy named Westerlind.   I looked closely, and was thinking ‘this guy looks like Dennis.   Could it be?’   Nah.   Hadn’t seen Dennis in decades.   Didn’t know if he was still around the Worcester area.   Couldn’t be   . . . what are the odds that our fathers had palled around thirty years before we bumped into each other?   No way.

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow named Gene Westerlind commented on the website., noting that his father and his uncle served on the ship. In the communications that followed, I learned that Gene is Dennis’ brother.   Dennis emailed me and sent in a bunch of pictures, including this piece from the Worcester Telegram and Gazette:

steve

6-22-13

Then and Now

I called Pat the other day just to check in and chat.   Pat is a very enthusiastic “fan” of the BOSTON books, and if you have read Vol 1 and/or Vol 2 of Baked Beans, you know that Pat has shared lots of great stories with us.

As we chatted and caught up a little, he told me that he had done a couple of songs at an annual show where he lives.   Turns out, someone (he thinks it might have been his son-in-law) took a video clip of it and posted it on youtube.   The camera work will not win any Oscars (it’s a little shaky in one or two places)   –   but I urge you to ignore all that and listen in on Pat’s performance . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfsOu3U7VlE

My friend, Pat Fedele, ol’ Mister Smoothie   . . .

steve

 

 

 

June 15, 2013

I also met Frank Studenski.   Frank was a fire director for Quad 5, an elevated 40mm gun turret on the starboard side of the ship, right near the signal bridge.

Ever since I read his AMAZING War Diary   –   U.S.S. BOSTON CA69, I’ve wanted to meet him and have a chat about the ship and his service.   Frank’s diary became the basis for my first book, A Bird’s Eye View.   In fact, I incorporated many entries form his diary into the narrative by making him a friend of the main character (my dad, William Kelly).

The first thing that struck me when I went into his house was two intricately crafted and beautifully done scale models of areas of the ship:   Quad 5, and the part of the fantail that held one catapult and an SC1 Seahawk floatplane.

Quad 5 40mm gun tub and Sky Director

Float plane catapult, fueling hoses (l), rafts and netting used by pilots for landing (r)

Frank has built models of CA-69, CAG1, the Boston submarine, the Boston man-o-war, and the Boston frigate   –   all of which are displayed at the annual Shipmates Reunion (this year’s reunion is in Alberquerque).   Frank’s model of CA-69 is also on display in Buffalo and another model on the USS Massachusetts in Battleship Cove, Fall River, MA.   He showed me pictures of all the models he built.

Frank’s uniform, some personal effects and his Japanese flag “souvenir” from the War are on display in the Stephen Ambrose D-Day Museum in New Orleans.

More on Frank and John Farkas in future posts. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY.

steve