Old Draftee on an LST

Alvin L. Greer was nearly twice the age of some of his fellow World War II draftees aboard LST 631, a "Landing Ship Tank" vessel designed to run up into a beach in the middle of an invasion and quickly disgorge its cargo. Though not a soldier by choice, he made the best of the situation, using every opportunity to be a tourist as his ship sailed down the Mississippi, along the Gulf Coast, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific to New Guinea and the Philippines, and eventually to Tokyo after the Japanese surrendered. He describes the miseries of boot camp, invasions, being stalked by an enemy submarine, and trouble on the home front. His story tells of WWII as seen from the lowest rank.