All Ahead Full

Book excerpt: LSM 215 Veteran William M. Craighead recounts his memoirs of LSM 215 life during World War II. *Read about the USS LSM 215 with its crew of young men, two-thirds of whom were younger than 20; and their 22 months together aboard ship. Coming from all parts of America, most had never been to sea before. Traveling on the open ocean on a landing craft became a staggering adventure but they learned to adapt to long periods at sea on a vessel with a shallow draft and no keel... *The part LSM 215 played in the war in the Pacific...the invasion of Okinawa. The historic battle included the largest onslaught of the war by suicidal kamikaze pilots. It was at Okinawa that the Navy suffered its heaviest losses in ships and manpower during World War II. Miraculously, all the crew survived with two shipmates receiving the Purple Heart as a result of kamikaze attacks... *Their journey as they took occupation troops and supplies into Northern China, a China still ancient and medieval. Finally, homeward bound, after only a few days at sea, the ship began to leak badly at several vulnerable locations. Read how the crew worked day and night for two weeks, manning the pumps until the got to Pearl Harbor. They were going home, so it was ALL AHEAD FULL! *And much more...