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Vivid Recollections
Photo by resident Jim Lea Vivid RECOLLECTIONS
Jim Kehl knows a thing or two about history. As a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh for 46 years, as well as a published author, he has passed along copious historical knowledge.
At 100 years young, the Masonic Village at Sewickley resident has also lived it.
You can read about his military experiences in his memoir, “When Civilians Manned the Ships: Life in the Amphibious Fleet During WWII.” It highlights his time as a U.S. Navy Officer aboard the LSM 144.
The LSM 144 was a Landing Ship Medium which, along with the larger Landing Ship Tank, made up the “Alligator Navy.” These ships were specially designed to deliver troops to enemy-held beaches during World War II. At 203.5 feet in length, the ship was described by one sailor as a “shoe box with a can mounted on it.”
Life on the ship included becoming accustomed to seasickness, which grew worse during the frequent typhoons that broke 50 to 60-foot waves across the ship’s bow. Jim broke down the seasickness sufferers into three categories: fish-feeders, dry-heavers and old sea dogs.
“If an examination in later years had revealed that I had lost a kidney, lung or two tonsils, I would have known immediately that the loss came during my months in the Pacific,” he wrote.
He also has an ingrained image of the word “diesel” misspelled as “deisel,” which was stenciled on pipes throughout the ship. Fortunately, the rest of the ship was without construction flaws.
One of the most memorable events of his service came when an explosion rocked the ship’s deck, sending men overboard.
It was January 1945, and the ship had just loaded troops as part of the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf in the northern Philippines. At the same time, the ship was transporting more than 100 55-gallon drums of high-octane fuel to shore.
Before the ship could take the 20-minute run to the beach, an alert was issued. A Japanese air strike was imminent, and the ship was ordered to make smoke so targets were not visible from the sky. Making smoke consisted of pulling oil from a drum into a generator and converting the oil into a vapor. The ship’s generator soon began to sputter, but the captain insisted that it keep running. A light rain began to fall, and wind began blowing the vapor across the stern. The engine sparked and exploded, resulting in a fiery cloud of about 40 feet in diameter. It only took two minutes to extinguish the flames, but in that time, 18 of the 100 infantry men on the deck jumped overboard.
A life raft was tossed to the men who were unable to grab the life preservers and rope thrown to them. These inexperienced soldiers were unable to row, and they drifted farther out to sea.
Two sailors, Oehrn Koon, from Point Marion, PA, and Sam News, from Chester, PA, rowed out to the men to instruct them how to use the oars. Even with the instructions, the stranded soldiers could not overcome the current. Oehrn and Sam tied a rope to the raft, and for 30 minutes, they rowed the life boat safely back to the ship against the current. The two men’s efforts were never formally recognized, and they received no citations. Jim made a point to stay connected with both until their passings. He still has a jar of Koon’s Pure Natural Honey, courtesy of Oerhn, and a custom-made leather jacket with USS LSM 144 embroidered in gold, which had belonged to Sam.
“I hold vivid remembrances; Oerhn and Sam left an unheralded legacy of which any American should be proud,” Jim wrote.
It is not only Jim’s experiences that are noteworthy, but also his ability to re-tell them in a way that draws in readers.
“Jim is by far the most eloquent expert in the world on the amphibious Navy of World War II,” said Todd DePastino, executive director of the Veterans Breakfast Club and a frequent guest speaker at the Masonic Village at Sewickley.
“But it’s not his depth of knowledge or his beautiful writing that makes Jim most special. It’s his depth of character and remarkable insight into the human condition, including the best and worst of people caught up in war.
“Aboard his ship were 54 men and five officers, a world in itself, a microcosm of breathtaking human diversity. And somehow, Jim is able to take note and analyze each aspect with humor, when needed, and reverence, when warranted. Jim saw integrity and pettiness, expertise and incompetence, cowardice and courage, all mingled together on one ship.”
As a young man, Jim became interested in American political parties, and comments from his professors at the University of Pennsylvania further sparked his passion. He was told as an undergrad to work with one of the big names in political parties if he wanted to get ahead. His mentor was Roy Nichols, an American historian, who won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book “The Disruption of American Democracy.”
As a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, Jim served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He is especially proud of the changes he was able to make to the arts and sciences curriculum.
In addition to teaching and writing about his service during World War II, Jim has written three other books: “Boss Rule in the Gilded Age: Matt Quay of Pennsylvania,” “The University Remembered: Personal Reflections on Pitt and a Few of Its People,” and his most recent, “The Cross, the Eagle, and the Rising Sun: The 1941 Vatican Conspiracy Vs. the Department of State.”
His wife, Barbara, is his best critic. She edits his work and shares her opinion from a reader’s perspective. He’s currently working on an article about democracy and how compromise can get lost in today’s politics.
With 100 years of stories, Jim has a lot more to share.
“His voice is that of an honest, smart, wise and ultimately kind man who went to war and came home forever changed by it,” Todd said. “He speaks for millions of others, and we’re lucky to still have him with us, at age 100.”
History provides important lessons as a gift for future generations, and Jim’s generosity in sharing his stories is invaluable.
