family in Wellsville. The above picture was taken in Philadelphia during the year 1944.

The Combat Cargo Officer

Some time during 1957 off the coast of China

While at sea on the USS George Clymer. APA 27, four or five naval officers were having

a discussion in the ward room. The topic was the Marine Corps NCOs.

The ships combat cargo officer, a Marine Captain, was a party to the group but not active in the discussion. A Navy Lieutenant had the floor and was praising the Marine

Corps NCOs. He related that the NCOs of the Corps were absolutely the backbone of

the Marine Corps. They were men who knew their trade, who knew what had to be

done and then able to do it and more. Most of them could easily assume higher position if need be. Marine NCOs were always dressed in the proper uniform and correct to a T.

They set the example while on the job or on liberty. Then he related a story that proved

his point. He said “ In 1947 our ship docked at a very remote shipyard on the China coast. The location was quite a distance to the nearest liberty site.

(HE WENT ON)

When liberty call was sounded there were about 8 or 9 junior officers on the quarter deck ready for liberty. The bad news was that there was no transportation. The officers were

told that taxicabs sometimes came to the ship. This was their only hope.

In the distance there appeared a pair of headlights – this could be a taxi. No such luck, it was a black Buick sedan and it stopped at the bottom of the gangway. The driver

stepped out, he was a Marine sergeant in dress greens. He came up the gangway, rendered his salute and made his request to the Duty Officer. Shortly, a Marine Platoon

Sergeant appeared in full dress greens- ribbons and medals included. He shook hands

with the driver sergeant, turned and saluted the OD and requested permission to

leave the ship. It was granted – he descended the gangway and entered the car. We stared at the tail lights of the car as it disappeared into the night. We were stunned and

still there. How did this Marine NCO accomplish this and where was he going? We

fully that the Captain of the ship would be the one to have a car waiting at the gangway.

Anyway, this is just a sample of what Marine NCOs can do – in combat or liberty in

China I rest my case.” There is no doubt that the Lieutenant held the Marine NCOs in high esteem and had impressed the officers in the wardroom, including me.

Now for the rest of the story

Platoon Sergeant Frank Guidone was the sergeant who was picked up by the Buick.

Earlier that evening he had used the phone on the quarter deck to call Colonel Sam

Griffith who was a Regimental Commander of Marines in that area. Sergeant Guidone

served with Colonel Griffith in the 1st Raider Bn. at Tulagi, Guadalcanal, and New

Georgia. The Colonel sent his Buick to the Clymer to pick up Sergeant Guidone who

spent his this night dining with Colonel Griffith and his family at their home

And now for more of the end of the story

The combat cargo officer who had been listening to the story of the Navy Lt. all of this

time had a slight smile on his face and why not? He was now Captain Frank Guidone.

Since this tale involves a combat cargo officer I should explain what he does and where he does it.

There are designated ships that are involved in the landing of the Marines. They are identified as APAs’ and a numeral: such as PA27. They are capable of carrying about 1200 marines and all of their vehicles, supplies, and ammunition.

The combat cargo officers is responsible for loading the Marines and their equipment. During the loading procedure he is a ship’s officer and is responsible to the captain of the ship and the commanding officer of the troops. He is really in the middle of any and every problem.

The Marine Corps assigns one officer, a Lieutenant or a Captain, to each APA. The tour of duty for this billet was two years.

Besides his duties as a Combat Cargo office he was assigned to the following additional duties – the ship’s legal office, the ships personal officer, assistant Intelligence officer, platoon leader for the ship’s rifle platoon, Custodial officer for the Recreational fund

and Captain’s aide during special ceremonies. As you can see this was no joy ride – the loading and unloading of the ship was his main duty.

Before an operation the Cargo Officer would be ordered to the unit that was going to load – like the lst battalion of the 5th marines. He would travel to Camp Pendleton, for instance, and contact the battalion’s cargo officer. The two of them would plan the loading of the unit and after approval by the Commanding Officer of the troops submit the plans to the captain of the ship who had the final

word on the approval. He would be concerned with the weight of the cargo – that it’s distribution on the ship was carefully balanced. Total tonnage of the cargo had to be the same on each side of ship.

In the beginning the ship is loaded on paper. A detailed sketch of the ship showing the holds and topside area available for storage is shown and scaled in inches. Templates are cut to equate the size of the vehicles. You are dealing with jeeps, ¾ and 6 bys (large trucks). These templates are placed in the holds on the diagram of the ship – the spaces that they will actually occupy when they are loaded.

As you can see there is a ton of responsibility carried by the Cargo officer. I attended 4 weeks of intensive training at the Amphibious Base at Coronado, Ca. learning about this science. I wanted to give the reader an idea about the duties of the Combat Cargo Officer.

Frank J. Guidone

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