The Rose Sisters' Island Adventure

by Linda R. Mills

Carol took the toothbrush out of her mouth and repeated, “I said, I can hardly wait to go on the boat.”

  “It’s a ship, not a boat. How can you be a Navy kid and not know that?” Susie corrected.

  Mom called out to us. “Girls, enough chatter. We need to get to the wharf.”

  We had stayed overnight at Mare Island Naval Base, and a truck had picked up all of our suitcases early in the morning to take them to the ship where the crates with our belongings were already aboard. A gray US Navy car pulled up in front of the Quonset hut where we had spent the night, and a young sailor jumped out to open the car doors for us. We all piled in and made the drive to the dock. It seemed to take forever. Soon we spotted a huge ship at the end of the wharf.

  “Daddy, that ship looks even bigger than the destroyers you were on,” I told him.

  “That’s the USS Patrick. It’s a transport ship. There will be lots of Navy families just like us on board. Some are heading to Hawaii, then some will get off at Kwajalein like us, and the rest will go on to Guam or the Philippines.”

  We got out of the car, walked down the wharf to the ship, and then up the gangplank to go aboard. A nice officer told us where our cabins would be, and we headed in that direction. The passageways were narrow and everything was that same US Navy gray.

  Finally we got to our cabins. Our suitcases for the trip were already there. Mom and Daddy were in one cabin, and we three girls were next to them in another cabin. The bathroom, Daddy called it the head, was a little further down the passageway. Our bunks were attached to the wall, and the outside corners had chains attaching them to the ceilings. Olive green blankets covered each of the mattresses. Centered on the outside wall was a circular window called a porthole. I ran to it and looked out. I could see the water in the bay and off in the distance, the Golden Gate Bridge.

  “Come on, girls. Let’s go topside. I want us to watch the ship shove off,” Dad said.

  We tramped down the passageway, back out on deck, and walked over to the railing to watch the activity on the wharf. Several people had gathered to wave goodbye to their friends and families, but our family was in Minnesota and friends were back in San Diego.

  A band was assembling, and I could hear the musicians randomly playing notes, warming up with their instruments. There were sailors hurrying everywhere and untying ropes that held the ship to the wharf. We heard the engines rev up and with a shudder, slowly the big ship moved away from her moorings.

  Suddenly, the band struck up the song Anchors Aweigh.

  All of us yelled and cheered and waved for a long time. I could still hear the strains of Anchors Aweigh as I looked up and saw that we were sailing right under the Golden Gate Bridge. My mind recorded that moment in my memory.

  Wow, I know this is something I will never forget! I thought.

  When we were finally out of the harbor and at sea, Dad said, “Let’s go exploring and see what is on the ship.”

  Mom shook her head. “John, I think I will go lie down for a bit. I haven’t gotten my sea legs yet.”

  “Okay, Evie. I know you’re not much of a sailor. We’ll come and get you in time for dinner.”

  We set off exploring, and I quickly discovered I had to sort of bend my knees and hold on to the walls to stay standing straight. The ship definitely rocked back and forth.

  “Don’t worry,” Dad laughed. “You’ll get used to it. You’ll get your sea legs.”

  We found the dining room and discovered that we were scheduled for the first seating at five-thirty that night. It was pretty big with lots of tables and chairs. The tables were bolted to the floor. After trying to walk on this rolling ship, I could understand why.

  As we approached the aft deck, we got a surprise.

  “A swimming pool!” screamed Carol and Susie. We rushed over to it.

  “This is going to be the best eleven days ever,” I grinned.

  Dad asked, “Can you figure out what is different about this pool?”

  “You mean besides the fact that it is on a ship?” Susie shouted.

  “Yes, besides that.”

  I looked around. It had a shallow and deep end, a diving board, a ladder, and deck chairs along its edge.

  “I give up. I don’t see anything different except we are out in the middle of the ocean.”

  Dad reached down and scooped water from the pool in his hand and playfully flicked it at our faces. “I’ll give you a clue,” he said.

