Joseph Brannan was born in Gillett, Arkansas in 1922. Raised during the Great Depression, his father had a business in the rice warehousing business. Rice was a main crop in the region where Brannan was born. When the economy deteriorated, Brannan went to Shreveport, Louisiana to live with his grandparents. His grandparents primarily raised him from that point. His grandfather was a conductor on the Cottonbelt Railroad. Brannan lived with him from the fourth grade to the second year of high school. Between his grandparents, his mother, and his dad, he lived in multiple locations. His mother kept house for his grandfather. They lived in the country so it was difficult to go to school. Additionally, his country home only had an outhouse. He moved to Shreveport to be close to a school. While there, Brannan heard about the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. He was at a movie when he first heard of the attack. The movie was unexpectedly stopped, and an announcement was made that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. No details were available except that the attack had damaged some ships. During this time, Brannan was working at his college to help pay for his tuition. On 16 December, about a week after the attack, Brannan went with a friend to the recruiting station to enlist in the Navy. Brannan wanted to see what it would take to join the Navy. While there, an old Navy Chief [Annotator's Note: Chief Petty Officer (CPO)] asked Brannan why he did not enlist. Brannan replied that he was too young to enlist and that he would need his father to agree. He was told not to let his age stop him, but rather to get in line and fill out the enlistment forms. Brannan did so and was told to return in the morning. When Brannan returned, he was told that a recruiter had visited his father and gotten his permission for his son to join the Navy. Brannan was told that he was in the Navy and would be departing for camp that night. Instead, Brannan left a few days later after checking out of school. He was in the United States Navy.

Joseph Brannan was sent on a train to San Diego, California for boot camp after he enlisted in the United States Navy. It was obvious that his passenger train was side tracked all the way there with the priority of movement given to artillery, tanks and troops destined for the West Coast. [Annotator's Note: Brannan enlisted in the Navy on 16 December 1941, immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.] In San Diego, the new recruits were loaded on a bus and transported to the training base. The men were then marched into a gym and told to strip and hold on to only their shaving gear. Their clothes were to be stacked to the side and a mailing label filled out for home, otherwise, the rest of their belongings would go to the Salvation Army. The boots [Annotator's Note: "boot" is naval slang for a new recruit] were lined up with their fellow nude recruits just holding their shaving gear and waiting to be vaccinated. Doctors and corpsmen were lined up to vaccinate them. Next, they went through a supply line. First to be received was underwear because the supply clerks did not want to see nude recruits. Next, a sea bag was given to each man. That was followed by a distribution of clothes and gear that was almost impossible to carry. Some men exited the building and passed out from all the injections they received. Other men had to have help from a buddy to get to the barracks. Upon arrival in the barracks, there was an old Chief [Annotator's Note: Chief Petty Officer (CPO)] there. The rules were explained to the men. The Chief would be the Lord Almighty. Next step was a trip to the barber shop so that all the boots' hair could be clipped off for their easy identification. The new recruits were told that they would be in quarantine for 21 days in order to receive three sets of shots. They could not leave the base or even the barracks without the Chief marching them to their destination. That included going to chow or to the tailor for uniform fitting. The Chief educated the men for three weeks. They learned to be sailors. The main thing learned was how to roll the uniform up and pack their sea bag and hammock. After 21 days, the men anxiously prepared for an anticipated liberty. Instead, they were told to pack their bags along with their hammocks and mattresses for travel. Liberty was not available for them. The good news