1944 Ltr: Lt. McMahon Exc Officer LST-740 @ Morotai- Japanese Invasion Money;

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1944 Ltr: Lt. McMahon Exc Officer LST-740 @ Morotai- Japanese Invasion Money;:
$9.99

Great 1944 typed letter from Lt. Arthur McMahon, Executive Officer of the LST-740 to his wife Gladys McMahon in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Cover is Air Mail with impressed stamp. Return address is \"Lt A.G. McMahon USS LST 740 Fleet Post Office San Francisco, Calif. [ McMahon complains about slow mail delivery in body of the letter] Has \"Passed Naval Censor\" stamp with mark. Postmark is \"U.S. Navy SEP 22 1944\" Addressed to \"Mrs. A.G. McMahon 315 Stuyvesant Ave. Lyndhurst N.J. USA\" The author was Arthur G. McMahon (1906-1987) who seems to lived in New Jersey. [#2 from internetshows McMahon in New Guinea in May, 1945] McMahon is not serving on an aircraft carrier like the Enterprise or a cruiser or destroyer or battleship or submarine. He is doing the \"grunt work\" for the \"Island Hopping Campaign\" in the Pacific. The LST-740 [see #4 from internet - photograph taken at about time of letter] was a Landing Ship Tank which supported amphibious operations by landingvehicles, cargo and troops directly ashore. The ship took three months to build and was launched in May, 1944. It had a crew of seven officers and 125 men. One source claimed most of the officers were \"ninety day wonders\" [men commissioned as officers after ninety days of training] The LST-740 was involved in the landings at Morotai [time of letter]; Leyte - Oct.- Nov. 1944; Lingayen Gulf Jan. 1945; Mindanao Island April, 1945 and Balikpapan June - July. 1945. It was also in the background of Douglas MacArthur splashing ashore at Luzon in 1945. [see #8 from internet]It was decommissioned in 1946. The letter is typed by the author and easy to read. Dated September 22. 1944Highlights: 1) Mail is slow 2) Landing at Morotai \"Everything went all right. We had a bomb drop about 400 yards astern of us and a sneaking Jap was playing tag well out of range overhead [Ship had 12 single 20mm gun mounts, 4 single 40 mm gun mounts and two twin 40 mm gun mounts] but there was no damage.\" 3) Reality of war \"Guns were blazing when we arrived at daybreak. War gets to bereal personal thing when there is shooting going on. Can\'t say I am enthusiastic about it, either. We had nice air support and that was comforting. 4) Morotai - Natives have left a \"knighted prince as a sort ofwelcoming committee\" \"The island we hit was full of vegetation, with coconut, pineapple papaya and banana trees all around.\" [see #10 from internet for Morotai today] It is one of the northernmost islands of Indonesia [see #9 for map] \"One island is like another, though, so there is no thrill in seeing new ones. All you see out here is hills, trees and water\" McMahon has a kind of \"if you\'ve seen one Pacific atoll, you\'ve seen them all\" He is at war but seems to look at it as an all expenses paid vacation. 5) War souvenirs: He sends his wife \"Jap invasion money\" [see #5 and #7] which was money printed by the Japanese for areas they conquered. These two notes for 1 cent and 5 cents were designed for the Dutch areas they conquered. Notes come with letter. Dim: 1 7/8\" x 3 15/16\" 6) Changing theaters- As part of his desire for new vistas he would like the\"civilization\" of the \"Atlantic\" theater; 7) VIPs om board: He mentions some Army officers on board including a Lt. Colonel Paige on MacArthur\'s staff and their connection to New Jersey. His most interesting figure on LST-740was an Australian Brigadier General who fought in Greece and against Rommel in Egypt. This was probably Thomas Blamey (1884-1951) [see #6 from internet for figure at centerlistening to MacArthur] Blamey has kept McMahon \" goggle-eyed\" with his exploits, so much so that he says. \"Some day I think I\'ll put them in a book\"; 8) He would like a command but it seems \"remote\"; 9) Weather- It is \"beastly hot\" particularly crossing the Equator with sun directly overhead which he does often. However the \"sunsets are beautiful....with a titian blush...\"; 10) Home- He imagines \"football fever and frost on the pumpkins\" but none for him. \"There won\'t be any football for me this year but next year -- I hope. I hope.\" He gives his love to his wife and ends in pen \"Keep Praying\". A great World War IIletter from a man who is involved in moving supplies among the islands of the Pacific. Sent folded.