Dr. Milton Giles Fort, U.S. Navy

In the spring of 1943 I was completing my junior year in pre-med studies at Texas A & M University, College Station. A notice was posted that any student could take an entrance exam for the Navy V-12 program. Pre-med students could be sent on to medical college through this program, then serve as officers in the U.S. Navy. The last moment, I decided to go take the exam. When I arrived, all the papers had been distributed, but as I started to leave, someone changed his mind and turned in his. I was given his exam paper. After learning I had passed, I was sent for my physical exam in Houston, and later ordered to report for duty at Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana on 1 July.

Arriving by train in the little town of Ruston, I found my way to the college and began my navy career. We stayed in dorms once occupied by men students, most of whom had enlisted and gone to serve in the war. In addition to being full-time students, we had daily military drills and wore our midshipman uniforms.

Classes began the first of July as the college went on a trimester plan so that students could graduate more quickly. The first Saturday night the Baptist Student Union held a big party at the student center and invited anyone who had served on a BSU Council in his college to attend their Executive Council meeting the next day. There I began as a prayer mate with Wana Ann Gibson, who later became my fiancée.

In January, 1944, I was stunned to receive orders to report to Midshipman's school in Plattsburg, N.Y. after completing the trimester the end of February. Other pre-med students as well as all students at my level received the same orders. It was a sad day! The weather was very cold in Plattsburg and when I was assigned to shovel snow for an officer's family, I became sick with a sort of flu called "cat fever" and was in sick bay several days. Then I was put back on the snow shovel duty, relapsed and spent a few weeks in hospital. I began to wonder if I would receive my commission, but I did along with the others in our group.

We were then sent to Fort Pierce, FL to train in small-boat landing. During the heat of summer we lived in tents on the beach. What we did not know was that our group had been selected to begin training for the invasion of Japan.

On the 26 May, 1944, the U.S.S. Griggs (APA 110) was launched at Pascagoula, Mississippi. She had been built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation. My outfit was ordered to Pascagoula where we boarded the ship. On 14 December, 1944, she was commissioned with Captain A.C. Wood, U.S. Navy, in command. We sailed to New Orleans, Louisiana for dry-docking, cleaning the bottom of the ship. We took on supplies the 22nd and ammunition the 24th. On Christmas Day we were underway to Galveston for our shakedown cruise and training at the Amphibious Training Base.

15 January 1945 we sailed to Newport, R.I. where we were engaged in training pre-commissioning crews. 30 March we sailed to Norfolk, VA where, on the 12 April we embarked two companies of Marines. We went to Panama, through the Canal and on to Hawaii where we were engaged in amphibious training exercises. From 26 May to 1 June we ferried passengers from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. 17 June we sailed with construction battalion passengers to Eniwetok, Marshall Islands. We sailed to Ulithi Island, then Okinawa, arriving 5 August. We had trained for the invasion of Japan, but the atom bombs dropped on 6th and 9th of August made that invasion unnecessary. We were part of a large fleet of ships anchored in Okinawa prepared to invade. The closest we came to actual attack occurred 12 August when the Pennsylvania, 1500 yards from the Griggs, was hit astern by an enemy aerial torpedo and on 13 August the La Grange, 500 yards from the Griggs, was hit by two Japanese suicide bombers. Both attacks caused considerable damage and casualties. Our captain shifted anchorage to a safer position.

“CEASE PRESENT EXERCISES, DESIG WAR" was the very welcome message received 15 August 1945. The Japanese had surrendered on 14 August and the surrender was made official on the D.S.S. Missouri 2 September.

23 August we sailed with a convoy to the Philippines, passing through the path of a severe typhoon. In September we loaded troops and cargo, practiced amphibious landing operations, than sailed to Wakayama, Japan as part of a Task Unit. 25 September we disembarked troops and cargo for the occupation of Kobe, Japan.

We returned to the Philippine Islands where we loaded troops from the 24th Infantry as part of the third phase of the occupation of Japan 26th October we debarked troops and cargo at Matsuyama, Japan.

A number of our officers were eligible for separation from Navy and as they were not replaced; those of us who remained were given additional assignments. I was in charge of purchasing supplies for the officers' mess as well as serving as a deck officer. Previously I had been in command of one of the landing boats. When the chaplain left, I was given permission to lead in Sunday worship services on the deck. I had always wanted to be a medical missionary and also felt called to preach. This was good training!

1 November we took our first load of 1950 Marine troops back to the U.S. and began our tour of duty as the "magic carpet", making numerous trips to transport troops back home, landing in San Diego or San Francisco. After our last voyage, we sailed back through the Panama Canal and on to Newport News where she was stripped of all our guns and placed in dry dock in May, 1946.

I had enough points to be discharged and Wana Ann and I had set our wedding date for June 14. I traveled by train to Louisiana for a few days the first of June, then on to the Navy Separation Center south of Houston. I was asked to sign on as baggage officer at the center until time to enter Baylor Medical College in September. I asked for enough leave to get married, and had to report for duty on June 17. It was a good "summer job" as there were three chief petty officers who did most of the actual work and we finished by noon each day. As I had some terminal leave, I was officially discharged 6 October 1946.