U.S.S. YANCEY AKA-93

Ken Grooms's Navy A story for the USS Yancey

"The First Food Bank"

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As usual, the Yancey was tied to buoy 22 in Sasebo, Japan – in the summer I believe. We were assigned as a fleet issue ship during the Korean War. It was our turn to stay in Sasebo; take cargo from other AKAs and re-issue the cargo to other ships in the harbor. The stevedore labor was supplied by local Japanese. They came aboard with their bento boxes (lunch box) and Tabi (shoes with the big toe gloved separately – also known as a split toed sock).

On this particular day they were moving boxed goods from one of the aft holds to a forward hold for transfer to another ship’s boat. We were in the ship’s office not doing much and looking for some entertainment. We noticed a line of stevedores moving past our ship’s office and going forward. On further inspection we saw a Storekeeper, clipboard in hand, checking the quantity of boxes being transferred. We quickly deduced that in order to get one of those boxes in our possession, all we had to do was to get a clipboard and pencil and do some arm waving. This was too easy. I will quote my shipmate friend, Lyle Nelson, on what happened next:

He says: “ I remember it vividly in my mind’s eye; holding the door open with one hand and the other motioning inside the office while saying, “Boy-san, boy-san, here, in here”, and they obliged until the SK guys caught on.

We gave up the box without knowing what valuable contents we almost had.

Ken Groom and shipmate Lyle Nelson

Submitted 3/24/09
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