b'30 |WENTCHER FOUNDATIONERNIE C. WENTCHER29 South La Salle St., Chicago 3, IllinoisMy Naval history at Salcombe goes like this. We were destined to be the advance port party at Le Lorier but that was changed a few miles outside Lorient and instead we represented the Navy at Brest. After Brest was taken, we were established as the port party and given the job of making the harbor operative. This work was done by Navy engineers who were a lot smarter than I was. We had millions of Frenchmen in our hair. As I remember it, we had a good corner on the coal left by the Germans and [for which they] provided cognac and all kinds so we lived comfortably. Foster, Shaw and Lenartz of the Sea Scouts, Flanker and Rickman were with us and the Coast Guard Officer who had a patrol boat but who hadnt received any orders since being sent to Brest and never received any orders all the time we were there. He was a lost man. However, finally his conscience made him ask the Flag for orders and they immediately sent him on a job. Subsequent naval duties took me to Cherbourg where I ran into a lot of our old friends; Bordeaux, where we were working with the French in their maneuvers against Lorient; St. Nazaire and the rest of the pocket ports. This was a great climate and we lived the life of Riley and were soon members of the Chateau set. From Bordeaux I went to London and from there to Holland with the American Ambassador to Holland. This was after the war of course. In 1946 I returned to Chicago where my job is assistant manager with The Equitable Life Assurance Society. I was married on January 3, 1948. I would like very much to see any of the other fellows who happen to come from Chicago.Ernie remained in the Navy Reserve for the next decade. He received an honorable discharge from the United States Naval Reserve effective October 1, 1956.'