My great grandfather entered into the United States Navy just one year before America joined the Second World War. Being in the navy during this time was difficult, because he had to leave home and his family for long periods of time. Alexander was married and had two young children by the time he joined the navy. Alexander was part of the navy’s amphibious force where he was the captain of a Landing Ship Tank, or LST for short. On board of the LST Alexander was responsible for 6 officers and over 170 additional crew members. The purpose of the LST was to transport troops, supplies, and military vehicles, and it was Alexander’s responsibility to ensure that the cargo arrive swiftly and safely. My great grandfather emphasized that LST’s were extremely important in World War II, and in fact they were a vital to the success of many of the sea invasions in the war. This newly designed LST was specifically constructed for World War II, and it was essential for landing on enemy beaches.

My great grandfather told me that landing on an enemy shore was no easy task. There was a series of operations and difficult decisions to make in order to safely beach the LST and then get off the beach. As the captain of the ship, Alexander had to make these decisions and had to ensure that all of the proper steps were taken in order to safely reach the beach and unload troops and supplies. My great grandfather described in detail the water tank system inside the LST. He told me there are seven or eight large tanks inside the LST, and these tanks were either filled or emptied depending on whether the ship was landing or leaving. It was the captain’s job to decide which tanks were to be filled and which were to be emptied. Alexander told me this is where many inexperienced LST commanders made huge mistakes. He stressed that you must un-pump the tanks in the front of the ship in order to get off of the beach, However, he said it was important to always keep some tanks filled. Failure to do this could have resulted in beaching your ship, and risking being bombed. Alexander described other strategies he liked to use with the water tanks.

During storms he liked to fill all the tanks in order to stay low to the water. Now my great grandfather said that neither he nor captains in general were completely responsible for tough landings on beaches. He told me that a swimming unit would be sent out to study the profiles of the targeted beaches, and they would then report back to Captain Forbes who would make his decisions based on this information. Apparently during D-day many of the beaches were not properly studied, Alexander was not involved in the invasion of Normandy, but he told me that many soldiers drowned because the ships could not get close enough to shore. He told me another factor that could affect the success of the landing was the tide. If you were to land at the wrong time the ship could be stranded or might not be able to beach at all, and troops would have to disembark in up to ten feet of water.

My great grandfather was deployed in the South Pacific during World War II. He commanded in many battles including Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Vella Lavella, Okinawa, and Bougainville. Specifically in the battle of Vella Lavella in 1943, Alexander successfully beached his LST on a narrow area that was surrounded on both sides by dangerous coral reefs. Once landed he successfully discharged the troops, supplies and equipment. These supplies were for the occupation forces in the first landing of Vella Lavella Island. When the ship was beached they were under attack, a total of three dive bombing and strafing attacks. That was not the end of the fiasco. During the return trip later that night enemy planes provided two eight level bombing and strafing attacks. Alexander successfully commanded his crew to skillfully maneuver their LST, and they all came out of the attacks uninjured. Alexander once on August 21st of 1943 again successfully beached his LST on the same beach to unload equipment and supplies. He also encountered and fought off many dive bombings and strafing attacks again. Due to these multiple successes in the battle of Vella Lavella Forbes was awarded the Silver Star medal. This was not the only great achievement my great grandfather had in the war he had many spectacular moments, one of which was a great accomplishment in which he received a Bronze Star. This Bronze Star was awarded to Alexander for combat with the enemy. He had successfully defended his ship and crew on two different dangerous occasions. In these two defenses, Alexander and his crew had been in extremely tight spots, and these were situations where he and the entire crew could have been killed. In successfully defending the ship against the enemy not only once but twice, Alexander received a Bronze Star.