was they were going to be promoted and get a pay raise. Brannan became a Seaman, Second Class. The new trainees numbered about 3,000 and included men with only two weeks of training. Those without all their injections were told that they would receive them in transit. They were loaded aboard a troop ship named the Crescent City [Annotator's Note: USS Crescent City (APA-21)]. With the ship holding approximately 12,000 people, there were Navy, Army and Marine personnel aboard. As soon as the ship departed San Diego sufficiently, the word was given that the destination was Pearl Harbor. The men did not know what to expect. When the men arrived at Pearl Harbor, the first sight was the Nevada [Annotator's Note: USS Nevada (BB-36)] beached in the channel. Hickam Field could be seen from the Crescent City. Damaged aircraft had been bulldozed off to the side to clear the runways. Further into the harbor, Ford Island with its burned hangers and destroyed airplanes could be seen. Then, Battleship Row with the severely damaged battleships came into view. The ships were two by two as they sat on the bottom after the raid. The newly arrived sailors were sick to see what had happened. Some even cried. In the harbor dry dock, two destroyers had been burned. Their sides were buckled as a result. The men on the Crescent City were offloaded and told to prepare for assignment. Brannan was assigned to the USS Niagara (PG-52), a patrol gunboat. He thought the Niagara was a cruiser before he came to see that it was not a capital ship. While in transit to Niagara, their boat passed the Nevada. At that point, they were told to tie up outside of the channel. Brannan noted two PT boats speeding along dropping depth charges on an area where it was suspected that a marauding Japanese submarine was intruding into the harbor. That was his first introduction to the war. When the boat reached the Niagara, Brannan observed that it was a beautiful yacht that had mahogany and other fine woodwork. It had been the Hi-Esmaro owned by the Johns Manville Company prior to it becoming a military asset. Later, during a refit in Brooklyn, the Niagara would be converted into a true PT boat tender. [Annotator's Note: After the conversion to the United States Navy’s first Motor Torpedo Boat, or PT boat tender, the USS Niagara was designated AGP-1.] The fine woods were removed, the bow was changed and armament including 20mm cannons would be added. Sonar was added along with gasoline tanks to hold the high octane fuel used by the PT boats. The Niagara could carry 30,000 gallons of fuel for the boats it tended after those tanks were added by Todd Shipyard in New York. The Niagara was then sent to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean to be a tender for Squadrons 2 and 3 [Annotator's Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons 2 and 3.]

Joseph Brannan reached Tulagi on the USS Niagara (AGP-1) [Annotator's Note: the USS Niagara (PG-52) was redesignated AGP-1 in January 1943 after its conversion to the United States Navy's first Motor Torpedo Boat, or PT boat, tender.] They were tied up away from the main base and camouflaged. The CBs [Annotator's Note: members of naval construction battalions] had built a fresh water line from the mountains to the location where the Niagara was moored. Fresh water could then be provided to the boats that Niagara supported. Water was a problem in small ships because they did not have the capability to make sufficient fresh water for its needs. As a result, the enlisted men on the Niagara were issued a bucket of fresh water per day for brushing their teeth, cleaning and other uses. Generally, baths were taken in salt water. PT boat crewmen slept in what had been native huts. This was because the boats were too hot to sleep on. A guard was left on the boat while the men went to one or two huts for the crew. There was also a mess hall for the men. While the Niagara was tied up in the channel, there was over 100 Japanese aircraft that raided Tulagi. The attackers also hit Guadalcanal about 20 miles away. The ships that unloaded at Guadalcanal would anchor at night at Tulagi. The Japanese were after the cargo or other ships in Tulagi harbor. The enemy used dive bombers against the Allied ships and then would send other aircraft up the channel to attack the ships. When the Japanese planes were skimming along the channel to assault the ships, they were sitting ducks