Service Stories

This new section of our website is still very much "under construction", and we are continully working to preserve the history of NAS Alameda and her aviation predecessors at Alameda Point.

You can help by sharing your memories of life at NAS Alameda during your time of service. Any old photos, news-clippings, or documentation related to NAS Alameda is vital to our mission. We can digitally scan these items and return to you if necessary. Many former base personnel have spent time jotting down their recollections and forwarding in an e-mail. We're not looking for award winning essays from polished authors. Just the things you remember from your days stationed at Alameda. Even a few paragraphs are valuable to us. Others, who have the capability to scan their photos, send us the digital images of themselves or the base during that same period. Please contact Larry Pirack (curator) or Marilyn York (president) if you are able to provide us with any original photographs, images or artifacts, and please email our webmaster with any additions or updates.

Bernard Hershey -- 1942 to 1946

From 1942 to 1946 I was attached to the AOG (aircraft on ground) unit at NAS Alameda. I helped set up a stock control system whereby we could search the supply system in the USA and expedite parts urgently required in the forward area to repair grounded aircraft in the Pacific area. Commodore Durham was CO of the entire unit. My CO was Lt. Richard Frank who is deceased. To move parts quickly we used the MARS flying boats to send supplies to Pearl Harbor.
-- Bernard Hershey SKV2c, USNR. 857-12-44

Harold E. Ohanian -- 1943 to 1944

In June of 1943 I was assigned to a newly formed CASU #8 unit in Hawaii, and we were transported to the Solomon Island area via the sea plane tender the USS Pocomoke. Departing the Pocomoke, in Numea we transfered to an LSI and transported to Guadalcanal. Over a period of the next 13 months we maintained carrier land based aircraft, and others from the Russell Islands, Munda New Georgia, Green Island and the Treasures. Our operational aircraft consisted primarily of F4F, SBD, TBF, F6F, Australian P40s, F4U Corsairs, P38s-rigged as night fighters, P39 Bell AirCobras,and occasional B25s rigged with 75mm breach loaded cannons and few F8 aircraft. We returned to the States in late July of 1944. Our last major support was for aircraft striking the major Japanese base at Truk.
-- Aviation Radar Technician 1st Class; Harold E. Ohanian

Renee Nichols -- 1991 to 1993

Of one of the most humorous and potentially embarrassing stories that happened while I was there involved my Lieutenant and his ID card. He'd ridden into PT on his bicycle (which he'd done often) and tucked his ID card into the sleeve of his sweater while doing PT. I was the last one out of the gym and so I picked up the sweater, knowing it belonged to someone in our unit, but not knowing who. (nor did I know the ID card was in the sleeve.) I brought the sweater back to my barracks, took a shower and brought it to muster that morning. The Chiefs told me the sweater belonged to the Lieutenant, so I gave it back to him. The ID card was missing, so I retraced my steps to go find it. When I got back to the barracks, low and behold there it was laying in the middle of the hallway floor. We all got a good chuckle out of what might have happened if the BEQ staff (or some other officer) had found this Lieutenant's ID card in the hallway of the enlisted women's barracks!!! "Really Captain, it was quite innocent circumstances sir!"
-- E03 Renee Nichols