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6
Mr. Nix: We had an exchange going. We had a huge heat oven and everything.
Mr. Litzelfelner: Your friend also was a diver doing this? Is he at the reunion today?
Mr. Nix: No. He got killed. I was doing the daytime diving, and he wanted to do nights, 'caus
they fed you good at night. And he said, "Let me take the night shift." But he was
coming through the harbor on our diving rig, and our officer was on there, the
driver, and an LST was coming through there. Naturally, there was no lights, and
they hit us broadside and knocked him off and, like a nut, he did not learn to swim
when he was in boot camp. I used to get after him all the time. He said, "Nah, forget
about that." But he died, he drowned that night.
Mr. Litzelfelner: How did that accident happen again?
Mr. Nix: Well, an LST was coming into the harbor and with no lights on, and our little Dl'
diving rig, it was an LCVP, and they didn't see us, they just broadside. And they
knocked him off and the officer. The officer said, he came up and he hit the bottom c
the ship, and he knew it was an LST, he knew he'd have three props to go by. He said
"I went down again, I said I'm coming up props or not." So he came up, he said that
just as he came up he felt the swishing of the water but the props had just went over
him. Saved his life, or he'd of been dead. It was a crazy thing.
But he should have learned how to swim. But he was such a guy, had a personality
that was so good, he could get by with anything.
Mr. Litzelfelner: Did someone else start helping you then, after he died?
Mr. Nix: No, I didn't have anybody else helping me then. I was by myself.
Mr. Litzelfelner: Did the Cebu ever get attacked by any Japanese airplanes or submarines or
anything?
Mr. Nix: No. We had an ammunition ship blow up next to us, that killed five men on our
e
of
ship. One man got killed, he was just standing next to me. I'd just given him thirty
dollars, he wanted a lot more than thirty dollars. He was going to go with me over
the side to work, and then we heard this explosion or what it was. I just tried to find
what was happening, 'cause metal was coming everywhere. And I fell down on the
deck and started crawling. The next day they said they picked him up, his head got
blown off. He was standing as close as you are. So that was close. But other than
that.
Mr. Litzelfelner: Did you ever get injured during the war?