for the crewmen manning .30 caliber Lewis machine guns on the Niagara. The Lewis machine guns had been mounted on the wings of the bridge because none of the other Niagara guns could cover the water or the jungle if the Japanese should attack the vessel at its anchorage. Brannan and another sailor had a good field of fire on the attackers. They fired away with the incoming planes so close that Brannan could see the face of one of the pilots as he flew by. Several of the enemy planes were downed in the action. The captain commended the men manning the Lewis guns on their good shooting. A number of planes went down behind the Niagara. Brannan estimated that six planes were shot down. Although some of the crew went to see the wreckages, Brannan never went to see the downed planes. A couple of weeks later, Niagara was ordered to take the portion of MTB Squadron 8 boats located at Tulagi to New Guinea. That was because of the refueling capability that Niagara could provide to the six boats during transit. The following morning, a Japanese patrol plane spotted the flotilla and dropped a few bombs on them but missed. About 45 minutes later, six twin engine bombers came over. Since Brannan was the sonar operator, he was on the bridge at his battle station near the Sonar Room with its charts. He looked up and saw the bombers open their bomb bay doors and release their bombs. It looked like graffiti coming down in the morning sun. The bombs sparkled in the light. Brannan lay prone on the deck. The deck bounced in every direction. The enemy thought the Niagara was traveling faster so the bombs overshot them. There were no deaths but five minor casualties. The boat was damaged and on fire badly so that the Captain called for the crew to abandon ship. The Squadron 8 boats came up close and rescued the crew of the Niagara. At that point, the squadron headed back to Tulagi. They had just refueled so the boats had sufficient fuel to make it back to Tulagi. The burning Niagara would not sink. It was sunk with torpedoes fired from a PT boat. The first two torpedoes missed so two more were fired. The torpedoes were built in 1921 but were kept in good shape. The boats had torpedo tubes which fired off the torpedoes using black charges. [Annotator's Note: Early PT boats had torpedo tubes while later boats had roll off torpedoes that were carried in racks.] When the Niagara crew reached Tulagi, they were told that they would be loaned to PT boats by their captain.

Joseph Brannan had never ridden on a PT boat [Annotator's Note: Patrol Torpedo boat] prior to his assignment to his first one in the Pacific. The Niagara [Annotator's Note: USS Niagara (AGP-1)] crewmen were told that they would receive a third class for the rating they were striking for on the PT boat. [Annotator's Note: A crewman strikes for a position when he decides what he wants to do and then studies and prepares to be qualified for the rating.] They were told as an alternative to riding the PT boats that they would be assigned to undesirable type work on the base. When the question was posed to Brannan, he responded that he was a sonar striker knowing that there was no sonar on the PT boats. The counteroffer was to him was for him to strike to be a radio operator. Instead, he was finally given the rating of Gunner's Mate 3rd class after it was determined that he could clean guns. Assigned to PT-39, Brannan had friends assigned to other boats including the PT-109 which was skippered by future President John F. Kennedy. Brannan rode the PT boat for a year in the Solomon Islands. There was no liberty or even local native villages. The natives had evacuated to the hills. Some natives came down from the hills with illnesses once a week to visit the military sick bay. PT-39 was Brannan's first boat, but he would later go to Rendova aboard PT-59 while the first boat was being reconditioned. While the PT-39 was being reconditioned, a gas leak developed. When the radar was activated, it blew up. As a result, Brannan had to remain on the PT-59. Shortly after, all the survivors of MTB Squadrons 2 and 3 were sent back to the United States and Melville, Rhode Island with 30 days leave in transit. PT-39 was sent back to the states on a cargo ship and reconditioned in Melville, Rhode Island. It was used later in a parade for President Kennedy but it did not look like his boat since the bow had been redesigned differently from the PT-109.

