Found this about a shipmate of ours in Korea: The Cold War was heating up in Korea in April 1951 when Charlie Valle, a San Pedro teen, joined the Navy. It was that or be drafted into the Army, he said. My uncle was in World War II and he told me, `Dont dig no foxholes. Join the Navy and youve got a bed. A high school dropout - he finished school after he came back from the war - Valle signed on the dotted line in Long Beach and was sent to boot camp in San Diego. He was assigned to the USS Iowa, the fast and powerful World War II battleship that was being brought back into service for a new generation of sailors. They took it out of mothballs in San Francisco, Valle said, referring to the ship as his yacht. That thing is huge, he said. Everyone was in awe of the ship, it was so big. The Iowa was initially put into drydock at Terminal Island and then Valle and the rest of the crew helped paint and do other work off the Northern California coastline. In 1952, they arrived off the coast of Korea and provided firepower for the United States and its allies. While he experienced no close calls in combat, Valle - who worked at the fantail at the extreme rear of the ship handling projectiles and powder for the gun turrets - said the ship survived a monster storm on its way there. We hit a storm in the Sea of Japan, the ship was just like a rowboat going through that damn thing, Valle said. It tore the helicopter right off the ship. Standing on the ships bridge, Valle watched the waves surge by, reaching heights that were nearly as tall as the ships superstructure. I said, `Man, that is pretty, Valle said. A guy standing next to me said, `Are you crazy? But I was only 19 or 20 years old. I had no fear. His stint in the Navy ended in 1955 and he went on to become a longshoreman in civilian life. Valle, 79, retired seven years ago and now lives with his wife in Carson. Hes junior commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2967 in Wilmington. What does he think about making the ship a museum? Its a damn good idea, he said. A lot of people ... will go see that thing. Valle scored an invitation from U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, to ride onboard the USS Iowa on June 9 when the ship was towed from the outer harbor to its berth on San Pedros waterfront. The ship still looks big, he said.
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 15:39:02 +0000
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