Lopinot, Alvin C. - Invasion of Okinawa
I am a native of Belleville, Illinois and was born September 10, 1922. On February 17, 1942, I was inducted into the U.S. Navy at Peoria, Illinois. After eight weeks of boot camp at Great lakes, I trained for another six weeks as a Hospital Corpsman followed by nine months at Chicago Navy Pier. Next, I was sent to Portsmouth, Virginia Naval Station for three more months of medical training and another three months of amphibious training at Camp Bradford, Virginia.
In December, 1944, I was assigned to LST 895 (Landing Ship Tank). The ship was 328 feet long and carried eight to 10 officers and about 100 enlisted men. We sailed down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans. Then we sailed to Pearl Harbor, Guam and Okinawa. I was involved in one of the bloodiest battles of the South Pacific. The battle for Okinawa began on April 1, 1945 and was in full swing when LST 895 arrived on April 27. Considerable time was spent at General Quarters manning guns and other stations because of suicide boats and kamikaze planes in the area. Okinawa was taken and the battle ended on June 22 after 82 days. LST 895 then headed in a convoy for the invasion of Ihea Shima about 40 miles north of Ok inawa. The first wave of Marines went ashore at 10:45 a.m. on June 3rd. My ship shuttled back and forth to Okinawa and then headed for the Philippines in a convoy of 35 LST’s.
While we were at sea the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August, 1945. Japan surrendered on August 15 and signed the formal surrender September 2, 1945. Our ship shuttled supplies and personnel between the Philippines, Okinawa, Yokohama, Saipan and Guam. I spent 15 months on LST 895. My ship performed occupation duty in the Far East until mid-September, 1945. It was decommissioned on August 17, 1946.
I received an honorable discharge from the Navy at St. Louis, Missouri with the rank of Pharmacist Mate First Class (PhM1/C). This photo was taken at Great Lakes in 1943. My children ordered an engraved brick and it is already in place at the WW II Illinois Veterans Memorial. Thank you all for the work you are doing to honor WW II veterans. It is greatly appreciated.
Al Lopinot, Litchfield, IL
February 13th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
I am doing your family tree from Joseph Lopinot, born 1818 in France down to present time in St. Clair County, IL. Since there are so many Lopinots with the same first names, different generations, it is hard to trace this family. I am doing it for two Lopinots. I have been doing genealogy for thirty years and this one is hard. I am originally from East St. Louis and Belleville. If you can share any information I would appreciate it.
March 1st, 2009 at 7:46 am
My great grandfather was Joseph Lopinot born in 1867 and married to Lena Lopinot born 1871. Their daughter Irene Lopinot (1898) was my grandmother. She married George Carr and they had two children George Thomas Carr and Mary A. Carr. G. Thomas was my father and he died in 1972. If you have any information about where this Joseph Lopinot comes from or who is father is, I would appreciate knowing.
Thanks.
Jeanne Carr Roe
roe1992@aol.com
October 1st, 2009 at 3:55 pm
According to my father’s (Ralph K. Horner) DD214 He was a radar man on LST 899 during the the invasion of Okinawa and did occupation duty in Japan. Seems to be very similar to your experiences.
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:15 pm
My father is believed to be a decendent of young women from E. St. Louis abandoned in 1929 in chicago, i am looking for relatives. please advise.
Wendy S. Elias Her name was Lopinot unmarried and my father was 11 months when he was left in 1929.
214-57808379
February 17th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Please let me know if you have found any information on my father that was born to a Lapinot unmarried woman a son in 1929, later abandoned in Chicago in 1930.
August 6th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
My father was also on the LST 895 according to a news article sent to the local (Waterloo, IL) newspaper in 1945. My father, Freeman J. Keim (SFLc), passed away at a relatively young age, fifty-two. This was before I had the interest to ask him about his time in the Navy. He sent many papers, photos, and memorabilia home throughout his tour of duty which my mother kept in a scrapbook. Through this book, I can piece together a bit of my parent’s lives during the war years.
It was interesting to read your recollection of the time you spent on the LST 895. Thanks for posting it. Best regards, Gail Aubel
August 11th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
We just submitted the money to buy a “brick” for our stepfather, Robert O Hedges. He was on the LST 808. I was hoping to give him some conection on this website to others familiar with his ship. He was in Iwo Jima and has a pic of the “hill” a couple of hours prior to the famous flag raising.