Alexander Schreiber
Age: 85
Born: Sept. 8, 1925
Hometown: San Diego
Residence: Palm Springs
Military branch: U.S. Navy; Commander, Air Force, Pacific Fleet (ComAirPac); 105 Special Seabees
Years served: Sept. 7, 1943 - April, 1946
Rank: Carpenter's mate second class
Family: Wife Kae; one child, Cheryl Schreiber of Spokane, Wash.; two grandchildren; two great-grandchildren
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U.S. Navy veteran Alexander Schreiber, a carpenter by trade, built air strips and kept Navy flying squadrons supplied with aviation parts and materials as a member of Commander, Air Force, Pacific Fleet (ComAirPac), during World War II.
He also participated in covert operations, swimming in from a ship far offshore to blow up coral reefs, clearing the way for Marines to storm the beaches.
“Today they call them SEALS,” he said.
Schreiber was assigned to a barge, #613. The ship, more than 260 feet long and 80 feet wide, served as the seaman's home for the duration of his overseas duty.
The vessel was loaded with aircraft gear, including tails, wings, engines and bomb sights.
“The barge, when we got it we had to make shelves for all those parts,” Schreiber said. “It took forever.”
The men departed the California coast aboard a Liberty ship, sailing to Hawaii, and then New Guinea, and later, the Admiralty Islands.
“In New Guinea, we were putting little air strips together so we could step-stone to Japan,” he said.
“From there (the Admiralty Islands), we went in and invaded the Philippines.”
In the invasion of Leyte, Schreiber and others jumped from a small landing barge sitting about 100 yards from shore.
“We came in with one of the first waves (of Marines) to detonate the reefs,” he said. “We had our belts with our explosives when you came across the rocks and coral you put a charge there, move away, spark your wires, then ‘Bang!' Away it would go.”
The first wave of Marines suffered heavy casualties on Leyte, and Schreiber, watching Japanese soldiers move forward toward the beach, looked for somewhere to hide.
“When I saw what was going on, I wanted to get some cover,” he said. “I put a dead guy on me. By the time the second wave arrived, I had his blood on me and it looked like we'd all been shot. You just laid there. I wasn't in any hurry to get up.”
Once the area was secured, Schreiber and crew went into construction mode.
“When we took Leyte, we had to build an airport. They rammed us up on the sand,” and left us there, he said.
Meanwhile, Japanese planes lurked above.
“When we got in those areas, the Japanese were all around us,” he said.
Numerous aircraft parts were also unloaded along with the men.
“We had gear for four or five Navy planes,” he said.
Schreiber brokered at least one deal while on the island.
“I traded potatoes to a Filipino for his ringtail monkey,” he said.
Pete the monkey assisted Schreiber with his building projects.
“He would keep the screws in his mouth and if I needed a screw, he'd hand it to me,” Schreiber said.
When the barge had pulled away from the Philippine islands — and was already out to sea — the man in charge decided he didn't want the ships' pets around any longer.
“The skipper, he said we had to get rid of all the animals aboard,” Schreiber said.
Besides Pete, there was a dog and a parrot aboard.
Schreiber, standing on the bow, threw Pete overboard.
“Then I ran real fast,” to the back of the ship and threw a rope to the monkey, he said.
“I said, ‘Get the rope, Pete! Get the rope!' I pulled him in and took him back to the carpenter shop.”
The men had to watch their backs on and off the islands.
“We had trouble with kamikazes,” he said.
One time when the barge was under attack, Schreiber and a fellow sailor were loading and shooting a 20 mm gun.
“He got shot, but he didn't know it,” Schreiber said. “He was loading the ammo. The shot came from up above. He was so scared. I don't know how the guy was able to go down the ladder and into the coffee room.”
Shortly thereafter, the sailor died from his wound.
Schreiber kept himself busy with onboard construction projects.
“The barge had a little toilet — it's called ‘head' in the Navy — up in the bow,” he said.
The head was very small, he said, only about 4 feet wide.
The one tiny toilet was all there was to accommodate the 30 sailors aboard.
“How they figured 30 of us were going to be OK,” using this small facility, he said, shaking his head.
On the stern of the barge, Schreiber attached some beams, bolted them to the deck flooring and cut a couple of holes out in the top.
The beams hung out over the ocean. When the men relieved themselves, the refuse went straight into the water.
Schreiber said critters would sometimes stow away in the food supply.
“Provisions were brought on board in cardboard boxes,” he explained.
One night, he went to the kitchen to get a snack — a sandwich he had left earlier in the day.
“I went in there with my monkey and me,” Schreiber said. “The walls were covered with 3
Pete was beyond thrilled.
“He couldn't believe it. He started grabbing them and putting them in his mouth. He loved those roaches.”
Around the same time, their loaves of bread arrived with brown bits in the dough.
“Some people like raisins in their bread, we like the roaches,” Schreiber said, laughing. “I figured if that monkey could do it, I could do it. If there were one or two in your bite, it was OK for me.”
