Volleyball and other games
Originally published 02:49 p.m., October 4, 2007
Updated 02:49 p.m., October 4, 2007
The volleyball season is here. That makes me think of one of my volleyball experiences. That, in turn, makes me think of other athletic experiences at that same time and place in my life. Such thinking, consequently, moves me to tell you about these memories. I would certainly do that, if I had my way.
The setting for these sporting memories is Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands way out in the Pacific. The time is the last couple of months of 1943 and the year of 1944. Obviously, this is a World War II adventure.
I was an officer in a naval boat pool. Our task was to use landing craft boats to put military people and equipment ashore. After we had been involved in some landings from ships, we were deposited on Manus Island. Our job now was to repair and provide landing craft for ships as they were brought into our island area.
After our boat pool outfit had been on Manus Island for a few weeks, we decided we needed to do something so the 500-or-so of us could have some exercise and recreation. Basketball and baseball were not possibilities because we were mostly in a jungle and space was not available.
Somehow, the idea of volleyball came up. We would not need much space for a volleyball court and the surface would not have to be terribly smooth or uniform. We cleared a space and began to cover it with gravelly-sandy material from one of the many coral reefs there beside us. It made a rather good surface.
It was no problem getting a couple of posts to hold up the net. There were plenty of trees to harvest for the two posts. I do not recall where we got the net. It certainly was not a real volleyball net. We put it together out of a variety of materials we had available. It was a very heavy net and had a big rope at the top. Now we are ready to play volleyball.
We officers reserved an hour in the late afternoon for us to use the court. Our enlisted men could use it anytime else — and did use it often. Before long, teams began to loosely form. They would play each other. About a dozen of us officers were playing regularly and six of us soon became a team.
That was because some of the enlisted men’s teams asked us to play them. We did. Our officer’s team was good and we generally won, but such competition between our officers and our enlisted men was great for our morale and unity.
We had no rules about touching the net or reaching over it. Of course, that is officially forbidden, both now and then, but we did it that way anyhow. What it meant for us was that enlisted men could reach over the net and swat an officer in the head when they were both going after the ball. That always made our men smile and laugh. In spite of that, however, our officer’s team was very good and we generally won. Volleyball was a great event for the morale and unity of our boat pool. And it was good for our exercise and diversion in that hot, muggy world.
Later on, we made more space in the jungle and we got some cement off a ship. We built ourselves a basketball court. It was all concrete and handmade, so it was not great, but it worked. We got the baskets and backboards sent to us somehow. I do not remember how.
Now, then, there was lots of basketball playing, too. Somehow, it was thought we should form a unit team and play other groups. I was asked to be the coach and did put together a team.
There was a naval stevedore unit farther down our island. These units were called Seabees. We heard they were playing basketball, too. So we sent down word that we were challenging them to come up and play our team. The Seabees were all African-Americans. Their positions in the Navy were very restricted in those days. Up came a team of big, rough-looking fellows.
Since it was an unusual event, a large crowd of our men turned out to watch the game. That did not do us any good, since our team was badly trounced. Those Seabee fellows were great!
Somewhat later, we did cut down enough jungle so that we could make a baseball field — softball, I should call it. We used it a lot and had lots of fun and exercise on it. Various teams of our enlisted men challenged our officers to play them. We did several times.
But it was much different than volleyball. I cannot recall that we ever won a game. After all, with only about 15 officers, it was difficult to find 10 who could play baseball. I always had to either pitch or catch. We were a poor team, but it was fun. And it was good for the morale of our men to beat us.
There, then, are the memories the volleyball season bring to me. I told you I would tell you about them, if I had my way. And darned if I did not get my way for a change.