Ben Ray Bost is the only veteran left alive of the men on his ship [Annotator's Note: the USS LSM-316]. He was born in Forsyth County [Annotator's Note: Forsyth County, North Carolina]. He grew up on the family homestead where they farmed the land. Times were tough [Annotator's Note: during The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. A wealthy man purchased the farm from the struggling family. Bost his family had to leave the next day. After leaving the farm, his father worked in a sawmill and his older brothers quit school to support the family. Bost began driving a lumber truck at age 12 but did not quit school and was the first in the family to graduate. Bost was born in December 1925. One of his brothers died of pneumonia, as the family was unable to call for an ambulance. They had no access to a telephone. There were many abandoned cars and buggies along the rural backroads of his hometown. Using the leather he found in an abandoned buggy, he fashioned his very first baseball glove. By the late 1930s, Bost was aware of the ongoing conflicts in Europe and Asia but was not concerned about it affecting him. President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] had promised to keep the United States out of war. After the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], it became an honor for men to join the armed forces. He remained more interested in school and did not focus on the military. He thought the war would end before he would be able to join. At the time, Bost drove a school bus for seven dollars per month. One night, the Bost's home burned down, and the family worked to load all the furniture onto the bus. This was a blessing in disguise for the family, because he and his father both found better work after the fire and their quality of life improved. In March 1944, Bost was drafted and reported to Raleigh [Annotator's Note: Raleigh, North Carolina] where he was placed in the Navy and sent to Great Lakes [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes, North Chicago, Illinois] for basic training. He then went to Little Creek, Virginia [Annotator's Note: Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, now Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Virginia] for radio school. After training, Bost boarded USS LSM-316 in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] and began his journey to the Pacific. He quickly became acquainted with the small crew and their captain, Captain Fritsch [Annotator's Note: unable to identify], who treated the sailors like his own children.

After he had joined the Navy, it was a shock for Ben Ray Bost to leave home and get into uniform. Everything was free while he was in uniform, and the people of Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] treated him and his fellow sailors like kings. The Navy did their best to keep the young sailors entertained while aboard ship. The LSM-316 [Annotator's Note: USS LSM-316] crossed the Pacific and sailed well South of the equator to avoid Japanese submarines. After 17 days, the ship arrived in Bora Bora [Annotator's Note: Bora Bora, Leeward Islands, French Polynesia] where Bost and the others jumped overboard to enjoy a swim. By this time, Bost had become a Coxswain [Annotator's Note: person in charge of a small boat] and threw the first line ashore when the ship arrived in port. While in port, Bost also painted the ship and kept her in sailing condition. They then sailed to Hollandia, New Guinea to prepare for combat in the Philippines. While readying to leave port, the LSM-316 had trouble with its anchor engine and could not sail. Instead, LSM-318 [Annotator's Note: the USS LSM-318, sunk by a kamikaze, 7 December 1944] was sent out in its place and was sunk shortly after leaving port. On 7 December 1944, Bost arrived in Leyte Harbor [Annotator's Note: Ormoc Bay, Philippines] where the ships assembled were subject to heavy enemy fire. LSM-316 then took part in the landings at Ormoc [Annotator's Note: Battle of Ormoc Bay, 11 November to 21 December 1944; part of the Battle of Leyte, 17 October to 26 December 1944, Philippines] and unloaded troops and tanks. On the way to Ormoc, the ship next to Bost's, the USS Reid (DD-369), was hit and sunk in four minutes. Bost ran to a gun position and readied to fire for the first time. Having never fired the weapon before, Bost did not bother to remove the canvas covering from the barrel before he began firing at three approaching Japanese planes. The covering caught fire and he had to wait for it to burn off before he continued firing. They remained under heavy kamikaze threat while near Ormoc. Prisoners captured on land were loaded onto the ship and brought back to Leyte. The prisoners never looked at their captors, only at the ground. Bost's captain offered to rescue the crew of a ship that had beached itself when landing. LSM-316 had no protection while returning to port with the crew of the beached ship. A rescued crew member came into Bost's gun turret and told him that he saw three Japanese planes approaching. As Bost began firing at the trio, two of them peeled off as they dropped bombs in the water close to the ship. The third plane continued flying straight over the plane with all six of its machine guns firing. Bost was terrified while shooting at the plane and that he could not make a direct hit on the center of the plane. Miraculously, the ship was not hit, and the plane left it alone. The men in his turret with him were scared too. They had all quit cussing and started praying. Upon arriving in Leyte Harbor, Bost saw an American flag and was overcome with emotion and relief at the sense of security he felt after the long, dangerous trip back.

