Sworn to Secrecy

Here is an incident that occurred the day before the invasion of Ormoc. A group of officers came aboard the LSM 51 and held a meeting in the Chart Room which was also the Radio Shack. I was a radioman and on duty the night they came aboard. They began discussing an operation and laying out charts. They started assigning landing areas for the LSMs and LCIs. The radio was next to the chart desk and of course I was looking to see where we were going and where we would land on the beach. An Army Colonel looked over at me and asked me if I had a secret clearance. I was not even cleared for rumors and I said No sir. He turned to the other officers in the room and said I’m going to swear this man to secrecy. He said, son stand up and raise your right hand. He had me swear to not reveal anything that was said or reveal anything I saw on the charts. This was the first time I ever knew where we were going before we departed and could not tell a soul.