Joseph Brannan returned to Melville, Rhode Island as a PT boat instructor [Annotator's Note: at the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center] after his tour of duty in the Pacific. He was assigned to MTB Squadron 4 and received sea time the whole time he was in Melville. After a month, he was transferred to a commissioning detail in New York for a month. Following that, he received orders for MTB Squadron 22 in the Mediterranean Sea. Squadron 22 was based at Maddalena off Corsica. He rode a cargo ship to North Africa and then went to Maddalena aboard an LCI [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft, Infantry]. Upon arrival in Maddalena, he was assigned to the PT-305 in December 1944. He rode PT-305 until the war ended and the boat was brought back to the United States. The 305 patrolled out of Leghorn, Italy with a British squadron. There would be three boats in a group with the senior officer considered to be the one from the majority of boats. Often times, the British officer would defer to the senior American officer. The crewmen would wager on how long it would take for the British senior officer to transfer to the American boats. The English officers were very young and did not mingle much with the American crews. The British would eat aboard their boats while the Americans had a nice mess hall with recreation facilities set up ashore. The British commented on the Americans having the best of everything. [Annotator's Note: Brannan smiles at the recollection.] The PTs would patrol close to the German coast and the enemy 88mm artillery would open up on them. When an enemy star shell would light the darkened sky and the 88s would fire, it was time to go. The Germans used the artillery technique of firing one long followed by one short in order to bracket their target. Having done that, they commenced firing for effect. When the star shell lit the sky, the skipper would order the PT boat out to sea. The Germans used coastal freighters inside their mine fields to supply their troops. The PTs could avoid the mines because they were wood and had a shallow draft. Nevertheless, there were close calls. The PTs would observe the coast using visual and radar sightings and then attack the supply vessels with torpedoes. On one occasion, the 305 rammed a sister PT boat, the PT-303. The Germans were confused and did not fire on either of them. Since the damage on the 303 was above the waterline, the two PTs hastily retreated to safety. The next day, a lieutenant told Brannan, who was the senior enlisted man, to gather the crew together. The crew was told that the lieutenant was now the new skipper after that escapade. The new skipper was a real nice guy named Hamilton [Annotator's Note: US Navy Lieutenant (j.g.) Richard A. Hamilton]. Hamilton had been in the New Guinea area of the South Pacific. He turned out to be a good skipper. Another incident occurred with British patrol aircraft. The planes mistook the 305 and another PT boat for German E boats [Annotator's Note: an E boat is the German version of a PT boat, only larger] and claimed to have sunk the two boats. There was no damage to the 305 as one of the British bombs exploded next to it and only threw water on top of it. The skipper of the 305 thought the German artillery had opened up on the PT boats so he ordered the craft out to sea. Shortly after, another string of bombs exploded next to the vessel. The 305 came out of a waterspout generated by the explosion. She was alright but a motor mechanic had stuck his head out of the engine room and was struck by shrapnel. He was bleeding profusely as a result. Brannan and the skipper took the wounded man back down to the skipper's bunk. With a cordon of Allied defensive ships blocking their way, the 305 could not return to base so the wounded man was transferred to a French destroyer for care. PT-305 returned to duty after that. In another incident, the 305's radar man spotted something coming up fast on them. It was an Italian PT boat which fired on the 305 and went across its bow. The 305 was running with the 7 boat [Annotator's Note: PT-307] at the time. A friend of Brannan named Perkins was a sharp gunner's mate on the 7 boat. Perkins opened up on the Italian who went out of sight but stopped. The radar man kept close watch of the enemy as the PTs approached him. The American boats made a pass around the enemy and fired on them with machine guns and cannon. They left the area before the German artillery could get the range on them. During this time, Brannan was senior enlisted man and was in a floating position on the boat. He generally helped with the loading of the 40mm cannon but could be called upon by the skipper to assist in other ways.

