October 2005
I was LST 722's first engineering officer, serving with Captain V. M.Mechant,
Jr., a mustang and former (and later after the war) a Chief Quartermaster.
My fellow officers were Ens William Fox Jr., our first First Lieutenant,
Ens. H. Keith (Hank) Owens, Gunnery Officer, Ens. R. Stuart Goodwin, Communications
Officer, Ens. Vincent G. Doyle, Supply Officer, Ens. Joseph S. Altman,
Supernumerary Officer who later swapped positions with Bill Fox Jr., Ens.
Wilhart, M.Ranta, Supernumerary Officer, who took on the job of navigator
along with Captain Merchant. We had several different Executive Officers
who were Lts. (JG). Each time one left for one reason or another, I became
the acting Exec. Later we got an Exec and another Supernumerary from an
LST that had broached in the Halmeharas. Exec's surname Kruger and Supernumerary
surname was BenRubi. I don't remember their first names. Kruger and the
captain did not get along and he and BenRubi transferred out. I became
and remained the Executive Officer and Chief Engineer until I was relieved
by a young Ensign from Montana in Tokyo Bay after our third trip from Subic
Bay to Japan. I was a Lt.(JG) at that time.
After the war had ended two other officers joined our ship in Subic
Bay just after the war ended, Ens. Severo Italo DeStefano and Ens. Manuel
Pinero.
Our first Chief Boatswain's Mate was Percy Brinkley, who would have
been retired if the war hadn't come along.
Other enlisted men whom I remember fondly were Harry Woods, MM1C and
later Chief MM from Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, EM1C and later Chief EM. Rene
L. Jean, and F1C Julian James Govek and the rest of the black gang who
were good sound people with whom I am proud to have served.
I have a substantial number of pictures that were taken before we unloaded
the LCT that we and the crane with which we crossed the Pacific and a picture
of the ship taken at the same time. I would be happy to share these pictures
with anyone who would like to see them.
I haven't seen any of my fellow officers since Bill Fox Jr. and his
new bride stopped to visit on their way back from their honeymoon in the
summer of 1948. He had studied chemical engineering but became a minister.
Go Figure. I also had a visit from Manny Pinero, Vincent Doyle and Joe
Altman in about 1954 and saw Vincent a few times before that in 1946. Later,
I visited a few times with Hank Owens in Pittsburgh where I had traveled
for work. Much later, when I was in my mid 60s I visited with Clyde Mabin
in Red Wing, Minnesota during a solo bike ride from Duluth, MN to Texarkana,
TX. (I became an avid cyclist and have ridden more than 49,000 miles mostly
solo, including a coast to coast trip. In addition I became addicted to
scuba diving and have made more th 600 dives around the world since 1964,
having first gone under water on the end of a hose with air from our clutch
air compressors and a cobbled together face mask to change screws that
we bent on a landing at Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines.)
As I approach my 84th birthday, I am still working full time as an engineering
consultant but am considering retiring to spend mor time with my wife of
61 years.
I would love to hear from any of my former shipmates who are still alive
and swap tales.
Thanks for your quick reply. Attached is a small selection of
photos, scanned from some
taken in November 1944. There are several more in my files including
one of most of the original crew. As time permits, I will scan that
one in and forward it to you. Of some interest is that one of the
members of the MGT Consulting Network is Carl F. Andreone, P.E., Fellow
of the ASME, who was an LCVP coxswain in Subic Bay at the same time our
ship was based there.
For my children and grandchildren’s interest, I have written what I
call an autobiographical novel. The chapters that seem to interest
my family most are those that describe events during my service in the
navy. During WWII my older brother volunteered for the infantry despite
having two children that guaranteed him a draft deferment. Later
my younger brother flew an F4F Jet in the navy, a nephew served two tours
as a helicopter crew chief in Viet Nam and his son is now serving in the
army in Iraq. You would think that in all these years we could learn
how to avoid such conflicts, but I guess it will never be and we have to
fulfill our duty to serve.
Best regards,
Stanley Yokell, P.E., Fellow of the ASME
4390 Caddo Parkway
Boulder, CO 80303-3607
Tel 303 494 2242 home
Tel 303 494 9608 office
e-mail syokel<at>mgt-inc.
website http://www.mgt-inc.com.
Stanley Yokell Gallery
%20Stanley%20Yokell%2C%20Subic%20Bay%20December%201944.jpg "Lt. (JG) Stanley Yokell, Subic Bay December 1944.jpg")