Three guys from Glencullen joined the Portland Naval reserve in 1939: Gordon Balough, Jerry Pomeroy, Don Chalmers.
Who initiated this move and the circumstances are lost in memory, but the point is this: you got a uniform, got paid some, every once in a while, and every Thursday night we went down to the building for a several hour drill. Then, on the way home, walk up and down S. W. Broadway!
In addition, about once a month, in the better weather months, we made a weekend cruise down the Columbia in the Portland Naval Reserve “Eagle Boat”, an ancient patrol-type auxiliary built by Henry Ford during the first W.W. Reportedly, these boats were so poorly designed that in order to offset a serious stability problem, the bilge was filled with cement. Nobody ever suggested where the boats saw fighting duty, but maybe it was on the Great Lakes. Regardless, we thought they were pretty impressive and it was an important Saturday when the 6th Division had its turn to take the Eagle boat down the Columbia River to Astoria and return Sunday.
In retrospect the career, regular Navy crew that were permanently assigned to our Eagle boat on the N. W. waterfront were pretty brave people. I should mention that one of the memories of the weekend cruise as an apprentice seaman was the potato peeling sessions on the fantail of the ship. Also, the really comic mooring of the ship when we came in to tie up to the pilings on NW Front Street. We had our own private spot and our Naval Reserve division officers had to have their practice getting the ship tied up. They needed it, the practice that is.
Thursday night drills were pretty much routine; drill, signal practice, navigation discussion, knot tying practice, etc. aligned to the particular rating, the individual was involved in. The concept was to have in the + two Portland divisions (3rd and 6th) a cross-section of all ratings typically found on a naval ship and a group that could take over a full-time ship in time of emergency.
The major activity came in the summer of 1940 – graduation from Benson High School in June 1940 and the two week summer cruise. The Portland divisions were each going aboard two of the US Navy four-stack WWI destroyers and sail off to the waters off Southern California! The two ships arrived at the Portland seawall. (See the picture from Oregonian.) We would, in effect, take the place of regular crew members who would be taking time off. [Don is top, far left, on board the USS Kennison.]
It has been a long time (over 42 years) but many incidents stand out.
Off we went with our seabags packed per regulation except Don made on tactical error taking along a pair of pajamas. I wore these one night and after the ribbing they ended up at the bottom of the seabag, never to be worn again in naval duty. Upon going over the Columbia bar, I was standing look out watch on the starboard side under the bridge, when someone on the bridge let go his last meal – oh. well!