  “What? Huh?” I reached up to wipe the water from my checks and lips. “Wait a minute. I get it now.” I smiled. “This tastes salty.”

  “Right,” Dad nodded. “This pool is filled with water from the ocean. It’s salt water. It will be easy for you three to float in there.”

  “That is so cool,” replied Carol.

  On our way back to our cabin, we passed a mom walking along the deck with five kids. The littlest one could walk but probably wasn’t even two years old.

  “Look,” Susie pointed to them. “She has that kid on a leash.”

  Susie was right. The little boy had some sort of harness attached to his upper body, and the mom held a long leash that was attached to the back of the harness.

  “That’s awful,” I criticized. “That kid is not a dog.”

  “It isn’t hurting him and besides, she probably doesn’t want to have to yell kid overboard,” Susie joked.

  Once again my mind took a picture. Something else for my “I will always remember” memory bank.

  “I have another surprise,” Dad stated.

  “More salt water?” Carol joked.

  Dad chuckled. “No, look in here.”

  We peeked into a dark room with no portholes and about twenty folding chairs. In the back was a folding table and a movie projector.

  “Movies?” Susie asked.

  “Yes. The purser told me that every afternoon at two o’clock, they show a movie. That will be something fun for you girls to do.”

  “Boy, this trip is getting better by the minute,” I said.

  We stopped by the room to get Mom and returned to the dining room. There were lots of new faces and laughter. Everyone on the ship seemed pretty excited about the trip and about the new places they were going to live. When we finally settled in our bunks that first night, it didn’t take long for the gentle rolling of the ocean to rock us to sleep.

  I woke up that next morning to my stomach churning. The insides of my stomach felt like they were keeping time with the rocking of the waves outside the ship. We sat down in the dining room to order breakfast.

  “I don’t feel so good. I don’t think I can look at food right now,” I complained.

  Mom patted my hand. “You really need to eat something, Ann. It will help settle your stomach. Believe me, being seasick is no fun. And having an empty stomach just makes it worse.”

  “Your mother’s right. You have to eat something.”

  “But I can’t stand to eat anything,” I whined.

  “Nonsense, it’s all in your head.” Dad handed me a menu. “Now, what will you have for breakfast?”

  I opened the menu and gave it a quick glance. “I think I can drink some pineapple juice.”

  “You have to eat something, too.”

  I looked at the menu again, more carefully this time. “Okay, I will try a hot hard-boiled egg.”

  “Good, that’s my girl.”

  And I have to admit once I forced my breakfast down I did start to feel better. I was able to do everything I wanted with my sisters and enjoyed lunch and dinner. But every morning for the entire trip, after spending another night of being rocked by the ocean as I slept, I would wake up feeling woozy, and we would have an instant replay of the previous breakfast conversation.

  “Eat your breakfast, it’s all in your head.”

  “But Dad, I can’t.”

  “You have to at least try, Annie.”

  And then I would sip my glass of pineapple juice and eat my hot hard- boiled egg and begin to feel better.

>   Our days were filled with swimming, running on the decks, and afternoon movies. My favorite was Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys. We would sit in the dark cool room, munching popcorn, drinking lemonade, and laughing.

  On the fifth day, we docked at Oahu, one of the Hawaiian Islands. Dad bought us beautiful flower leis from one of the street vendors, and we wore them all day. They smelled great. We got to take a whole day to explore the island.

  Mom and Daddy had lived in Hawaii when Mom was pregnant with me. I know. Right? I was almost born in Hawaii. How cool would that have been?

  We visited one of Mom’s good friends, and then drove up the Pali road to see where they had lived. They pointed out a small little guest house behind a bigger house. There were tons of palm trees around it and a cool breeze coming off the ocean.

  “That’s where we stayed, girls. It was a studio apartment. Just a big room with a couch, table and chairs, a bed, and then a bathroom,” Mom pointed out.

  “There was no kitchen, so every night your mother and I would ride the bus down this road to get dinner at the diner, and then ride back up the Pali Road to our little house,” Daddy explained.

