From “The Mad Hooligan Story” by Brooks Hamilton
In 1944 when LST 832 was commissioned in Pittsburgh, there stretched ahead for her crew of 124, months and even years away from everything familiar in a strange and unnatural life with no women, save one nondescript female mongrel dog-mascot beloved by all. And all of this on a little bottle 328 feet long, 50 feet wide and about 50 feet in depth from main deck to the bottom of the keel. L.S.T. 832, called various names by her crew, some harsh, some fond, would take them wherever the whims of war and strategy might dictate. (Whim or strategy? Hard to tell sometimes!) She was, indeed, a small container for all those men to have to stay in or on for weeks on end, most of the time at sea with no other place to go. One thing is sure, in that kind of situation men have to learn to live with one another or else fight a second war aboard ship along with the one outside! There were good times and bad, as this sorting out happened in the first months of the ship’s life; and the terror that came with the outside war always seemed the worst, so we learned to get along with those in the same boat. The bad times were aggravated by the uncertainty of life in war and the irritable, abrasive nature of togetherness under those circumstances, along with the absence of familiar and normal things: girls, home, school. There was the knowledge out on the broad briny deep that none of those things were at hand. The good part of life aboard the 832 turned out to be what was, with great irony, sometimes the bad. It was for each man his fellow crewmen, these other bits and pieces of humanity one could see and hear and talk to about fears, hopes, dreams and anxieties. This, the fact of others close in the same spot, more than country, common enemy, service tradition, or anything else, made life bearable for those long months.
In 1976 we learned that our captain, Warren H. Young, was a federal judge in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Skipper was a most enthusiastic supporter of bringing his old crew together again. In 1979, he alone organizd our second reunion, a never to be forgotten affair. The reunion was held in the Captain’s hometown of St. Croix, USVI. For one week, the crew and their families were welcomed and feted by the people of St. Croix, the major industries and the Coast Guard who sent the cutter Dauntless to the Islands to greet us. At the age of 61, our beloved Skipper, after being diagnosed with cancer while undergoing a check up in Boston, passed away at his home in St. Croix. The following is an excerpt from an interview in The Mad Hooligan Story where in his own words Warren Young talks about his post war years. “I knew nothing about the Virgin Islands, but after checking out St. Croix, I found it to be strikingly similar to Saipan — my favorite island in the Pacific. I chose St. Croix for my permanent home.
“Then I opened a bar, called it the “Rubiyat” after the Alden cutter I had in Chicago. I also became a real estate broker. Then in 1952, the law business picked up and I began devoting my time to it, in fact, quite a bit of over time.
“I shamefully and immodestly state that I met with success as a lawyer, becoming the head of an eight-member firm with offices in both St. Croix and St. Thomas. However, I questioned if that was a measure of ‘success’.
“In 1971, I was appointed as a Federal District Court Judge — my appointment signed by Messrs. Nixon and Mitchell; that should be worth something someday! I was not a Republican, nor was I a politician. I was just the oldest lawyer around with the most trial experience.
“All in all, I’ve had a wonderful and full life down here. Between my wife and I, we have raised six children in St. Croix.”
Crew Roster
- Robert Allen, Nashua, NH
- Allen O. Blumer, Davenport, IA
- Harry J. Brown, Minneapolis, MN
- Hobart W. Browne, Pekin, IL
- John Carris, Vestal,NY ouzojtc@clarityconnect.com
- Dee Cloninger, Columbus, NC
- Arthur Damico, Youngstown, OH
- Frank Drake, Parma, OH
- Art Dumas, Big Pine, CA
- Jack Farrell, Homossassa, FL
- Bernard Frankllin, New York, NY
- Robert Franzago, Brewster, MA dobofran@gis.net
- Thomas Gill, Daly City, CA
- John Gorman, Valley Stream, NY
- J. A. Gregg, Oxford, PA
- Julius Haslego, Harleigh, PA
- James Helms, Peoria Heights, IL
- Chester Hill, Arcadia, OK
- Clifford Houser, Flint, MI
- Roy Hult, Venice, FL 46boats@gte.net
- William Jacobe, Houston, TX
- John L. Jones, Collingdale, PA
- Donald Kaepplinger, Park Ridge, IL
- Elbert E. Kelsey, Arcola, IL
- Pennington Kemp, Marblehead, OH
- Walter G. Kennedy, Lancaster, OH
- Irving Kirman, Scottsdale AZ
- Lawrence Kliment, St. Louis, Mo
- Eugend Lang, Gloucester, MA
- George Lehman, Kensington, MD
- Joseph Lorig, Munster, IN
- George I. Lowe, Texas City, TX
- Raymond Luiten, Sunnyvale, CA
- William MacCall, Media, PA
- Norman Mayo, Millburn, NJ
- Stanley Miritello, Seattle, WA
- Frank Nitz, Cincinnati, OH
- Richard M. Romans, Spring Hill, FL
- Frank Rotondi, San Antonio, TX
- Harry Rymer, Milford, CT
- Robert Sammartino, Okemos, MI
- William Sapp, Pinellas Park, FL
- E. F. Sauter, Trussville, AL
- Jon Shellenberger, Philadelphia, PA
- S. J. Sirgany, Miami, FL
- Russell Smeal, Havertown, PA
- Robert Southworth, Columbus, OH
- George Spering, Billerica, MA coco@mediaone.net
- James Stevens, Copoake, NY
- Carroll Thornes, Bloxam, VA
- Joseph Tudis, Gibbstown, NJ
- Richard O. Van Burkleo, Los Angeles, CA
- Homer Walker, Peachtree City, GA
- Howard E. Weedle, Covington, KY
- Leonard N. Westphal, Placentia, CA
- Martin Wetzel, Cape Coral, FL ccwetz@aol.com
- Thomas Woolridge, Cincinnati, OH
