Captain Robert "Bob" Kubota, a certified tugboat pilot, volunteers his time on the LST 325.
"This was such an important part of the war effort, Churchill himself said this is the ship that won the war," Kubota said. "They were able to get them not only just the tanks but all the other necessary material that goes to fighting a modern war."
Although he did not serve in the armed forces, Kubota has a strong family connection to the war. Kubota’s father, a Japanese-American born in the United States, was first placed in an internment camp, then paroled to work the crops to fill the labor shortage caused by the war, before being drafted to serve as a Master Sergeant during WWII.
"It was always a sore subject with him obviously and I’m very much aware of that, even today," said Kubota.
Irwin Kuhns, a WWII veteran and member of the current LST 325 crew, served as a U.S. Navy Coxswain in the Pacific. Kuhns helped deliver supplies aboard Higgins boats, which are smaller supply vessels used to deliver troops ashore. After celebrating his 90th birthday in April of 2016, Kuhns says he can still vividly recall his life during the war.
LST-325 Website