For those of you who remember the Jack Lemmon/Ricky Nelson World War II comedy movie "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" (1960) this is the actual boat the movie was based on. My dad served in the Army in the South Pacific and actually was on board this boat for several missions. He passed away a few years ago and I inherited his collection of slides. Since he was his battalion's official photographer there are a lot of WW II photos in that collection.
This boat posed as a native-crewed mail packet but was really a way for our soldiers to keep in touch with solitary spotters in the Islands and transfer them from post to post. The soldiers would dress like natives in grass skirts and some even wore coconut shells on their chests and long hair wigs to appear as women. They would all jump around and wave at passing Japanese spotter planes in order to keep the boat from being bombed or strafed.
The Actual Wackiest Ship In the Army
Gallery
The Real wackiest ship in the army
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says ... on Monday, Jan 31 at 4:00 PM
Could do. Some aren't very good due to deterioration and such. There aren't many I know anything about, as well. Pics of natives, pics of guys Dad knew, a couple real good sunsets. These were the best.
says ... on Monday, Jan 31 at 1:16 PM
I'd like to see more of those WWII pictures. Any way you could post them somewhere?
says ... on Sunday, Jan 30 at 4:02 PM
Ok..this might be the coolest post ever. Thank you so much for putting these here.
says ... on Sunday, Jan 30 at 11:47 AM
Ought to have mentioned-- that third photo is of my dad on board the ship.
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