We Will Stand by You: Serving in the Pawnee, 1942-1945

It's rare in this day and age that a US navy ship like the USS Pawnee, a lowly seagoing fleet tug would get a whole book in her honor. The USS Pawnee was a fleet tug, commissioned November 1942. She served throughout the war, including in support of the Philippine invasion, and was decommissioned in 1947. All the glory usually goes to the great Aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and even destroyers. Lowly workhorses like a fleet tug rarely get any attention at all. It is for this reason that Theodore Mason's autobiographical recollections in "We Will Stand By You" are especially valuable. The Pawnee was no great combatant, but she did her duty and served a valuable purpose, providing repair and tow services to ships at war. Of course, this book is less about the ship than the men who served on her. Her men were not admirals, but they had a job that was almost as vital. And indeed their humble service was significant. The book's title refers to an incident Mason recounts, in which, in 1944, the Pawnee was engaged in towing the badly damaged cruiser USS Houston (CL-81) to safety. As the ship came under attack by Japanese bombers, rather than cut her tow cable and run, the Pawnee held on to the Houston, putting both herself and her entire crew at risk of floundering if the Houston sank, yet at the same time helping to keep the Houston and her crew from being lost to the Japanese attack. The Pawnee's captain signaled the Houston in the midst of the attack "WE WILL STAND BY YOU." They were compelling words that war author Samuel Eliot Morrison considered one of the great phrases of US naval history. The Houston and much of her crew survived the war as a result of Pawnee following through on them. Theodore Mason, a radio operator who served on a battleship (recounted in his book "Battleship Sailor") and survived the fiery mess that was December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, served as chief radio officer on the Pawnee from late 1942 to early 1945. His account is an interesting one in that it brings to life the day to day efforts, worries and travails of the lowly sailors in such a ship. The story of the Pawnee is not without excitement, including a few battles and the rescue of the Houston. But a lot of it is the monotony of life at sea between dangerous brushes with violence. "We Will Stand by you" is a good read, if not one that would draw a person into reading it all in one sitting. It occasionally drags at points, but when it gets moving, it's quite entertaining and interesting. It's probably a book that would appeal to the amateur WW2 enthusiast as well as someone more serious about their study. Mason has a decent narrative style that is more than serviceable in detailing his Job on the ship, his experiences, his crew mates and their adventures. His crew mates are, in a lot of ways, what make the book interesting though certainly the Pawnee's role in the Pacific theater is interesting as well. As a fellow low on the totem pole, his e

Theodore Mason was a deckplate sailor in WWII. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor he was assigned to the USS Pawnee, a fleet tug based in the Pacific Islands. As a sailor in the modern day Navy I was enthralled by his account of life in a Navy torn between traditions and fighting a war. His account finds the mark as he relates the life of an enlisted sailor. His observations about his shipmates, the war, and the chain of command above him are shrewed and correct. This book is an excellent read for those interested in the lives of those who actually fought the war; the enlisted men and women of every service.