Joseph Brannan was in a crew on PT-305 that was composed of two officers and from 12 to 14 enlisted men. The enlisted count was dependant on the number of guns carried by a boat. The two officers were the skipper and his executive officer. The skipper would usually be a lieutenant (j.g.) and the executive would be an ensign. There would be two gunner's mates. Brannan was a Gunner's Mate 1st class and there was a Gunner's Mate 3rd class by the name of Lawrence Petroni. There were four torpedomen because the boat carried four torpedoes and it took quite a bit of maintenance to keep them ready to fire. In addition, there were three engine men or motor macks [Annotator's Note: motor machinist's mate]. There was a radioman, radarman, and a cook. That was the crew on the 305 boat. In the South Pacific, PT-39's crew always ate on the beach so no cook was aboard. [Annotator's Note: Brannan served on two PT boats in the Pacific, PT-39 and PT-59, before entering action in the Mediterranean]. In the Mediterranean, the PT-305's crew always ate while ashore but a cook was aboard to prepare a light meal for the middle of the night. Most the time, the men ate rations because it was not good to cook aboard ship while on patrol. The PT boat was hard to ride while underway because of the constant pounding. There was no way to be seated except down below where there were benches for the crew to sleep. Once the boat left harbor for patrol, everyone stayed on deck except to go below for a cup of coffee, a snack, or a smoke. If someone hung out too long down below, his absence above would be realized, and he would be notified. The boat had no lifelines or seats, but no one was ever lost over the side. Individuals had to hang on while underway. Some men could not take the pounding and had to be removed from the crew. The PT-305 had various weapons. It was armed with a 40mm cannon on the stern, one 20mm cannon on the bow and one at midship, plus two .50caliber machine guns outboard of the bridge at midship. Other PT boats might be armed differently. The 305 had a bulkhead behind the cockpit. The flak jackets that were issued to the men had small steel plates in them. They were stored on that bulkhead behind the cockpit. The jackets were seldom worn except when a potential for enemy artillery was anticipated. The night the motor mack got hit with shrapnel, the flak jackets likely saved the skipper [Annotator's Note: Lieutenant (j.g.) Richard A. Hamilton] and Brannan from being wounded since they were hanging behind them on the bulkhead. Brannan felt he was lucky. He always carried a Catholic medal with him. Life aboard the 305 boat involved very cramped living conditions in the crew quarters. The crew shared their time 24 hours a day, seven days a week for month in and month out. Brannon was aboard the 305 from December 1944 to July 1945 when the boat was loaded aboard an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] bound for the United States. After arriving in the United States, the 305 was unloaded at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The boat then traveled to City Island, New York where the crew was given a per diem to rent a room in the area. The PT boats were being rehabbed to go to the Pacific. As soon as the Italians surrendered, the PT-305 ceased patrolling. Crews for the squadron were rotated through liberty either at Nice, France or Rome, Italy depending on where the individual PT boat was based. Brannan would have preferred liberty in Rome but received liberty in Nice because of where 305 was based. After the Germans surrendered, PT-305 ran under its own power to Oran in North Africa by refueling at sea. At Oran, the boat was idle for a month while it was determined how to return it to America. The PT boat was loaded aboard an LST inside an LCT [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft, Tank] for the trip back to the United States. Although the LST appeared top heavy and could potentially turn turtle [Annotator's Note: capsize or overturn], the Atlantic Ocean was perfectly smooth on the voyage. The PT boat crew accompanied their boat on the voyage home. The LST was a very slow ship. The PT boats were fully fueled in case an emergency rose and they had to go into immediate service. They had been secured in a way that the boat could be released in case the LST was damaged and foundering. This had been successfully accomplished previously in a similar circumstance in the Pacific.

Joseph Brannan was based for a time in Leghorn, Italy as the city was called in English. It is referred to as Livorno in Italian. Only four men could go on liberty at a time because two thirds of the crew had to be maintained aboard in case of emergency. Liberty was allowed only when the boat was not on patrol. When operating every night, there was no time for liberty. Upon return from patrol, the guns and the ship had to be cleaned. All had to be in readiness for the next night and the patrol required then. While in Italy, the crew did pull a fast one. The men heard that they could go to Pisa with the Leaning Tower even though it was out of their zone. They were supposed to limit themselves to liberty in Leghorn. Nevertheless, Army convoys passed near Pisa with trucks carrying supplies to the front beyond that city. With the trucks running slowly, the PT-305 crewmen jumped aboard to travel to and return from Pisa. They visited the Leaning Tower and saw the bronze doors of the cathedral but missed many famous landmarks in Pisa. Even though the outskirts were bombed severely, the city within the walls was relatively untouched and like a different world. Grass could even be seen inside the walls. Brannan was only able to visit there for an hour so the sightseeing was very limited. Few Italian locals were seen because the front was so near. In France, the Germans had evacuated the Riviera of France so nothing was destroyed in Southern France. The French homes did need maintenance, but the French were just like they were before the war. The Italians were different because they were seldom seen. The crew had an Italian aboard who spoke the language very well, but he hardly got to use the skill. The crewman of Italian descent never even got the chance to see his relatives who were in Italy.

