Veteran receives a special gift

Carl Treaster knew something related to the LST-603 was being mailed to him, but he was very surprised when he opened the package.
A U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, Treaster served on the LST-603, which had earlier been in World War II. As a member of the ship’s association, Treater had an e-mail address on the association’s Web site, which was how he received this special gift. His e-mail address is ktct170@gmail.com. (The Web site has been closed).
He had been contacted by e-mail by Earl Hobart of Wisconsin, who promised to send Treaster something connected to the LST-603. When it arrived at Treaster’s home in Hannibal, he found a wooden box, with something inside that appeared to be broken. It rattled when he shook it. “When I picked it up I thought whatever it is, it is broke,” Treaster said.
Then he opened the box and found a bottle enclosed in a woven cloth covering. It was the bottle used by Hobart’s mother, Etla, when she christened the ship in 1944 in Seneca, the box., where it was built. The bottle is sealed and has not been opened since the Hobart family received it, Treaster explained. The plaque on the box holding the bottle says: USS LST-603 launched March 14, 1944. Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, Ill., sponsor Etla Nelson Hobart.
“Somehow they recovered the broken bottle and preserved it in this bottle,” Treaster said.
During World War II, Etla Hobart lived in Detroit and worked in defense plants while her husband, Russell, served in the U.S. Navy, Treaster said. The bottle had been stored in her home for many years and eventually was inherited by her son, Earl.
“He gave it to me and said I could keep it and display it and when I am finished with it, I will donate it to a worthy organization,” Treaster said. “I will probably give it to a museum.” Treaster’s Navy uniform is on display at the local American Legion hall.
The LST-603 was a sister ship to the LST-325, which was docked in Hannibal in 2008.

Ship was mined
in Vietnam
Treaster was on the LST-603 in Vietnam when it was minded twice in the early morning hours of June 29, 1967. “We were in Cua Vietn, Vietnam,” he said. “We were unloading napalm bombs and had just finished. We had trouble getting to the beach and were late getting out - we had to wait till morning to get off the shore. They planted mines on us.” One man died and others were injured, he recalled. At the time Treaster was in the engine room.
Ships was made with separate compartments that could be sealed off when attacked, and that is what his ship did, so it did not sink. The water was pumped out and it was temporarily repaired. Later it was towed to da Nang.
The following December, Treaster finished his military duty. After returning to Hannibal he worked in heating, air conditioning and refrigeration for many years before his retirement.
The ship was given to South Vietnam, he said, then it was captured by the Viet Cong. Later it was sunk in South China as a barrier reef and it had to be blown up twice because it would not sink.
Treaster has been attending veterans’ reunions and has served as secretary-treasurer of the LST-603 Association, which is how Earl Hobart found him and mailed the bottle to him.
Treaster continued to serve in the military for several years. He was a member of the Military Police unit in Hannibal in 1971, when it went to Panama for training. He was shocked to meet a man there who had also served on the LST-603. “He came on a month after I got out, and we met in a jungle in Panama 23 years later.”