Socrates Dendrinelis was born in St. Louis, Missouri in March 1926. He grew up there with three brothers and one sister. He was the third child. They were poor, but they did not know they were poor. His family is Greek. His father was a soda distributor. They ate well. He lived in a Greek neighborhood. He went to Greek school three days a week. His parents were born in Greece and had an arranged marriage. He remembers Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], but he does not remember where he was. Yamamoto [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto] went to Harvard University. [Annotator’s Note: Dendrinelis talks about a book he read on the European Theatre.] He turned 18 years old in 1944. He went to boot camp at Great Lakes [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois]. After he completed boot camp, he was shipped to California on a troop train.

Socrates Dendrinelis was assigned to the USS Carina (AK-74). They headed to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] and from there they went to Eniwetok [Annotator's Note: Enewetok Atoll, Marshall Islands]. They joined a convoy of 1,500 ships at Ulithi Atoll [Annotator's Note: Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands]. They headed to Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He did not want to go into the Army or the Marines. He went to boot camp at Great Lakes [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois]. He was 18 years old and in great shape, so he made it through boot camp easily. He made friends in boot camp and messed with some of the other men. Boot camp lasted two months. He went there in June [Annotator’s Note: of 1944]. Then he was put in a cattle car and shipped to California. They left San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California] to go to Pearl Harbor. Dendrinelis had a watch and he was seasick. He was stationed on the three-inch gun on the bow. He was assigned to the deck force. They had 60 SeaBees [Annotator's Note: Members of US naval construction battalions] aboard the ship to build pontoons.

Socrates Dendrinelis would always get the worst details. He was in a boxing match with some of the other guys on the ship. They had athletic equipment on the ship. He had a lot of energy. He would kick a ball against the wall really hard. [Annotator’s Note: Dendrinelis discusses confrontations with other men on the ship.] He knew Morse code and this helped him get off the deck force and into the radio room. He was stationed in general quarters on the fantail. They had 60 SeaBees [Annotator's Note: Members of US naval construction battalions] onboard to build pontoons for the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. They got hit by a kamikaze [Annotator's Note: Japanese suicide bombers] and the ship broke in half. The pontoons kept the ship from sinking because of the buoyancy. The kamikazes were going day and night. Over 3,500 Japanese planes were destroyed at Okinawa. Dendrinelis was below deck when his ship got hit. They shot down seven Japanese planes. Dendrinelis was in the radio shack.

Socrates Dendrinelis was in the radio shack [Annotator’s Note: aboard the USS Carina (AK-74)]. He could see the Japanese kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese suicide bombers]. The last plane was on fire and headed right to them. The ship was vibrating from the guns going off. The ship was broken in half. They had to weld angle irons to the front of the ship which was no longer seaworthy. The kamikazes continued for another week. When the water was smooth, the ship was okay. When the water was rough, they could hear the ship cracking. They made it to San Francisco Bay [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California]. Engineers met them and had to start working on the ship immediately. The war was over. Dendrinelis did not have enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home], so he had to go back out. He was sent to Japan. He was put on a destroyer minesweeper [Annotator’s Note: the USS Mervine (DMS-31)]. He almost got washed overboard. He has pictures of the bomb that hit Nagasaki [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. They saw children who had been burned from the radiation. The Japanese citizens were friendly and polite. He took pictures of the damage.

Socrates Dendrinelis remembers the kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese suicide bombers] hitting the ships. It made a nervous wreck out of the men. Some men wanted to stay topside during the attacks. When he returned home, loud noises would make him jump out of his skin. After the first time out of San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California], he did not get seasick again. He was on a destroyer minesweeper [Annotator’s Note: USS Mervine (DMS-31)] at the end of the war. There were 1,500 ships for the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. Large battleships like the USS Missouri [Annotator’s Note: USS Missouri (BB-63)] could shoot up to 30 miles away. The Pacific War is hardly mentioned at memorial events which makes him very angry.

Socrates Dendrinelis was in Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan] for some time. He came back to San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California], but was sent back out. They were excited about the end of the war. He worked up to the rate of seaman first class after he started working in the radio shack. They went into Tokyo Bay [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo, Japan] slowly in order to blow up the mines. They would shoot them and blow them up. Before they dropped the bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], they were preparing for the invasion of Japan. They predicted they would lose one million men if they invaded. A lot of people criticized them for dropping the bombs. The veterans get angry at this because invading would have killed millions. Dendrinelis was impressed by how friendly the Japanese were. The military in Japan was ruthless. Lives did not mean anything to them. He was okay with the Japanese civilians, but he hated the Japanese military. On Peleliu [Annotator's Note: The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II; 15 September to 27 November 1944; Peleliu, Palau], if the Japanese came across a dead American, they would cut off his penis and stick it in his mouth. The Japanese military was ruthless and he has no respect for them. Dendrinelis got out a year after the war was over. He enjoyed the Navy and thought about staying in. One of the officers talked him out of staying in the Navy. He subscribes to the Navy Times. After he returned home he wanted to go to college. Before he joined the war, some things were important to him, and when he got out they were no longer important. He went to St. Louis University [Annotator’s Note: in St. Louis, Missouri]. He did not excel because the classes had 450 people in them.

Socrates Dendrinelis did not date in high school. He was the president of his class. He went out with the vice-president of the class who was a nice girl. [Annotator’s Note: Dendrinelis was nervous around girls.] He went on several more dates with her before he left for the Navy. The war changed his mindset. After he returned home, some things no longer held the same importance. He worked for TV Guide Magazine. When he returned home, he would wake up and not know where he was. This lasted for about six months. He has hearing loss. Sudden loud noises cause him to jump out of his skin. Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan] was his most memorable experience, and seeing a plane on fire coming straight for them. If they had not shot it down, they would all be dead. Kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese suicide bombers] were all over the sky. He had an older brother who was drafted into the Army and fought in the Philippines. Dendrinelis joined the Navy because he did not want to be in the Army or Marines. He saw a lot of people get killed. Not once did he ever think he would not make it back in one piece. His faith is strong. He is disappointed in the current government. The current election was handled poorly and is corrupt. He was not a very ambitious guy. He saved some money and lived okay. The younger generations are out of control. They do not have manners and everything is all about them. He had two daughters. He is proud of his daughters.