Noal Denison
When did you join the CC Camp?
I was in there twice, the first time I was fifteen years old. I stayed one year, you could
only stay one year at a time, then the next time I was 18. I stayed until the second
year two months before I went into the service as a coast guard, in April, 1941.
What kind of work did you do there?
Normal work..most of it. I was a leaderman. I drove the truck and carried the people
and show them what to do. Got out down there in Waxahachie, I was a leaderman there after about
3 months. Worked in the garage on cars and trucks.
Were you forced to go or did you go on your own?
They didn’t force you to go. It was all voluntary, you were disiplined just like if you
were in the army. Strictly for consibation deals. I spent 6 months in Center, Texas the first
time then moved camp to Austiwell, Texas..down below Victora..I spent other six months there.
I signed up then went to Waxahachie. I stayed there for the full year, until February 1941..I
got out
When did you join the Coast Guard?
April 30, 1941.
How old were you?
I was 19.
Why did you decide to join?
Well I just got out of the cc camp and I didnt have any money coming in. Me and this
buddy of mine, we just decided we just join the service. Eight months before war started..
we went to Waxahachie, Texas and signed up.
Where was this at?
I Went to New Orleans for boot camp, I stayed there 3 months, then they sent me to
New York City. They put me on an ice breaker on Hudson river, for two years. After that
I went to coast guard cutter on congord ships from New York to Key West Florida and back up.
I made two trips on that. They sent me to Cloud city, Pennsylvania, to build engines with the new
ship I was going on. We stayed there for about three months and from there I was sent to Duluth, Minnesota,
where the ship was built. That’s when I got on it, The name of it was Paw Paw.
What kind of work did you do there?
I worked on the engines. I always liked to work on
engines anyway. Thats where I took my schooling, in Pennsylvania.
When were you on the U.S.S Paw Paw in the Southwest Pacific?
I got on in Duluth, Minnesota. We left there in the first of October, to come down in
the great lakes, in Nova Scotia and around to New York Harver. I stayed there a couple days.
Then, Went on down to Malimore, Maryland with new stuff on the ship overseas. Stayed there about
five months I guess, Workn on the ship. I sent Juanita the the money to come up there. She stayed
with me for two, weeks, she enjoyed it. I took her to New York City, showed her around. We Went to the Empire State building..she enjoyed it, it was a lot different from what she's ever seen or been around. I was used to it cuz i been there two years. We tied up there at the inn at
Manhattan Islands South Inn, almost every night on that first ship in Mahoney about
two years.
Was this around the time when you met Juanita?
We met growing up as kids. Id see her off and on, in fact she used to live close to us
when I was 15, she was the same age I was.
When did you and Juanita get married?
June 27, 1942.
Were you still in the service around this time?
Yes I was on the Mahoney
in New York.
Did you and Juanita write to each other?
Oh yeah ..but they were all censored, my letters I sent to her were censored, and her letters sent to me were censored. They'd open them up making sure everything was alright. When we were in Guam, one guy on the ship had problems at home, needed to be at home, we we was about 10,000 miles from home. And the old man transfered him back to the station. Well I knew he was going so I made me up a code deal for him to mail when he got to the states, to let Juanita know where I was at most of the time, what part of pacific, like Guam Id have somebody's name...Juanita could look at that name and see where I was at..I never did hear her brag about it..but I thought it was a good thing...Id code the letters a lot to let her know where I was at.
How did people hear about the war?
The radio.
Were you ever connected to Pearl Harbor?
We went to Pearl Harbor from San Diego we went around the Panama Canal, from Baltimore, and we left San Diego, to Pearl Harbor about a week. Then down to the pacific, in Baltimore, stayed bout 19 months..never seen my wife..slept in the same bed all through that time, was no where else to go, no big cities over them islands. Tie up anchor up shore, no one went up shore but the mail man.
We was anchored between pal lu in the blue islands close to New Guinea, we anchored with a bunch of ships (why they picked us) I dont know. That night it was hot, never will forget it, it was Christmas Eve, 1943. It was hot, we didnt have air condition on the ship. We just had big fans circulating, so I took my cott and went out on some concrete blocks on a well deck we called on the ship. I put my cott up on the concrete blocks, and this Jap picked us out and tied this bomb on our anchor chain, bout 30 ft from the bottom of the ship where the anchor went down. That thing went off, they blowed a whole in our valve bout 4 foot in diameter it didnt hurt the ship it was a water tank they hit. They didnt know the water tank was there, they thought they could sink the ship. They shut the valve off in the engine room, no problem. We had to go and have it fixed, in guam. That was the first experience I had..being bombed that close.
When did you come back to the U.S?
In December 1945. War was over in August 1945, we had to stay over there bout three months after that, before we could come home on the ship.
What did yall do during that time?
Just regular duties on board.
Was this when you left the service
I got out in 1947. See I signed up for three year hinges, second one I signed up in April. Out here in the pacific on our way from Panamal Canal to San Diego..we shiped over. Course I got 300 dollars shipping over, but I was going to do that anyhow, the war was over.
Where were you when the war ended?
We anchored at Saipan, in the Mariana Islands in the South Pacific. Thats where the Saipan and Tinian, two islands mile open water between them. Thats where they had took the atomic bomb first one they drpped, was put together over there in Tinian. Thats where the B29 left, to bomb Japan both times, we dropped two atomic bombs, two days apart before the japs gave up.
Did you have any jobs when you came back from the war?
Well I was stationed in Galveston, Texas, on the lighthouse in Galveston Harver, 11 months. Thats where I was at when my six years was up. I got out, that was may 1, 1947. After I got out I went to work for Union Carbide in Texas City, Texas. I worked there til I retired.
When did you retire?
1975
Where did you move after that?
We moved to Palestine, Texas, stayed there for about six years. We moved there from Milford, stayed there til 1998. Then we moved here to Hilsboro, Texas.
Union Carbide Corporation
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LaMarque, Texas
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Waxahachie, Texas
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Pearl Harbor
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