John Alberhasky
U.S. Navy
Sept 1942 - Sept 1945
John enlisted into the USN shortly after Pearl Harbor and his wedding on New Year ’s Eve 1940 to his lovely bride Erma. His good friend had told him “John, you should join the Navy, because at least with the Navy always know where you’re going to eat and sleep!” John took that advice, and became a machinist mate assigned to the USS Salmon (SS-182) stationed at Pearl Harbor. When his troop ship arrived late, his boat sailed without him. He was “temporarily” assigned for almost the duration of the war to the Submarine Headquarters at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel where he was eventually put in charge of the laundry facility. There he was able to do a wide a wide range of odd jobs, earning money to buy war bonds to send back home to his wife and family. He also was assigned by Admiral Nimitz to start a traveling entertainment group that featured Don Ameche. While serving as the head of the laundry at the Submarine Rest and Recuperation center, he was asked by Admiral Halsey to have his dress whites “Cleaned, pressed & starched in one hour”. Working diligently alongside Mrs. Kahanamoku (the Sheriff of Honolulu’s wife) , he had everything ready to go, except for having the starch dry, so showing John’s amazing ingenuity, he took the uniform up to the roof of the hotel, where he put it on, stood like a scare crow with his arm’s outstretched, for long enough for the starch to dry! Towards the end of the war, John was sent to San Francisco to start training on piloting landing craft for the invasion of Japan, but with the atomic bombs being dropped, his war time service came to a peaceful end, and he came home to Iowa City and his family where he spent the next 65 years.
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