Ben Ray Bost loved getting Marines on board ship [Annotator's Note: the USS LSM-316], especially those from North Carolina. Because of their small size, the crew became a family and did everything they could to protect one another. Often hungry and sleep deprived while sailing without protection, the men did everything they could to keep each other motivated while manning their battle stations. They were awarded a Presidential Unit Citation [Annotator's Note: awarded to units for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941] for their actions around the Philippines. As the war began to an end, Japanese prisoners boarding a train in Leyte Harbor [Annotator's Note: Leyte, Philippines] for Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines]. The Filipinos hurled rocks at them as they passed. The crew of LSM-316 began preparing for the invasion of Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan] and practiced dozens of landings. When he heard news of the atomic bombings [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945], Bost was very happy. He finds it ironic that they came under Japanese air raid on the day the treaty was signed. LSM-316 was loaded down with occupation troops bound for duty in Tokyo. Upon arriving, Bost collected five dollars from ten men he oversaw aboard ship and exchanged the money for Japanese money with the intent of living it up for a few days. Bost soon realized that there was nowhere to spend the money and he ended up roaming the streets of Tokyo with fistfuls of cash. The Emperor's palace was the only thing he saw in Tokyo that was untouched by bombs. The ship became caught in a terrible typhoon in which Bost was knocked unconscious while bolting the bow doors shut. He arrived in Hawaii on his birthday and was happy to enjoy real milk and eggs for the first time in many months. He arrived in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] and boarded a train to Norfolk, Virginia where he was discharged with the rank of Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class on 18 January 1946. While he was away, Bost sent money home to his wife to buy a house. Upon returning, he told the taxi driver the street, but was unsure of which house was his. The taxi rolled slowly down the street until Bost saw his wife sweeping the porch of one house. He jumped out of the taxi and ran to greet his wife. He was so excited to see her he does not remember if he paid the cab fare or not.

Ben Ray Bost had a new captain come aboard [Annotator's Note: the USS LSM-316] after Captain Fritsch [Annotator's Note: unable to identify] retired. The new captain did not like Bost much and, as a result, never gave him a promotion in rank or pay. To make additional income, Bost served as the ship's barber. He cut the captain's hair while sailing in rough seas, the bad haircut may be a reason why he did not like him. Once while on night guard duty off Cebu [Annotator's Note: Cebu, Philippines], Bost came under attack. The Japanese began firing artillery shells on the ships at anchor in the harbor. He ran through the officer's quarters and roused the captain out of a deep sleep. The ship quickly got underway and away from the firing. After his discharge, Bost took advantage of the G.I. bill and attended an electronics course at DeVry Technical School in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois]. He worked in construction and electronics throughout his career before becoming a successful brick mason. He struggled with civilian life for several years after the war. He was always worried about being shot through a window. After three years the fear subsided, only to prove itself when someone shot through the door of his home later in life.

Ben Ray Bost's most memorable experiences of the war are his two combat landings at Ormoc [Annotator's Note: Battle of Ormoc Bay, 11 November to 21 December 1944; part of the Battle of Leyte, 17 October to 26 December 1944, Philippines] and Cebu [Annotator's Note: Battle for Cebu City, 26 March to 8 April 1945, Cebu City, Cebu Island, Philippines]. Additionally, the sinking of a ship [Annotator's Note: the USS Reid (DD-369)] and the men who went down with the ship still trouble him today. He fought in World War 2 because he wanted freedom. He witnessed the last sea battle which sank the Japanese fleet. The war changed his life because it allowed him to go to college even though he hated every minute of it. He changed careers and became a brick mason. He made good money, but it was hard work. He is proud to have served with the men he did and, as the last surviving member of the crew, he is glad to have reconnected with so many men over the years. America has forgotten World War 2 [Annotator's Note: a telephone rings in background at 0:55:34.000] and the schools no longer teach it to children. America is trying to remove history without thinking through it. He contracted malaria [Annotator's Note: mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite] while he was in World War 2 but recovered. He believes it is important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and to continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. He continues to stay in touch with other veterans.