Bernard Kaplan
U.S. Navy - Fireman 1st Class
USS Semmes – Fire Room
2/27/45 – 5/13/46
U.S. Navy - Fireman 1st Class
USS Semmes – Fire Room
2/27/45 – 5/13/46
Bernard “Bernie” Kaplan was born in the Bronx, NY on November 21, 1926 and was delivered at home by a mid-wife. Bernie was the fourth of four children. He had one sister, Roslyn and two brothers, Charlie, and Irving. Irving and Roslyn were much older, so Bernie and Charlie spent a lot of time together.
His brother Charlie fought in WW2 and was wounded in Anzio. Bernie recalled that Charlie’s wound wasn’t exactly a scene from an Audie Murphy movie. During mail call Charlie raised his hand when his name was called just as a mortar exploded nearby sending shrapnel up his arm and the side of his body. His brother Irving “was on some island, I don’t know where” for the duration of the war.
Bernie attended Harron High School on 59th St. and 10th Ave. in the Bronx. He took the 3rd Ave. “L” (elevated train) to school each day. There his curriculum was general high school studies as well as aviation mechanics. Bernie recalled the school had “a lot of kids”.
Bernie is first generation American. His mother came to the United States when she was 13 but Bernie didn’t recall her country of origin because she didn’t talk much about it. He believes she came to the US from somewhere in Europe. At that time, 16 was the minimum age to have a job in New York City. His mother lied about her age and found a job in the textile industry in Manhattan.
His mother and father separated when Bernie was three or four years old. He provided the family with little monetary support and his mother was constantly scrambling for enough money to make ends meet. Whenever his mother didn’t have enough money to pay the rent Bernie recalled moving to a cheaper apartment. Bernie recalls putting their few possessions in a horse drawn carriages for the moves. Those moves were always to another section of the Bronx.
I asked him about growing up in the Bronx in the 30’s and 40’s. “It was good. We didn’t have problems. I never even thought of people being different.” Bernie and his brother enjoyed photography. Bernie owned an Argus C3 and had his own black room in a closet in his apartment. Of course, he was a NY Yankees fan and he enjoyed shooting pool at the local pool hall. Bernie recalls being in a gas station filling his car when someone came over and told him Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Bernie decided to enlist because he felt it was the right thing to do. “I had no qualms about it.” He decided to enlist before his draft notice came so he would have more of a choice of where he was sent and what he would be doing. Charlie was already in the Army and Bernie knew he spent a lot of time in fox holes and was wet, dirty, and uncomfortable most of the time. He tried to enlist with the Army Air Corps because he thought he would stay clean and dry. Much to his dismay, the Army Air Corps didn’t need anyone at the time.
When he received his draft notice, he reported to the induction center on Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan. Bernie remembers standing in line, naked, with all the other recruits. For every four men processed for the Army, one went to the Navy. When Bernie’s turn came, he tried to go to the Navy recruiter. “No, no. It’s four to the Army and one to the Navy.” The Navy recruiter asked if Bernie had ever tried to enlist previously, and Bernie said yes. “You’re in.” Off to the Navy he went, confident he would be better off than Charlie.
Bernie was 6’2’ and all muscle. He did well in boot camp which he recalled lasting only two weeks. From there he went to engineering school. Bernie received his order and was assigned to the USS Semmes “an old four stacker”, berthed in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. The Semmes was a destroyer with one 3” gun and one torpedo on each side, which they could reload. The primary mission of the Semmes was working with depth charges and determining the right depth for detonation.
Bernie recalled that he was always at sea, and he also recalled being sick his entire time in the Navy. The ship spent time in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the US and travelled through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean where they also sailed along the US coast. In the Atlantic, normally there were 3’ swells. The Pacific on the other hand was like glass unless there was a storm. Bernie thinks that the swells in those storms reached 50’. He recalled the middle of the ship sitting on top of the waves as they crested, and it would come crashing down. When they returned to port after one of their deployments, they found cracks in the hull.
Bernie worked in the engine room, and he had shifts of 4 hours on and 4 hours off. He recalls never getting a good sleep. The temperature in the Fire Room was normally about 100 degrees. They were well below deck and the room had an air-tight seal. There was forced air coming in from two overhead fans and went directly into the furnace which kept the flame burning. Bernie recalled one of those days when it was over 100 degrees, and he was so sea sick he couldn’t stand. One of the sailors dumped a bucket of ice cold water on him expecting he would jump up, start screaming and forget about his sea sickness. Bernie didn’t even move.
