Laddie Svoboda

Laddie Svoboda

I was born on June 20, 1918 at 3454 W. 47th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. I graduated from WestTech High School in Cleveland in June 1937. When I was drafted for service, in World War II, I chose the Navy. On February 14, 1944, I was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois to serve my six weeks at Boot Camp.

After my training, I was sent to Shoemaker, California for one week, and then assigned to the U.S.S. Nassau on April 1944. I was a tool and die maker by trade, so they gave me a rating of M.M.S. 3C Petty Officer. I was in the machine ship with Pat Leibert, Harold Henning and Rernkus, to name a few. I took over for Pat Leibert when he was transferred off the ship.

The Machine Shop was over the boilers, so it was very hot! I had heat rash from head to foot all the time I was on the ship. We really had good Officers onboard, so that helped a lot for being away from family and home. I also worked the air compressors, and took care of the machinery in the stirring room, to make sure it worked smoothly.

The Commander woke me, one night, and told me to take care of two feet of water in the passageways. The fresh water lines were bursting, and I had to find out why. It was the boiler backing up into the lines, so they had to put check valves in the lines.

We were in the China Seas in the invasion of the Philippine Islands. I watched while sitting on the Flight Deck with two life preservers on. The sky was very brightly tit, so that pilots could be safely transferred to our ship to fly in the Philippine Invasion. The Nassau was in Pearl Harbor when the end of World War II was declared. From Pearl Harbor we went to China, and then back to California. I was shipped back to Great Lakes Naval Base, where I was discharged on December 12, 1945. I did have a ship leave for five days in Los Angeles and another five days in San Francisco. My wife and daughter were there to share them with me.

I married my wife, Mary Yornnick, on November 8, 1941, and our first daughter, Karen, was born on November 6, 1942. Our second daughter, Janice, was born on October 3, 1946; and our third daughter, Nancy, was born on October 13, 1951. We have eight grandchildren. We will be celebrating our 60th Wedding Anniversary on November 8, 2001 — this year.