  I think I would miss not having a kitchen around to have food whenever you wanted it. I like to know there are snacks nearby. I sure hope our house on Kwaj will have a kitchen.

  When we were back on board the ship that evening and sailing out of Pearl Harbor, Mom said, “Take off your leis and toss them overboard toward Diamondhead.”

  “Why?” we asked.

  “Tradition says if you do that, it means you will return to Hawaii someday.”

  Quickly, all three of us removed our leis, tossed them into the sea, and watched them begin to float ashore toward the tall peak of Diamondhead.

  We continued on for the second half of our sea voyage. A few days later, we crossed the International Dateline. Apparently that is some big deal, because they sure made a big deal of it on the ship. They did a sort of initiation, and the adults who were crossing it for the first time had to do silly things like plunge their hands into spaghetti noodles and raw eggs. Yuck! I sure was glad they didn’t make the kids do that.

  During the festivities, Carol looked around and asked, “Where is the line? I don’t see it.”

  Mom laughed. “It’s imaginary. On the globe, they just mark it with a dotted line.”

  “You mean they are doing all this for something that’s not even real? I don’t get grown-ups sometimes.” She sighed and shook her head.

  On our last night on board the ship, Mom and Daddy tucked us in our bunks.

  “Go right to sleep, girls. Tomorrow we will arrive at Kwajalein and get our first glimpse of our new home,” Mom reminded us.

  I was so excited I was sure I would never sleep a wink, but once again the rocking of the Pacific proved me wrong.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Arrival

  August 18, 1958

  AS WE GATHERED ON DECK, a blast of hot moist air hit me in the face. The sun was beating down and the waves were sparkling.

  “Hey, wait a minute. We are still at sea. Why aren’t we tied up to a dock?” I exclaimed.

  Dad pointed toward a nearby island with several palm trees. “That’s Kwaj. See that little boat coming toward us? That’s the head of the Ship’s Department on the base. He is coming to go up on the bridge and talk to the engine room and help us safely go through the coral reef as we enter the harbor.”

  “How is he going to get up here on this big ship?” Susie asked.

  “See that rope ladder the men are throwing over the railing that is covering the side of the ship? That’s a Jacob’s ladder. His pilot’s gig will come alongside our big ship. He will catch hold of that rope ladder and climb up until he gets to one of those cargo doors that are open. Then he’ll be inside the ship and work his way through the passageways to go to the Bridge.”

  Carol watched the rope ladder swaying back and forth along the side of the ship. “That looks pretty scary.”

  “And dangerous,” Mom added, grabbing the deck railing as the ship rocked on the sea waves.

  “Oh, I don’t think it will be that bad. I can handle it,” he replied.

  Mom’s hand flew to her chest. “What do you mean, you can handle it?” Mom asked.

  “Didn’t I tell you? That’s my new assignment. I am going to be the head of the Ship’s Department on the base. I will come out and meet all the ships coming to Kwaj, climb aboard, go to the bridge, and give the engine room directions to go through the coral reef so they don’t scrape the bottom of their ship and go aground or sink.”

  “Oh, my! I didn’t realize,” Mom said with concern as she grabbed Dad’s elbow.

  “It will be okay, Evie.” Dad patted her hand. “This guy will teach me everything I need to know before he leaves.”

  “So will our ship go right up to the pier on that island?” Carol asked.

  “No, we are too big. We can fit into the harbor, but the water isn’t deep enough close to shore for the ship to stay afloat. So they will send a landing craft to take us from the ship to the shore.”

  We gathered our things and after the ship entered the harbor, we made our way to a lower cargo deck where a gangplank connected us to a smaller boat. We loaded onto the small landing craft and sat on benches. Because of the high walls of the boat, we couldn’t see over the top when we were seated.

  “This landing craft was used to transport troops from a large ship into a beach for battles,” Dad shared. “That wide wall there that is the front of this craft would be lowered when they hit the beach and the troops could walk out on it onto the shore. Of course, now they have welded it shut. We will just go right up to the wharf, tie up and use a gangplank to get onto the pier.”

