Walter Siek was killed on the LCI 812 when an oil line broke and the engine room became engulfed in fire. He shut down all the engines.As he tried to escape, he was blasted by fire and died shortly thereafter. We were able to put a handy billy hose in the water when the ship came to a stop and put out the fire.. We had been in  Okinawa for three months and had left for Pearl to refit for the upcoming invasion of Japan on November 1, when this happened. We were traveling alone. He saved us not  once, but twice. The first time, it was an incoming kamikaze from the stern and he was the successful trigger man on the only 20 MM that was able to come to bear on the target. Every time our  LCI 812 group gets together, we have a toast and a prayer for Walter. Without him,  some of us would not have made it.
Hal Bleyhl

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I would like to see the names  of my two shipmates, Mahlon Paulson rm2/c and Coxswain Wilson added to the memorial. They were killed in action July 4, 1943 at Rendova, New Georgia during the Munda Campaign in the solomon islands, on LCI 24.

Thank You,
Lou Plant

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Dear Sir/Madam:  I found the LCI website and its wealth of information.  My older brother served on an LCI in the Pacific during W.W.II.  I have a very long letter written between June 10, 1944 and Sept 16, 1944. On June 15, 1944, during the battle for Saipan, he said that one of the men on the ship, a Garland Eddington or Eddington Garland of Oklahoma, was wounded by shrapnel.  He was taken off the LCI and put on a LST Hospital and died at 2130 on June 18th, 1944. I did not find his name listed among the casualties.  Was this because he died later on the Hospital ship? The reason I am interested in G. Eddington is that in my brother's letter he said that  Eddington's wife gave birth to a baby girl about the time he was killed, but he did not live to get the news.  I would like to see if I can find the daughter (now 56) and give her a copy of the letter.  My brother spoke highly of her father and describes his last conversation with him before he was taken off the LCI.  I am also interested in identifying the number of my brother's LCI.  I think it was LCI 247 but cannot be sure.  My brother's name was LaVerne C. Flynn. Any information, or other contacts would be very much appreciated.

J. Flynn

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Hello,
 
I was just looking over your wonderful web page and found your listing of all navy personnel who served on LCI's, that died during World War II.  However, I was a little surprised to find that my great-uncle's name was not on the list.  He was Norvie Blaine Tinney and served as a Radioman First Class on the LCI (L) 232, which was sunk on the first day of the Normandy invasion.  Though he did not die that day,  he was severely injured.  On July 26th, the medical transport plane that was bringing him back to the United States for treatment was lost over the Atlantic Ocean and never recovered.  Though he did not die aboard ship, his death was a direct result of injuries sustained on D-Day.  I would be very grateful if you could list him among the honored dead.  If you need documentation to substantiate all of this, I can provide you with military records and letters that were
provided to me by his commanding officer at the time.  If you have any questions about this, please email me.  I would be happy to assist in anything needed to have his name added to the list.
 
Thank you,
Diana Lancaster

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Ensign Dary G. Huish was the Gunnery Officer; Lester H. Welch, GM3 was
the Gun Captain and Pointer on the Stbd 40 mm gun; Fred H. Gray, S2 was in the same gun crew as was Donald S. Rappold, S2.  Three were killed by concussion, and Rappold died the night of the 17th on the New York.  Both Gray and Rappold were short-timers aboard the 474.  Another short-timer, Gene Sloan, S2 was one lucky bastard that day. He and Gray traded General
Quarters assignments that morning   -- one was in the gun crew and the other was an ammunition passer. They were going to trade back during the afternoon activities.  I just found out about this about 6 months ago from Pat Sloan, Gene's widow

Robert Harker,
LT USNR
1837 So. 29th St.
Terre Haute, IN 47803