Recollections of a shipmate, Marion D. Williams,
by Don Remily and Jim Barnes

From: LDR [mailto:ldremily@Jobe.net ]
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 4:19 PM
To: JIM (HOME) SANTOS
Cc: GLENN BOOTHE; CLEM BOULTER; James W Barnes; Roger Stern
Subject: MD WILLAMS


Jim:

Some more history for you. M. D. Williams was a very good friend of mine. I know what his first name is, but if he gets on line and finds out that I told the whole world on the net he would do his number on me. And I have been looking for him for a long time.

Now when we were in the yards at Hunter’s Point in late 59 M.D. wanted to buy a house in San Diego. He needed $200.00 for a hold on it. All of his money was in San Diego in a bank and the only way he could get it was send his wife back on a plane, which would cost them more money.

M.D. came to me and asked if I could loan them $200.00 so they could send a money order (or certified check) to get the house. I said sure, so we went to the bank off base. I told the teller I wanted to cash a check for $200.00. He looked at us and said: "I will have to check with the manager” (the check was from a bank in South Dakota). The manager asked if the check would be any good when it got back to South Dakota?  I said call the bank and ask for a Bob Forsthi. He will tell you that the check will be good, we will pay for the phone call. After talking for a while he called. When he was talking to Bob, he kept looking at me . When he hung up the phone he looked at me and said "do you own that bank ??" I said no, I was just a family friend. 

Some time later Charles Quemby and I were going to go to Washington State for Christmas. I needed some extra cash so I went to the same bank . I told the teller Ii wanted to cash a check. He said “I will have to ask the manager.”  I said OK . He looked at the manager, and before he could say anything, the manager said “he owns the bank - cash it!!!!”

Small home town people come in handy . That manager would have let me cash a $1000.00 check if I wanted to.

Back to M.D. He was one of the best shipmates a naive country boy could have. Some how we in this web have to find him. He is the USS Diodon. If not him, his family.

All for now.

Green Board and D B F
Diodon Don

**********************************

From: Jim & Sue [mailto:mixie@up-link.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 6:34 PM
To: Don Remily; Roger Stern; Jim Santos; Clem Boulter; Glenn Boothe
Subject: re: M. D. Williams


Don,

Memory don't serve me to well at times so this may be all out of sorts. I think M. D. Williams was a judo instructor for the Navy someplace before he came to Diodon. Robert Fisher was a wrestler in college, neither of them knew their own strength. We had a radioman that always tried to get the two of them in a fight. I told him one time if they ever got in a fight they would kill half the crew before we could break it up.

Do either of you guys remember when we were in Okinawa, there were several generators set up on trailers that made power for the base. It was so noisy you couldn't hear anything, about like being in the engine room with both engines running full bore.

Two guys from the Yorktown jumped M. D. Williams, he banged their heads together and left them laying in the street. The next day they reported that some guys from the Diodon had jumped them. Capt'n Smith had the crew on deck to try and get to the bottom of this latest fight.

M.D. Williams said two guys jumped him and he banged their heads together and left them. Someone else came forward with a shoe he had got in a fight the same night, the shoe had the initials of someone on the Yorktown so that ended that story.

If you guys remember this story and we were somewhere else other than Okinawa, please correct me.

Green Board and DBF

Jim Barnes

From: bstrand@seniorexplorer.com [mailto:bstrand@seniorexplorer.com] 
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2001 8:27 AM
Subject: crew list

Hello Jim

I'm here asking a favor about a crew list.

A friend I served with on Volador SS490 51-54 has asked me about a commissioning list like yours of the 349. What magic did you use to obtain it? He has been a USSVI member a long time he says and is now getting interested in finding old shipmates.

He found me while reading the list we all sign in on.

Really don't remember you but that will be taken care of in Sept. I'm sure you are aware of M.D. Williams death in Dec. 99, he had the forward room for several years.

The 490 was built in Portsmouth in the late 40's and I believe came to Dago in 48 or 49.

Any help or direction you can give will be greatly appreciated, Thank you very much. B.J. Strand