The following are excerpts from a letter to my Dad and Brother Bernard. It has not been edited for spelling or grammatical errors. It is post marked FEB 3, 1952.
Dear Dad and Bern,
Well, I have my first duty weekend. Soooo I'll drop a few lines.
By going into the Navy I have learned many things and I have many hours to think back. Even though I am only 17 my outlook on life has changed completely. I guess I'm not to good at writing things like this, but you get the idea.
Heres a little bit of our routine aboard ship. We get up at 6:00 AM, (unless we have had a 4 hr. night watch, then we get up at seven). At 6:15 we scrub down the weather decks. At 6:30 we eat chow. At 8:00 we go to morning quarters. After 8:00 untill about 11:00 we do such things as wash paint work, have drills or go to some classes etc. At 1:00 we turn to untill 3:30 in the afternoon, eat chow at 5:45. We have movies every night aboard ship and when we are at sea we have them on the fantail or tail end of the ship.
Talking about going to sea---well I have 4 days of real sea duty (Ha Ha). During the week, untill next mo., we are at sea and we come into port on weekends. So far I haven't been seasick, but last Wed. the ship rocked with in 6 ft of the water.
Like I said before, the Navy has changed completely now. We now have more libertys then money. With that bond I'm taking out I only get 50 bucks a mo.
When will I get home again? I know for sure that I will not be home again untill next Dec. or later. Middle Nov. at the earlyest. Reason--------. It is for sure that the ship will return to the Far East some time in spring although the exact date is confidential. When a ship goes to Korea and Japan etc. it stays 6 to 8 mo and it takes 2 weeks to get there. Soooo you can figure 10 mo.
Well so far I am nothing but a deck hand. Usually when you come aboard from boot you have to stay a deck hand for 6 mo. but many of the old guys are leaving this ship. Just this morning I got the word that they need cooks and bakers. This means my big chance.
I'll find out more about it later. I have already put in for the school of music which is 1 year at Washington D. C. So far I haven't heard anything about it. But many things are getting ready to pop and I'm hoping either one or the other pops
Time continues to fly. Tomorrow I will be off of my leave one month. Boy, I sure don't know where it goes to. It won't be to long and we will be shoving off, then we will be back and all of a sudden I'll be home again (ah) Ha Ha.
Sometime next mo I start my high school education (at last)/ Please check with Otto Schultz if theres anything I need to graduate. It's only costing me 2 bucks and I can take as many classes as I want.
A little more about the ship. We have 2 librarys, one which is a lounge. Movies every night. A barber shop, a tailors, a fountain, the ships store, a shoemaker, a photo lab, and TV when we are in port. Of course these things are all very small, but they are here for our use.
It may seem like a joke now, but after all I am going to the "Hot Spot" before I get home again, and you know just as well as I know, anything might happen and could happen.
It isn't something a guy likes to write home about, but it is here and there isn't any hidding it.
Heres my address in case you don't have it yet.
David J. Brouchoud
5th Division
U.S.S. Helena CA-75
% Fleet Post Office
San Francisco, Calif.
The night before last I was on watch from 12:00 AM to 4:00 in the morning. It was foggy you couldn't see six feet away. Heres a article on what happened to one of the liberty boats off the Battleship Iowa.
(After 53 years the memory dims, but I seem to remember that the liberty boat hit some rocks and all aboard were lost. Ed.)