Here are two photos from the South Pacific in 1945. The first was taken on a landing craft that we were using to sweep mines on the beaches of British North Borneo. The call name for the radio on the landing craft was "Idiot One." The Navy apparently thought we were idiots to sweep beaches with such a small vessel. It was during the sweeping of the beach with this small landing craft that we received some machine gun fire. We dodged left and right to avoid the shots and, fortunately, were successful. This was the only time I ever fired my pistol at the enemy. I am sure I didn't hit anybody, but firing it seemed to be appropriate under the circumstances. The second was taken on the bridge of the YMS 6, the yard minesweeper that I served on. I don't remember the name of the sailor with me in the second photo.
