Gerald Kynett was born in December 1925 in Media, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, right outside of Philadelphia [Annotator's Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. His neighborhood was in the country. He lived in a stone house that sat on a large stretch of land. His mother took care of the house and her two children. His father was in the Navy and commanded a submarine chaser. His father did not talk about his Navy career often. After the war [Annotator's Note: World War 1], he worked in an investment banking industry as a salesman. Kynett had dyslexia, which affected his education. When he failed out of seventh grade, he was sent to Philadelphia for school. The Great Depression taught him about making his own money. He ended up in the same investment business as his father. Kynett heard about the attack on the Philippines on the radio at his grandparent's house. When he told his family about the attack they scolded him. They heard about the Pearl Harbor attack [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] later that day on the radio as well. He immediately wanted to join the military, but did not join until later in the war.

Gerald Kynett's family started rationing. His father had to get a special waver for gasoline since he was a salesman. He does not remember doing much to help the war effort before joining the Navy. His father was going to rejoin the Navy until they told him he would have a desk job. Because Kynett was not a great student, he decided to join the Navy. His mother was upset about him joining the military. He joined the Navy so he would have a bed. When he joined the Navy, he was sent to Lake Seneca [Annotator's Note: Seneca Lake, New York], which got very cold. He was taught how to carry a gun. His company was the "outstanding company of the year." He was in quartermaster school in Newport, Rhode Island, when the school was moved to Gulfport, Mississippi. He was doing amphibious training in Little Creek, Virginia when a hurricane hit, flooding the area. He lived in a tent with four other men. He taught quartermasters semaphore and blinker signals. The Coast Guard taught Kynett about the LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship Tank]. Kynett called it a "large stationary target."

Gerald Kynett picked up his ship in Evansville, Indiana, then sailed down the Mississippi [Annotator's Note: Mississippi River] to New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. While sailing towards the Panama Canal, a German submarine shot its torpedoes at the lead LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. The torpedos missed and Kynett made it to the Panama Canal. He sailed to the west coast of California, where he was given telephone poles to bring to the forward area. The crew was not happy since they served on a combat ship, not a freighter. He was only interested in what his ship was doing in the war, and was eager to get to his duty station. Afterwards he went to Hawaii where he dropped off his cargo, and started training for the invasion of Japan. While in Hawaii, an LCT [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft, Tank] was put on his LST's deck. Under the LCT, they were loaded down with ammunition. His next duty station was Enewetok [Annotator's Note: Enewetok Atoll, Marshall Islands]. His ship was loaded with African-American troops. One of those soldiers came down with appendicitis. Kynett was told to get an ambulance ready when the ship came into port. Because it was loaded with ammunition, the ship had to anchor outside of Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. Kynett had an issue getting the message out because he was told to make it a "top priority" message, meaning there was enemy contact. After several hours, Pearl Harbor and Honolulu [Annotator's Note: Honolulu, Hawaii] started to black out, which scared Kynett. While the ship was on the way to Enewetok, his commander, who was on liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] the previous night, was told about what had happened. His commander got the message off the captain's board and told Kynett to forget he ever sent the message.

Gerald Kynett could run 20 to 25 word a minute using signal. After stopping at Enewetok [Annotator's Note: Enewetok Atoll, Marshall Islands], Kynett bounced around preparing for the invasion of Japan. While anchored off of Samar Island in the Philippines, he saw the Enola Gay [Annotator's Note: the Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945] fly over his convoy. There were celebrations all over when the plane flew past them. As a Republican [Annotator's Note: American political party], he thought Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] was the best president he ever had. He does not think he would have made it through the invasion. His opinion on the Japanese has not changed much since the war. He anchored at Yokohama [Annotator's Note: Yokohama, Japan] and went on liberty [Annotator’s Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. While on liberty, he saw a family digging in the dirt looking for food. The father tried to give his daughter to Kynett for the chocolate bar he was carrying. It broke Kynett's heart. He gave the man the chocolate bar and left. A typhoon hit the city while he was anchored there. The anchors did not stop the ship from being dragged around. Sailors on nearby LCVPs [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel; also referred to as Higgins Boats] begged for help, but he could not do anything to help them. When his ship first pulled into Yokohama, trucks left for the city. A sailor came back and told him about a piano in a nearby school he wanted. Kynett and several other sailors went to the school and saw a bayonet practice station. By the time they got to the piano, some Japanese surrounded the piano and accused them of trying to steal it. One sailor brought the Japanese to a window and ordered them to jump, which they did. They managed to get the piano back aboard the LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] without being caught. The officers never found out. Kynett was the only person on the ship that knew how to play the instrument. After leaving Yokohama, Kynett helped repatriate Koreans who had been used as force laborers in the Pacific islands. The Koreans would have to stay on deck, and when some died, their bodies were put overboard. The crew did not like that job. The Koreans had to use makeshift bathrooms on the deck. They did not know how to use the latrines, and in bad weather it was even more difficult for them. After that assignment, he was ordered back home. He thought the Koreans were nice people.

Gerald Kynett returned to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii], where he was held up for some time. His ship was the mother craft for a convoy back to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California]. He was greeted by photographers. He ordered two pictures taken for his collection. He ended his service as a 1st Class Quartermaster. On his train ride home, he was put in charge of 120 men. He wanted to leave the service because he missed his family and he wanted to finish school. He entered the service as a junior in high school. He stayed in the active reserves in case of another war. He received his high school diploma and then went to the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. He got a bachelors in business, then took an officers commission test for Navy. Kynett almost went back to active Navy service a number of times, but never did. He retired from the active reserves after 20 years.