Duty at Pearl Harbor
In early 1944, Pearl Harbor was vast collection of Navy equipment, from light bulbs to battle ships, spread over 20 square miles or so from shore line to the base's front gate. The place was (and perhaps still is) the greatest concentration of naval might ever assembled in one place. Pearl was the Kid's vast domain to roam and explore, as though part of a big adventure.
Guard duty was no different than guard duty the world over, except that this was Pearl Harbor — where it all started on 7 December 1941. The Kid often walked right by the sunken hulls of the ships that were sunk on that Day of Infamy.
Each time the guard was mounted he was assigned a different sector of the harbor to patrol and set sentries. After setting the guards he was free to roam the sector he'd been assigned. Each guard post had to be checked to inquire of any and all happenings on that particular post. Most of the time nothing happened, but he still had to inspect the posts and area. It was routine to check posts for changes of orders and to instruct the guards of their duties. All guards are bound by the Corps' General Orders, learned in boot camp and which all Marines are supposed to remember for the rest of his life. Most Marines do, except that versions differ, depending on who is around when they are recalled.
He'd walk the route from one post to another, or he could hop on a tractor- pulled trolley that constantly circled the area during daylight hours. At night he walked the distance at a leisurely pace with his trusty .45 slapping his thigh at every step. Along the dry docks and submarine pens, around the storage sheds and oil-tank farms, into communications buildings and office complexes. In the mornings as the civilians would be going to work, around 0730~0800, he'd stand along the routes the secretaries took to their buildings and check out the women. They were often very pretty and nicely dressed. Secretaries held the base together with their talent and abilities, serving the harbor's various Navy, Marine, and civilian composites.
Coffee and booze
Sometimes it'd be necessary for the Kid to post a guard aboard a vessel anchored in the harbor. He'd take a Higgins boat out to the ship and post the guard at the appropriate place. Generally it was on a hold of liquor that was being unloaded; theft from these cargoes was enormous. The guard was no great impediment to thieves as most guards didn't know what to look for in the first place. It was easy to sneak a few bottles when the guard's back was turned.
The ships were manned by civilian crews that were fed very well. There was always a great pot of coffee on the huge ranges in a ship's galley. It was boiling hot and strong enough to take the enamel off your teeth, but it did keep the crew awake on watch. The coffee was seldom freshly remade. They just added more water and dumped more coffee into the pot. As a result, coffee poured like oil from those great pots. They always took the guard a cup to keep him alert on the early-morning watch.
Shore partrol
The length and breadth of the harbor was the Kid's domain, so to speak. He covered every inch of the vast complex on foot, both on duty and off. There were many cafeterias on the base and some of them had fairly good food at cheap prices. They were there to serve the civilian workers, who were several thousand strong. They were from all over the States and would have get-togethers in the base's recreational areas, with people gathering for the purpose of fun, games, and drinking. Sometimes there were fights and the MPs would have to come and break it up. Most of the time, however, the get-togethers were friendly affairs that eased the homesickness that most service personnel felt.
The Navy would unload Jeeps for the various services, lining them up along the piers for transfer to the units that were to receive them. They had a few gallons of gas in the tanks, just enough to drive them a short distance. The Jeeps' keys were always in the ignition, and there would seldom be a guard on them. So, the Corporals of the Guard, who had access to the Jeeps, would drive one away and do his patrols in a Jeep. They had to be on the lookout for the O.D. (Officer of the Day ), who frequently made unannounced forays out into the guard areas. Because most of the post had telephones, the guards always let the next post know when the O.D. was out and about.
The submarine base was always an interesting place for the Kid as the presence of these wondrous machines was intriguing. He'd wonder what it'd be like to sail on one of these creatures of the deep, yet he didn't envy the crewmen who sailed these death traps. Their quarters were cramped; so small that he wondered how they could even turn around. However, submariners got the best food the Navy could afford and when they went ashore they had open liberty and were put up in one of the finest hotels on Waikiki Beach. They also got more pay than the regular Navy, but they earned it.
Pearl's dry docks
The harbor afforded many interesting places, some of which were the great dry docks. Here damaged vessels would be drawn in from the harbor's water and placed in these huge pens. Then the water would be pumped out and the ships would settle down onto support blocks aligned to each ship's particular hull configuration. The docks were large enough to allow a number of vessels into them at one time, and work would proceed on several ships concurrently, thus speeding repairs and the ships' return to war duty.
As the water was pumped out there'd be fish trapped in the docks. The native workers would catch the fish with their bare hands or sometimes using a small gig. This afforded onlookers great fun to watch them. There were also crabs, which the locals often ate raw.
On each of the locks, which kept seawater from filling the great pens, guards were placed to check the IDs of everyone who passed over the gates. This was supposed to prevent saboteurs from having access via which they could sabotage the docks. It was a complete waste of manpower as there was so many people passing through that it was impossible to properly police such a multitude. Besides, blowing up those docks would've required more explosives than two men could have carried, not to mention the knowledge needed to place them in the right place. The guards were, at best, a show of force.
