William G. Palmer
Age: 96
Hometown: Compton
Residence: Sky Valley
Military branch: U.S. Navy; USS Detroit (pre-war), USS Sandpiper, USS Wayne
Years served: 1931-1956
Rank: Commander
Family: Wife Alta (deceased), four children, seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II Wednesday through Sunday through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
Read all the stories from our Coachella Valley veterans.
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William Palmer, a 26-year Navy veteran, said his dad wanted him to go to college after he graduated from high school, but Palmer had no plans to follow in his father's footsteps.
“He was a doctor and I didn't want to be a doctor or lawyer,” Palmer said.
“I joined the Navy and thought I'd serve four years and then figure out what to do,” he said.
The country was in the midst of the Great Depression when Palmer enlisted in 1931.
The military gave the 18-year-old some financial security in uncertain economic times, providing “a steady place to live and work,” he said.
At the beginning of World War II, Palmer served as chief engineer on the USS Sandpiper.
The USS Sandpiper, originally built as a minesweeper, was sent to Greenland where it was used as a seaplane tender — a ship that provided supplies and fuel to aircraft.
“There was a 10,000 gallon tank on the stern of the minesweeper — 10,000 gallons of aviation fuel,” said Palmer. “The planes would come up to the stern of the ship and we'd refuel them.”
The ship's crew would also perform search and rescue duties.
After Greenland, the USS Sandpiper returned to Norfolk, Va., where Palmer asked for a change of duty and a chance to live near his family in San Diego.
His request granted, Palmer reported to the USS Wayne, where he was assigned as the captain's first lieutenant.
The USS Wayne, a new attack transport ship built in Baltimore, was docked in New York in October 1943 when Palmer came aboard.
The ship, bound for the Pacific, was loaded with 20-pound bags of coffee beans.
After making its way through the Panama Canal, the USS Wayne arrived at the naval base in San Diego at the end of the month.
“A whole ship full of beans was discharged in San Diego at the commissary to supply the Pacific Fleet,” Palmer said with a laugh.
The next stop was Camp Pendleton, where the men of the USS Wayne practiced with Marines in preparation for island invasions.
“After a couple of months, 1,500 Marines came aboard and we headed for the South Pacific,” Palmer said.
In his position as one of the top-ranking officers on the ship, Palmer was in charge of the deck crew.
The crew, about 40-50 enlisted men, were responsible for the operations on deck, including the anchor equipment and the deck guns — five-inch rifles on the fore deck and 40-caliber anti-aircraft guns on the side of the ship.
His men were also responsible for steering the ship — following the course plotted by the navigator.
Once in the South Pacific, the USS Wayne transferred the Marines to Landing Ship Tanks that would deliver the men to the shores of the invasion targets, including Guadalcanal, Guam and Leyte.
“The ship's most outstanding work at Guam was that of receiving and treating wounded from the beach,” Palmer said.
As the casualties poured in, the surgeon of the ship asked for blood donations.
In those days, the Navy began hiring African-Americans as steward mates to take care of the ships' officers — positions that had been filled in the past by Filipinos, said Palmer.
This was before Harry Truman became president and put an end to segregation in the military — affording the same privileges to African-Americans as Caucasians, said Palmer.
“One hundred percent of our Negro crew donated blood, while only about 10 percent of the rest of the crew volunteered to do so,” said Palmer. “Our steward mates also assisted the hospital corpsmen in caring for the injured.”
