Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Dan Rust, United States Navy, 1943-1946 USS Prometheus, Master-at-Arms, Pacific Theater
Boatswain Mate 3rd Class Dan Rust, United States Navy, USS Prometheus
I met Dan Rust through his daughter-in-law, Linda, after she heard I was interviewing World War Two veterans. She put us together by email and I arranged to meet him at his home in northwest Houston.
Dan Rust was born in Houston, Texas in 1925 and lived in the Heights. He had four sisters in his family. He graduated from Reagan High School in May of 1943 and joined the Navy the next week. The Navy was not his first choice. He wanted to go into the Marines Corps but his father would not sign the enlistment form so he joined the Navy.
Dan went to boot camp in San Diego and shipped out to the south Pacific 1 September 1943. When he got on board ship he was a just a boot sailor and from there he worked to be a boatswain mate. Aboard ship he became a Master of Arms Force, the policeman aboard ship.
Question: What ship did you serve on? “The USS Prometheus and I boarded her at New Caledonia, New Zealand. The USS Prometheus was commanded by Capt. C.C. Laws, an old time Navy man. That was the 1st of October. I stayed on the Prometheus throughout the War. We followed the fleet north and repaired ships as we sailed north. Our next destination was the Solomon Islands, Tulagi near Guadalcanal. There was no fighting going on there during that time.”
The USS Prometheus made a quick trip to the Admirality Islands to make a quick repair on two ships that had banged into each other. They were only there five days when they sailed for Peleliu.
Dan said that as an auxiliary ship they were not to fire their guns unless fired upon. When they got to Peleliu the Japanese had launched these kamikaze submarines at the fleet. The ship went to general quarters and as he got to the rear of the ship to his gun the submarine blew up. The explosion knocked him down. That week there were five enemy submarines that got in that harbor with a convoy. Three were sunk by action and two went into the coral reef and were sunk. Dan said that the PT boats would go out to an island held by the Japanese and draw fire. The Japanese would launch aircraft at the fleet and he remembers air raid warnings three times in one night.
The Prometheus sailed for the Philippines for their next assignment. A destroyer had struck a mine and was in danger of sinking. Divers from the Prometheus attempted to repair the hole in the hull but could not make it seaworthy. The destroyer crew joined the Prometheus and the destroyer was towed back to the States for repair. The Prometheus could repair most anything the Navy asked them to because of the facilities and personnel aboard. The War ended while they were in the Leyte Gulf.
Question: What did you do to occupy your time aboard ship?
“We had first run movies every night. I love to read and so I spent most of my time reading. I took the test for officer candidate school once and came out second and they only took one so I missed out on that. I was urged to take it again but I had been on ship for two years and I had friends there and a good job. I passed on the test. The worst job on the ship is a boot ensign and if I went off and became an officer I would come back aboard as a boot ensign and that would be bad news.”
“We left the Philippines and went to Guam to pick up passengers. The passengers were the walking mentally wounded. They came on board in straight-jackets. These were the guys (Marines) that had been on the beaches and they were mental cases. It would break your heart to see them. We never saw them aboard ship because they had a special area where they kept them locked up. It was sad.”
Dan Rust got out of the Navy in March of 1946 after serving 2 years and 9 months. He returned to Houston where he ran his family’s business, Houston Woodworking Co on Oxford.
Dan requested a combat ship but was denied. He regrets not being in the fight but thankful that he has lived a long life.
Read MoreI met Dan Rust through his daughter-in-law, Linda, after she heard I was interviewing World War Two veterans. She put us together by email and I arranged to meet him at his home in northwest Houston.
Dan Rust was born in Houston, Texas in 1925 and lived in the Heights. He had four sisters in his family. He graduated from Reagan High School in May of 1943 and joined the Navy the next week. The Navy was not his first choice. He wanted to go into the Marines Corps but his father would not sign the enlistment form so he joined the Navy.
Dan went to boot camp in San Diego and shipped out to the south Pacific 1 September 1943. When he got on board ship he was a just a boot sailor and from there he worked to be a boatswain mate. Aboard ship he became a Master of Arms Force, the policeman aboard ship.
Question: What ship did you serve on? “The USS Prometheus and I boarded her at New Caledonia, New Zealand. The USS Prometheus was commanded by Capt. C.C. Laws, an old time Navy man. That was the 1st of October. I stayed on the Prometheus throughout the War. We followed the fleet north and repaired ships as we sailed north. Our next destination was the Solomon Islands, Tulagi near Guadalcanal. There was no fighting going on there during that time.”
The USS Prometheus made a quick trip to the Admirality Islands to make a quick repair on two ships that had banged into each other. They were only there five days when they sailed for Peleliu.
Dan said that as an auxiliary ship they were not to fire their guns unless fired upon. When they got to Peleliu the Japanese had launched these kamikaze submarines at the fleet. The ship went to general quarters and as he got to the rear of the ship to his gun the submarine blew up. The explosion knocked him down. That week there were five enemy submarines that got in that harbor with a convoy. Three were sunk by action and two went into the coral reef and were sunk. Dan said that the PT boats would go out to an island held by the Japanese and draw fire. The Japanese would launch aircraft at the fleet and he remembers air raid warnings three times in one night.
The Prometheus sailed for the Philippines for their next assignment. A destroyer had struck a mine and was in danger of sinking. Divers from the Prometheus attempted to repair the hole in the hull but could not make it seaworthy. The destroyer crew joined the Prometheus and the destroyer was towed back to the States for repair. The Prometheus could repair most anything the Navy asked them to because of the facilities and personnel aboard. The War ended while they were in the Leyte Gulf.
Question: What did you do to occupy your time aboard ship?
“We had first run movies every night. I love to read and so I spent most of my time reading. I took the test for officer candidate school once and came out second and they only took one so I missed out on that. I was urged to take it again but I had been on ship for two years and I had friends there and a good job. I passed on the test. The worst job on the ship is a boot ensign and if I went off and became an officer I would come back aboard as a boot ensign and that would be bad news.”
“We left the Philippines and went to Guam to pick up passengers. The passengers were the walking mentally wounded. They came on board in straight-jackets. These were the guys (Marines) that had been on the beaches and they were mental cases. It would break your heart to see them. We never saw them aboard ship because they had a special area where they kept them locked up. It was sad.”
Dan Rust got out of the Navy in March of 1946 after serving 2 years and 9 months. He returned to Houston where he ran his family’s business, Houston Woodworking Co on Oxford.
Dan requested a combat ship but was denied. He regrets not being in the fight but thankful that he has lived a long life.
