On the "Lee Side" of My Navy Life
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These are some of my sea stories. I joined the U.S. Navy on October fourth, nineteen thirty-eight in Salt Lake City, Utah. These are true tales. As a youngster I was always fascinated by the military, mostly the Marines, but never the Army. My Father was in the Army. He was a private in the 99th Transportation Corps of the 35th Engineers in WWI. I think I saw every movie about the Marines. I wanted to be a Gunnery Sergeant so everyone would call me "GUNNY". One summer day in 1937 before my senior year in high school I went after the mail. We lived in the middle of the block at 827 N. 8th and our mailbox was on the corner of Sublet and 8th. That’s as far as the mailman would deliver the mail. As I was standing by the mailbox I heard an airplane and looked up. As I looked up I could see the shadow of the airplane coming up the street and it came right over me. I could actually feel the shadow. I knew it was a good omen. I was only 16 and too young to join the Marines but that is what I wanted to do. The Marine recruiting station was in the basement of the Federal Building on south Arthur. I was on the Pocatello High School wrestling team. After the wrestling season was over in the middle of March I decided to camp out at the Marine Recruiting Station door until I was a Marine. Every night after school I went straight to the Federal Building and the Marine Recruiting Station. It was all locked up. I would sit on the bench in the hall and wait. The Navy Recruiting Station was right across the hall and at 5 o’clock the Navy Recruiter would lock his door and leave. I would wait a few more minutes then I would go home pretty dejected. One evening the Navy recruiter stopped and asked if there was something I wanted. I told him I was waiting to join the Marines. He said good night to me and left. Every afternoon it was the same thing – no Marine Recruiter. About the second week the Navy Recruiter invited me into his office. He said, "It is more comfortable in here than in the cold hall." He showed me pictures of ships and Navy life and some of his travels and experiences. I told him flat out that I was going to be a Marine. He said, "O.K," but every afternoon he would keep talking about the Navy. One Saturday he took me to Salt Lake City to the main recruiting station. He bought me lunch and some treats. We talked. He was sure a nice man. His name was M.D. Davis GM1c. After about a month of going there, I never did see the Marine Recruiter. I decided the Navy sounded pretty good and I would like to be a sailor. That afternoon he had a bunch of papers for me to fill out. I filled them all out and signed them and took them home for my parent’s signature. I was only seventeen so my parent’s signature was required. My Mother was HORRIFIED, my Father understood. This was the last of April and I had until June to graduate. My Father asked that I finish school first and I agreed. Gunners Mate Davis had a long talk with my parents. He explained that if I went in before I was eighteen it was considered a short cruise and the Navy preferred a regular cruise. It would be better if I waited until I was eighteen, which would be in August. In September I got my call for the October quota. My Father took me to the train depot in his l925 Chrysler. My Mother was at home still crying. 1 October, I was in Salt Lake City, Utah. 4 October 1938 I was sworn into the UNITED STATES NAVY. What a day. I will remember it the rest of my life.
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About the Book
ON THE ‘LEE SIDE’ OF MY NAVY LIFE is Christopher Harame’s way of sharing his adventures from when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1938. His travels through the Panama Canal for U.S. Navy Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean to ship overhaul in the Navy Yard at Pearl Harbor T.H. back to the States for the San Francisco Exposition are chronicled in these series of short stories. 9, September 1939, a state of emergency was declared in the United States and Pearl Harbor T.H. became the setting for further adventures. Christopher Harame was a Gunners Mate on the USS Detroit at Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 attack by the Japanese forces.
This book contains many short stories filled with adventures crossing the equator, attending deep sea diving school in the Navy Yard at Washington D.C., and his detached duty to the U.S. Army Air Force at Eglin Field Florida as a deep sea diver. The book details the marriage to his sweetheart in Reno, Nevada. Harame recounts his service aboard the USS Greenlet, a submarine rescue vessel, as Chief Gunners Mate, then to advanced gunners mate school in Washington D.C. and finally return to Navy Yard Mare Island California to put the USS Nereus, a submarine tender into commission when the war ended.
About the Author
Christopher Harame has been an adventurous person, even as a child. He believes every day is an adventure waiting to happen. This inspired him to join the U.S. Navy right after high school in 1938. The adventures started right away in "Boot camp". Then he was assigned to the USS Detroit, a light cruiser that took him through the Panama Canal to war games in the Caribbean. Then he headed to Navy Yard Pearl Harbor T.H. for a ships overhaul. September 9 1939 a state of emergency was declared due to the war in Europe. The USS Detroit was stationed in Pearl Harbor on 7 December, 1941, when the Japanese Forces attacked the Hawaiian Islands. During Harame’s tour on the USS Detroit he served as a Gunners mate and a deep-sea diver second class. He attended diving school in Washington D.C. and was rated as Diver First class. Harame was transferred to Eglin Field Florida to dive for the Army Air Force. He married his sweetheart in Reno Nevada in 1943. He was transferred to the USS Greenlet, a submarine rescue vessel as a Chief Gunners Mate in charge of the salvage crew. He attended advanced gunners mate school then assigned to put the USS Nereus, a submarine tender in commission. The war ended but Harames adventures did not. He returned home and joined the U.S. Navy Sea Bees, retiring as a Builder Chief. He then spent forty years as a cabinetmaker and carpenter. He is now retired and living at home in Pocatello, Idaho preserving his adventures by writing books.