Ortonville-In November 1941, Bill Duman, a 17-year-old Cheboygan resident, faced a momentous decision’stay in high school and endure the tough employment conditions, or join the war efforts brewing in Europe.
Despite his young age, the opportunities outside the small northern town, although dangerous, seemed the best option, says Duman.
‘Dad refused to sign for me to join the Navy, but my mom did (sign). I quit school and left for training that fall. When I look back at things, I really wish I would have stayed in school, but times were difficult in Cheboygan.?
So, Duman left his northern Michigan home for Great Lakes, Ill. and the U.S Navy Training Station. For the next few months Duman was trained in diesel mechanics in Chicago, before serving at ports in New York, Boston and New Orleans in a variety of Naval training operations.
In early 1944, Duman was transferred to the 307- foot-USS Buckley as part of the hunter-killer task group for a sweep of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean supply convoy routes in Europe. The Buckley class destroyer escorts were launched in the United States between 1943 and 1944. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and anti-submarine warfare ships.
‘We proceeded to what they called ‘Rendezvous X.? The point is near the Verdi Islands off the coast of Western Africa, an area where German submarines often used to refuel and take on provisions. Our job was to keep them from doing so.?
According to Navy reports, on the morning of May 6, aircraft from the 495-foot escort carrier Block Island, which was in the area of the Verde reported a German submarine near the USS Buckley.
Duman confirmed the sighting.
‘We went to ‘general quarters? about 3 a.m.? said Duman, referring to the battle-ready positions. ‘When I got to my battle station, I could see the sub on the surface about a half-mile away. We steamed toward the surfaced submarine exchanging gunfire from our deck guns.?
‘Our ship turned hard left and the torpedoes went on both sides of us,? said Duman. ‘We then turned hard right at good clip and rammed the submarine’we stuck together, our ship was attached to the conning tower on the submarine.?
Duman recalls the German sailors emerging from the submarine and engaging in hand-to-hand battles with some of the sailors on the Buckley.
‘When the Germans first came onto our ship, some guys threw their coffee cups at them in defense since there were few side arms,? said Duman. ‘Some Germans went overboard and I assume were eaten by sharks.?
The Navy reported 36 German sailors taken prisoner following the hand-to-hand battle’which, says Duman, was only the second time for such a Navy engagement since the War of 1812.
‘We all thought the Germans were some kind of ogres, not like us Americans,? said Duman. ‘But these men were clean-shaven and anything but monsters. One Nazi sailor was wearing a gold crucifix around his neck, and when I noticed it he said, with a thick German accent, ‘my mother gave me,? looking at the cross. It made us realize that she, like other mothers, were looking out for their boys, too.?
‘I heard a lot of the Germans we were picking up from the ocean speaking English. Some with British accents.?
Duman says the German prisoners were transferred to the USS Block Island while the USS Buckley operating on only one propeller and no sonar, proceeded to sail to New York for repairs.
Duman was discharged in November 1944 due to health issues, and moved back to Cheboygan, where he worked as a marine diver with his father. He moved to Ortonville in 1952 and worked at Pontiac Motors until his retirement in 1987.