I find the information in Homer's diary after the end of hostilities as or more interesting than his notes during the fighting at Okinawa. It's going to take most of next week to do Homer's comments justice.
Back to Homer Bast Commanding Officer of USS Yolo in the Philippines.
August 17, 1945
Dawn was dark and cloudy; indeed, it rained most of the morning. A copy of an AlNav arrived spelling out the details of demobil¬ization. The officers adjourned to the wardroom to study the AlNav and then pass the information to the men. Lunch over I held a long and tiring below decks inspection. The results were so good I decided to have our end of the war celebration and ordered two bottles of beer for each man. As all crews are confined to their ships because of vandalism on shore, I thought this a good idea to relax the men and get rid of the beer. The double feature tonight was good. It provided us with much needed laughs.
August 23, 1945
This day Yolo was assigned to the Third Fleet, and I was asked to attend a meeting in Tacloban, where I was briefed on the Japanese occupation. Late tonight 500 men reported on board. Some had not had a fresh water bath in months; most have seen no mail; others have not been paid; while others were transferred from one receiving station to another for as long as nine months. The cooks and bakers served them a great meal, and then the master-at-arms issued sheets and towels to them and assigned them bunks. After a warm water shower all hit the sack. The look of appreciation in the eyes of these men was tremendous
August 24, 1945
Up at the crack of dawn and boarded the boat for the long ride across San Pedro Bay. Arrived at the ComPhibs for Philippines Hdqts and called on the operations officer who asked for the date Yolo would be ready for sea. After informing opts, who was a great person, that new boats were an absolute necessity, authorization was given to pick up six at a supply depot on Guiuan some 50 miles down the bay on the Samar side.
After lunch I boarded the duty boat to ride to ComServron Hdqts where I informed operations and personnel of our plans as known. The replacements would go with us for they had no quarters either ashore or aboard. When I returned a message was waiting, it said "Believe men on LCVP have arms as follows — machine guns, pistols, ammunition, sub machine guns -- use every precaution as men are dangerous and desperate". Dealing with the enemy is one thing but with one's countrymen is a different game. We heard no more about this incident. After a lamb dinner all attended the movie, "Casablanca". Listened to the late news, and so to bed.
August 28, 1945
Early, Mr. Davis and I took the boat to ComSerFor to talk about frozen foods, fuel and the passengers. The fueling officer refused my request for 40,000 gallons. He said fuel was in short supply, although a few weeks ago a tanker returned to Ulithi with surplus oil. Mr. Kinley persuaded personnel to send us 12 men, bringing our complement to 160, the allowable number.
In the afternoon, after Yolo closed the reefer, the crew with help from men assigned by ComSerFor began loading the ship to capacity. The work went on all night except for a brief halt when those working were served a steak dinner.
The Japanese radio pours out news about the suicides before the palace, the lack of food and medicine, and the loss of the fleet. Because the people were so shielded from bad news, it was considered unwise to inform them of the lost battles until they were sufficiently enlightened. After a period of prepara¬tion, the press and radio were extremely blunt in telling them of the unconditional surrender, even admitting that the war was lost before the Russian declaration and the atomic bomb.
August 29, 1945
By 0630 some 120 tons of fresh and frozen provisions were stored aboard in spite of the fierce thunderstorms, which disrupted loading at 0100. Mr. Belmont summed it up in a letter home: "We worked like beavers getting the fresh provisions aboard. By this time our own supply was low so we welcomed with open arms and strained backs the replenishments. Here we are again, all loaded, in shape and ready to go. The only trouble is that no one knows if we are going, when we are going or where." Many small jobs remain but for practical pur¬poses Yolo is ready for sea 12 hours ahead of schedule.
The point system made its appearance and everybody dug out pencil and paper to figure how many years it would take them to get out. This period in the ship's history was the one most replete with rumors and predictions. We were all guessing on destination, time of departure, chances of returning to the States and many more. Something had to break soon. Most were convinced that the Navy could find no practical use for this type of vessel. As was the usual case, most were wrong in their oracles.
Following quarters, I boarded the mail boat for Tacloban to pick up top secret dispatches about the future. From these I learned that in Japan Yolo will have a definite assignment as a barracks- ship until adequate Navy berthing facilities are established on shore. Yolo will be moored to a dock and will assist the smaller vessels with their provisions. Never have I gleaned so much information about future operations in such a short time. Men with suf¬ficient points for discharge are much in evidence. Because all bunks were taken at the Receiving Station, most slept on the ground waiting for the transports to take them home. After lunch I boarded the boat again for a trip to Tolosa, the new head¬quarters of AdComPhibs Philippines and the operations office. Learning nothing here, I returned to the ship for dinner. The movie was poor primarily because of the projector's sound