Joseph Brannan was stationed in Southern France after being based in Italy. In France, liberty was more available than it had been in Italy. The restriction was that the duration could only be from shortly after noon to sundown. That was the same requirement in Italy for returning to the boat from liberty. Men had to return to the ship by sundown. While in France, the men were based at Golfe-Juan near Cannes and Point Antibes. This area had been a favorite English summer vacation spot prior to the war. Even Winston Churchill had a home there before the war. There was an old chief [Annotator's Note: chief petty officer] on the base who was in charge of shore patrol. Brannan, with his liberty rotation, would be free in the afternoon every third day. The chief would have an enlisted man from one of the PT boats accompany him. Brannan always liked to volunteer for that duty because the chief would ask him where he would like to go. He particularly liked to visit Grasse nearby where large fields of flowers could be seen. Those flowers would go into the local perfume production. The employees of the factories dressed in white like they were in a hospital. One of Brannan's fellow crewmen sent a good bit of perfume to his wife back home. After the war, Brannan saw that same man in Dallas. The man's wife had a dresser still loaded with the perfume. The chief would patrol the town brothels to keep the sailors out of trouble. The bartender would always provide the chief and his helper with a glass of wine. The chief made sure that the errant men would not get into too much trouble for steering wide of the liberty restrictions. Brannan loved duty with the chief. In Southern France, the officers would commandeer a jeep to go into town. It was required that an enlisted man sit in the back of the jeep with a Thompson submachine gun so that the French would not steal the vehicle. They could not get it back because the jeep would be repainted with French insignias. The Army had a rest area for combat officers in Cannes. The Navy was supposed to stay out of the city but they did not. Neither the Army nor Navy was allowed to go on the scenic beaches. The official word was that the beach was not clean to swim in because of city sewage drainage into it. That was not true. The only thing that was at the beach was beautiful French babes in skimpy bathing suits. The military men would walk the boardwalk looking down on the beach but could not go on the beach. There was a scavenger in the crew of the PT-305. He could get anything that was loose. One day, chicken was going to be served to the officers. No crews had chickens available to them. The scavenger, or appropriator, managed to take some chickens from the officer's mess. The guard stations were notified and alerted to watch for the thief. The chickens made their way to PT-305. Later that night, the skipper joined his men on 305 in enjoying a chicken meal. The skipper told them to get rid of the bones by sinking them, but, in no case were they to not put the bones in the garbage, or they would never get ashore again. In Southern France, the only combat incidents for the PT-305 were when they sunk the Italian boat and were bombed [Annotator's Note: PT-305 and another boat were mistakenly attacked by English aircraft one night]. In Italy, most of the action was past Pisa. On top of the Leaning Tower, they could see planes taking off from the airfield and see the bombardment going on at the front nearby.