  “That’s sounds better,” I said. But I still kept my eyes on the seams of the boat’s front wall to make sure I didn’t see any ocean water seeping in.

  By the time we docked on the island, I was hot and sticky and a little bit cranky.

  “Is it always this hot here?” I asked trying to free my shirt that was damp and clinging to my skin. I felt like I had an inch of water covering every inch of my skin.

  “It is a bit muggy, I will have to agree,” Mom added fanning her face with her hand.

  “Come on, everyone. I’ve got the directions to our new quarters. And they have issued us our vehicle for the time we are assigned here. Pretty snazzy, huh?” he grinned. “You girls get up in the back.”

  We looked at each other, and then climbed into the back of the old beat-up gray US Navy pickup truck. Dad held the door to the cab for Mom.

  “John, are you sure this thing will run?” Mom said hesitantly.

  “Apparently, these trucks are quite the big deal. There are only two cars on the island for the Commanding Officer and the Executive Officer. Only department heads get trucks. Everyone else uses the jitney bus that makes the big circle around the base, or they ride their bikes.”

  “Lucky us,” Mom replied with a sigh.

  We pulled out from the Ship’s Department and followed the narrow road along the lagoon side of the island. The ocean was even bluer and more beautiful than in San Diego. After a couple of blocks, Dad made a right turn, and then pointed to his right. “There’s the school you girls will go to.”

  There were four low single story concrete block buildings surrounding a dusty playground. It certainly didn’t look anything like our beautiful school back in California. As we came even with the school, Dad made a left turn, went past two houses and then pulled into a parking area by a white stucco house with a screened-in porch area. There was a clothesline in the back and a rain barrel up against the side of the house. There wasn’t a blade of grass in sight, just pinkish white coral dust instead of dirt.

  “Here we are. Home again, home again, Finnegan,” Dad announced as he climbed out of the truck and looked at what was to be our new home.

  A blonde woman came out of the front door of the house with a clipboard. She g
ave us a smile and said, “Welcome to Kwaj. You must be John, my husband’s replacement. I’m Mrs. White. I just know you are going to love it here.”

  “Yes, and this is my wife, Evie, and our three girls, Ann, Susie, and Carol.”

  “Oh my, are you two twins?” she exclaimed.

  “No, we are two years and nine days apart,” Susie answered as I rolled my eyes.

  “Well, let me show you around the house.”

  We entered the enclosed porch of the house.

  “It’s much cooler on this porch,” I observed.

  “It’s actually called a lanai. That’s the Hawaiian word for an enclosed porch like this,” Mrs. White told us.

  We walked across the lanai, and then through the front door into the small living room. It was definitely cooler inside. The walls were painted a soft white. A couch and two chairs were made out of something that looked like bamboo. They looked pretty comfortable. Past the living room was a dining area with a table and six chairs. Suddenly a little lizard scrambled up the wall and disappeared in a crack.

  “Ew, what was that?” I screamed, jumping back and almost knocking Susie over.

  “Oh, don’t worry. That was just a gecko. They are everywhere on the island. But they won’t hurt you. Actually, they are pretty helpful. They eat the cockroaches,” Mrs. White explained.

  I looked at Susie and whispered, “What has Dad gotten us into?”

  Mrs. White led us past the table and into the narrow kitchen that was to the right. There was a door to a pantry. Brown wooden cabinets and countertops ran on both sides of the kitchen. At the far wall was the back door in the center with a freezer on the left and a washing machine on the right.

  “Now, let’s look at the bedrooms,” she said.

  We went back through the living room to the bedrooms at the other side of the house. The first two were about the same size and then a bigger bedroom for Mom and Dad. There was one bathroom for all of us. I wandered back into the first bedroom getting ready to claim it for mine. I was the oldest so I had my own room in California and Susie and Carol had shared one.

  I spotted a little cage made of popsicle sticks, and asked Mrs. White, “What’s this?”