Veterans Spotlight - Dick Sherman

Dick Sherman possesses all the qualities one would expect from a member of “The Greatest Generation” – humility, kindness, a genuine manner and one of the warmest personalities I have ever encountered. He would be involved, amazingly, in 5 major invasions during his time in the South Pacific Theater. Mr. Sherman served his country for 7 years in World War II and Korea in the United States Navy and was discharged as a Quartermaster 1st Class.

Born in Providence, RI he attended college for one semester before enlisting at age 19. He was sent to Camp Sampson in New York for basic training and his first assignment was to pick up a ship in Pittsburgh, PA (Mr. Sherman’s memory is still exceptional and remembered it as an LST-670).

Out of all the South Pacific invasions that Quartermaster Sherman was involved in, he remembers Okinawa as the absolute worst. “One of our ships was hit 21 times and Kamikaze’s attacked 3 of our LST’s. It scared the hell out of me! We were at General Quarters 24-7….always on the controls….always on the lookout….did a lot of praying. The intense day-to-day pressure was sometimes unbearable but you could never give in….you had to be focused, because you were responsible for so many lives….we did get’em (the enemy) though. Our ship knocked out 10 Japanese planes” he recalled. “We had a really good gunnery officer. His name was actually Al Gore (no relation to the former Vice President). I tried to find him after the war but was disappointed I couldn’t get him.” Was he ever afraid? “Oh God yes!” he responded.

One constant source of aggravation was Tokyo Rose one of the enemies supposed secret weapons based on her ability to get into the minds of seaman through radio broadcasts. “You would hear her but we paid no attention” he said dismissively. Evening watch could at time, rattle the nerves; The Japanese shells would hit the coral on the starboard side of his ship and explode and remnants of coral would land on the deck. “It scared the hell out of me! At times, we would make ‘smoke’ by putting kerosene in a barrel and lighting it on fire to distract the enemy and protect our ships” he remembered. When asked about being away for the holidays as a young man, Quartermaster Sherman got quiet. “Yeah, it was tough. The worst thing was when they showed Christmas movies. It really got to you” he recalled.

They had little entertainment on the ship. “We saw shows, but the only thing that was really great was when the nurses came onboard” he said with a huge chuckle. When asked about a mentor, he replied without hesitation and affectionately, “my grandfather. He was a damn good friend.”

Quartermaster Sherman did share a story on his ship having to bring supplies to Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor. “We were to bring 60,000 cases of beer to the island” he recalled. “Believe it or not, all the cases didn’t arrive” he said with a devilish grin. At 96, he still has bad dreams. “I relive it there” he said pointing to his bed. How did he get through it? “I always tried to get along with everyone. Didn’t matter the color of a man’s skin or where he was from. We watched out for each other every day.” Quartermaster Dick Sherman, thank you for your service to our great country.