Overview
At 17, Thomas Howard, an Irish kid from the streets of San Francisco's Mission District joined the United States Navy at the height of World War Two. He went through the rigors of Navy Boot Camp, trained on Diesel engines, and was assigned to the engine room of one of the Navy's newest vessels, the LSM (Landing Ship Medium.) This is his story and the story of the thousands of young men who went to war in 1944. Prepared to land on hostile beaches and deliver Marines in the face of the enemy, these Sailors took pride in being known as "Fighting Amphibians.'" Using original deck logs and archive documents, this is the story of LSM 250 and the men who made her an effective fighting ship.