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About Reese F. Lukei Jr.

About the author: Reese F. Lukei Jr. (died November 6, 1979), Chief Pay Clerk aboard USS Fremont, APA-44. As noted by son, also named Reese,

My father, Reese F. Lukei, Jr., was the first Chief Pay Clerk on the Fremont serving from 8 August 1943 until 24 Sept 1945. He helped commission the Fremont and get her supplied here in Norfolk. He was promoted to Ltjg on 11 Nov 1944 on the Fremont… I was only 5 years old when the Fremont was being supplied in Norfolk in 1943, but I remember going aboard ship. I was in the Navy from 1957-61, serving on the Midway, Kearsarge, Pocono, and Mt McKinley. I was on the 1959-60 Midway cruise after she was outfitted with the angle deck. I was a musician. My father died on 6 Nov 1979. He retired in 1954 after 30 years. He was injured on board the Fremont near the end of WWII and spent a long time in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital.

About the diary: Originally published online in the USS Fremont APA-44 website, with the introductory note,

This is a transcript of the war diary of Chief Pay Clerk Reese F. Lukei. The diary starts on 15 July 1943 and ends on 24 September 1945. The entries began prior to the commissioning of the USS Fremont and on through the invasions of Saipan, Mariannas Islands, Palau, Ulithi, Philippine Islands, and Iwo Jima.

The Philippine Diary Project includes the entries between October 12, 1944 (departure from the Admiralty Islands bound for Leyte) to November 18, 1944 (departure from Leyte bound for Hollandia). The diary in full, as published online, can be found by clicking this link. We are grateful to Mr. Tony Yebba, owner and administrator of the USS Fremont APA-44 website, for permission to use the Lukei Diary.