An Ex-Sailor's Hobby

12/29/04

an ex-sailor's hobby

Glenna Wilson

John Brooks, Manhattan, served four years in the United States Navy during World War II. Now in his retirement, his hobby is building replicas of amphibious ships and boats from that era. The vessels are made of wood. He soaks in water parts that must be bent or curved.

The hobby started about 20 years ago when he learned that a friend had a blueprint of the USS Henrico on which Brooks had served three years. It was an amphibious assault personnel carrier that supported American troops throughout the war.

The Henrico, his largest project, is about 36 inches long. He as made replicas of the USS Arizona, sunk at Pearl Harbor; an LST, a landing craft that carried tanks and trucks; and an LCI that carried 2,500 soldiers.

Brooks has also made a replica of a LCT that carried trucks; a LCM that carried medium trucks; and a LCVP that landed vehicles and personnel. He’s made a Husky Support boat that patrolled beaches to draw fire away from invading soldiers or marines.

Brooks was a SEAL. One of their tasks was to work underwater demolition, using mine detectors to clear the way for invading service men. One of his memories is of “the longest day”—D-Day, June 6, 1944.

To prepare, SEALs trained in the North Sea, then on the west side of Scotland. “We trained only at night,” Brooks says, “and got so we could see in the dark.” Two weeks before D-Day, the SEALs were moved to Plymouth, England, to continue training. On June 5, the word came that no one was to have shore leave. They towed 60 old ships across the English Channel and partially sank them for surf breakers. Then pontoons were pulled over for docks.

Brooks says that around 6,000 ships and landing craft took part in the D-Day invasion: battleships, cruisers, destroyers, rocket ships, tugs, transports, and others.

Of the first 11,000 soldiers to land, perhaps half were lost, Brooks says. The Air Corps sent in dive bombers to quiet the enemy guns. Eventually, the Americans, British and Canadians got up the hill above the beach.

The Henrico landed soldiers in North Africa, where they pursued Rommel into the desert. Worse than North Africa were the invasions of Sicily and Italy, which Brooks describes as, “Terrible, terrible.”

Later the Henrico went to the Pacific. “I was in several invasions in the Pacific,” he says. “The last one was on the island of Okinawa. After the invasion, my boat went back to my ship, and I was standing engine room duty. A bomb hit the bridge and blew the top four decks off. We lost around 66 men. The second bomb came down in through the engine room by me and out the left side of the ship and then blew up. Boy, was I ever lucky!”

When atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, the war came to an end. Brooks was discharged.

After the war, Brooks ran an outdoor equipment shop for 40 years and farmed for 20. He still has cattle. He has been married to his wife, Wilma, for 57 years. They have three sons: Ralph, Daniel and Harold.

The 82-year-old is planning to build a case to hold his ships and boats. He’s also thinking of making a cruiser, perhaps the USS Topeka.

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