Joseph Brannan returned to New York with the PT-305 and two other boats on an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. The men and their boats were sent to City Island, New York in order to prepare for the invasion of Japan. There were three other boats there that had been transported home on a Liberty Ship [Annotator's Note: a class of cargo ships]. The boats were being stripped out in preparation for Pacific service. New engines and equipment were being installed. The boats were going to the Pacific because war was still raging there. Upon arrival at City Island, half the men were given liberty and the other half was kept with the boats to guard them. This was good duty because the six crews worked it out so that only one crew had to stick around with the six boats and guard them. The other five crews could take leave of the guard duty and do whatever they wanted in nearby New York City. The skipper and some of the crew fell in each day but discipline was lax. The boats were getting close to readiness to go to the Pacific when the war ended. Brannan was on leave at home when the war ended. He had enough points to be discharged. He wanted to go to Louisiana or Arkansas to be discharged instead of Portland, Oregon. He received a lump sum equal to transport cost to Oregon and went to Lido Beach where he had gotten gunnery practice a year before and was discharged there. The idea of going to the Pacific to continue fighting against the Japanese did not bother Brannan. There was never liberty in the Pacific because the boats would moor at base at night. The bases were on islands with jungles. When Brannan left the Pacific, PT bases were being established instead of using squadron personnel stripped from the boats to set up the bases.

Joseph Brannan remembered that the PT-305 had three engines but after living on it for about a year, he could not recollect what the head looked like. [Annotator's Note: The head on a ship or boat is its toilet.] He had to recently look at a restored PT boat at Fall River to see what the head looked like. [Annotator's Note: The PT Boat Museum at Fall River, Massachusetts has two PT boats on display, PT-617 was built by Elco and PT-796 was built by Higgins Industries.] There was a wash basin that used salt water but no shower facility. The galley had two burners with an ice box that could freeze two trays of ice. They could cool water in the ice box. Water was scarce on the boat. In the Med [Annotator's Note: Mediterranean], water was on the docks. In the Pacific, the PTs had to find a boat it could tie up to for supply of fresh water. The Niagara [Annotator's Note: USS Niagara (AGP-1)] was that type of tender. In the 100 plane Japanese raid, the Niagara had a PT tied up to it. The gunner on the 20mm gun on Niagara nearly shot off the mast of the boat tied to it. At Golfe-Juan, there were torpedoes that had to be disposed of after the patrols stopped. PT-305 and another boat took them near the harbor of Genoa, Italy. They were stacked on top of the racks. The torpedoes were rolled off and took off. The PTs left quickly before the Germans fired on them. The torpedoes were aerial torpedoes that ran on air and alcohol. The alcohol was good to drink so the officers put something in it to prevent the crew from drinking it. The men knew that the foreign substance could be distilled out. Before leaving the Pacific to return to the United States, the men had a party and got into the barrels of alcohol. The commanding officer of Tulagi got word of that celebration, and there were some officers that got into a bit of trouble over it.

Joseph Brannan was changed by the Second World War. He had started college prior to the war, but was not enthusiastic about it. When he entered the Navy, he could tell that officers were treated much better than enlisted men. The officers had mess attendants and their clothes were washed by others, unlike the enlisted men. Water was not rationed for the officers on the PT boat. A seaman was as low as one could get and Brannan would make Seaman 1st class after he left boot camp in three weeks. Promotions were difficult on certain ships, but PT boats were different. Promotions came easier. Brannan had planned to be an electrical engineer while he was in college. He attended Centenary College near Shreveport, Louisiana. When he entered Centenary after the service, there were only five veterans in the college. He went there for his first year then attended LSU [Annotator's Note: Louisiana State University] after. He attended college on the G.I. Bill. Before the war, he had supported himself through college, but it was difficult. In looking at the mission of The National WWII Museum, it is important that the youngsters know what the demands and expectations were on the servicemen of that war. Brannan did not see a female up close for a year and a half during his service. The Army troops went several years, particularly if they were shipped to islands or jungles in the Pacific. It is different living like that. He cannot remember the names of some of the men he served with. He never liked wearing fancy clothes. When he attended LSU, over half the students were veterans. The veterans were serious about learning. The vets had a dormitory dedicated to them. The dormitory monitor was thrown out by the vets and he never returned. The veterans were hard to discipline because of their experiences. Some refused to attend the required religious ceremonies.