The Travels of a Happy Hooligan: The World War II Memories of Frank A. Smith, Jr.

Elizabeth Smith Doerning · Frank A. Smith, Jr.

Mar 2013 · Author House

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Sixteen-year-old twins, Frank, Jr. and Gerry wanted to help their mother make ends meet after their father became estranged from their Boston family. The year was 1942; America was at war in Europe and the South Pacific. The twins saw the chance to earn military pay to send back home to Mom. There was one problem. The minimum age for enlistment in the United States military was 17. Together they hatched a plan to enlist. Gerald is accepted into the US Navy. Frank finds a way into the US Coast Guard. These are Franks stories, sometimes funny, of the brave young men and women he served with until President Harry Truman announced the end of World War II on September 2, 1945.

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Frank A. Smith, Jr., born in 1926, in Boston, Massachusetts, was 16 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in September 1942. His twin brother, Gerald J. Smith, also 16 years old, enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Both served as Radarmen during World War II. Frank served on the Destroyer Escort U.S.S. Ramsden DE-382 in the stormy North Atlantic, providing anti-submarine protection for troop transports and supply convoys heading to fight the war against Germany. He also served on the amphibious vessel U.S.S. LST-759 in the South Pacific. The LST vessels, “Landing Ship, Tank,” were newly designed supply and troop transport ships constructed during World War II to land directly onto beaches. Frank’s travels took him from Norfolk, Virginia, to Casablanca, Morocco, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Okinawa. Frank and Gerald were 19 years old when U.S. President Harry S. Truman announced the surrender of the Empire of Japan in 1945. Frank compiled his memories prior to his death in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 84.

Frank A. Smith, Jr., born in 1926, in Boston, Massachusetts, was 16 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in September 1942. His twin brother, Gerald J. Smith, also 16 years old, enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Both served as Radarmen during World War II. Frank served on the Destroyer Escort U.S.S. Ramsden DE-382 in the stormy North Atlantic, providing anti-submarine protection for troop transports and supply convoys heading to fight the war against Germany. He also served on the amphibious vessel U.S.S. LST-759 in the South Pacific. The LST vessels, “Landing Ship, Tank,” were newly designed supply and troop transport ships constructed during World War II to land directly onto beaches. Frank’s travels took him from Norfolk, Virginia, to Casablanca, Morocco, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Okinawa. Frank and Gerald were 19 years old when U.S. President Harry S. Truman announced the surrender of the Empire of Japan in 1945. Frank compiled his memories prior to his death in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 84.