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8 Mr. Nix: I was on for twenty-four months. Mr. Litzelfelner: What was your rating at the time you got off the Cebu? Mr. Nix: Second class petty officer. Diver technician. They paid us five dollars an hour or any fraction of an hour for under water, so that was good. Mr. Litzelfelner: What, for every hour you were under water, or every fraction of an hour? Mr. Nix: So if we had another fraction of an hour left, we'd get another five dollars. Mr. Litzelfelner: What would you, like record your time on a log? Mr. Nix: We had an officer up topside recording the time we were down. In fact, I met an officer the day before yesterday, and he said he was the one made out the checks. I said, "Did you give me all my diving time?" Mr. Litzelfelner: Was he here at this reunion? Mr. Nix: Yeah, he was at the reunion. Mr. Litzelfelner: What did you do in Pearl Harbor then, after you got off of the Cebu? Mr. Nix: I caught a ship back to the States, a cruise ship, and got off at San Francisco. Caugi a train back to Houston. Mr. Litzelfelner: Where were you discharged then? Mr. Nix: Houston. Caught one of those travel bureau cars. Mr. Litzelfelner: What kind of a car?
Mr. Nix: Travel bureau, they called them. I bought a bus ticket when they were paying me off, the bus didn't leave until about three that evening. We were discharged about ten that morning. So I went out the gate and the travel bureau person said "San Antonio in three and a half hours," and I said "Let me in." So I forgot about the bus ticket and came on in. Yeah, they were riding those travel bureau cars. They weren't supposed to be running them, they weren't really licensed. But that was big money for those guys, taking those servicemen all over the country. Mr. Litzelfelner: What kind of a car was that? Mr. Nix: This one was a Chevrolet convertible.
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Rhollie Nix. Nix joined the Navy in 1943. He completed schooling for welding, metallurgy and diving. He served as Second-Class Petty Officer and deep-sea diver aboard USS Cebu (ARG-6). He assisted with underwater welding repairs of LST propellers. They traveled to the Admiralty Islands, the Philippines, Okinawa and Japan. He was discharged around 1946.
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Nix, Rhollie.Oral History Interview with Rhollie Nix, October 16, 2003,
text,
October 16, 2003;
Fredericksburg, Texas.
(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1604424/m1/9/:
accessed July 16, 2024),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.;
crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.