Berne did benefit from all his time at sea. It earned him extra “points” which enabled him to be discharged after only 15 months. When he was discharged, he took a train home to the Bronx and his mother met him at the train station. Bernie signed up for “52/20”. He would get paid $20/week for 52 weeks as long as he was actively looking for a job. He interviewed but never took a job and relaxed until the money ran out. When Bernie was done relaxing, he used the GI Bill to attend the New York institute of Photography in downtown Manhattan.
Bernie began by working for his brother who had a small photography business. His brother did all the shooting and Bernie stayed at the store. From there he went to Pink and Blue studios and earned $2 per assignment. His first assignment was to photograph a two week old baby. Since the baby couldn’t sit up Bernie had to come up with a creative idea to get a good shot. He lay the baby on a table with his hanging off the edge. Bernie crawled under the table and shot up looking at the baby. He got some great shots, and the client was happy.
In 1950 Bernie opened his own graphic arts agency called Graphics Reproductions located in Manhattan. He was always inventing systems to improve quality, save time or create other competitive advantages. “My cameraman that I taught could do four times the work of other cameramen.”
Bernie recalled paying $800 for a used 1940 Buick Roadmaster. He used the car to takes his friends to the beach in Rockaway. He could fit four in the back and three in the front. “It was a big car.” Bernie recalls on one occasion taking a full load of nine people to the beach. One of his friends asked him if he could fit one more, Selma Lieberman, in the car. Bernie said he couldn’t fit anymore, it was too dangerous to drive with that many people and he said, “I don’t know her from a hole in the wall and I’m not taking her.” Sometime later he ran into Selma in Poe Park in the Bronx, and they became friendly. On February 19th, 1950 they were married and the couple found an apartment in the Bronx. Later they moved to Jackson Height and in 1963 they moved to the New City, New York area. Bernie drove his Buick to work every day.
Bernie and Selma have two daughters, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
In 1993 he sold his share of the business to his partner and finally retired.
Bernie has a very upbeat personality and is always ready with a joke. “I see the humor in almost everything.”
Remembering his time in the Navy Bernie said, “No matter how bad I felt I got up and did my job. I was all in for it.”
Thank you Bernie for doing the right thing, serving your country and doing your part to save the world.
His brother Charlie fought in WW2 and was wounded in Anzio. Bernie recalled that Charlie’s wound wasn’t exactly a scene from an Audie Murphy movie. During mail call Charlie raised his hand when his name was called just as a mortar exploded nearby sending shrapnel up his arm and the side of his body. His brother Irving “was on some island, I don’t know where” for the duration of the war.
Bernie attended Harron High School on 59th St. and 10th Ave. in the Bronx. He took the 3rd Ave. “L” (elevated train) to school each day. There his curriculum was general high school studies as well as aviation mechanics. Bernie recalled the school had “a lot of kids”.
Bernie is first generation American. His mother came to the United States when she was 13 but Bernie didn’t recall her country of origin because she didn’t talk much about it. He believes she came to the US from somewhere in Europe. At that time, 16 was the minimum age to have a job in New York City. His mother lied about her age and found a job in the textile industry in Manhattan.
His mother and father separated when Bernie was three or four years old. He provided the family with little monetary support and his mother was constantly scrambling for enough money to make ends meet. Whenever his mother didn’t have enough money to pay the rent Bernie recalled moving to a cheaper apartment. Bernie recalls putting their few possessions in a horse drawn carriages for the moves. Those moves were always to another section of the Bronx.
I asked him about growing up in the Bronx in the 30’s and 40’s. “It was good. We didn’t have problems. I never even thought of people being different.” Bernie and his brother enjoyed photography. Bernie owned an Argus C3 and had his own black room in a closet in his apartment. Of course, he was a NY Yankees fan and he enjoyed shooting pool at the local pool hall. Bernie recalls being in a gas station filling his car when someone came over and told him Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Bernie decided to enlist because he felt it was the right thing to do. “I had no qualms about it.” He decided to enlist before his draft notice came so he would have more of a choice of where he was sent and what he would be doing. Charlie was already in the Army and Bernie knew he spent a lot of time in fox holes and was wet, dirty, and uncomfortable most of the time. He tried to enlist with the Army Air Corps because he thought he would stay clean and dry. Much to his dismay, the Army Air Corps didn’t need anyone at the time.
When he received his draft notice, he reported to the induction center on Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan. Bernie remembers standing in line, naked, with all the other recruits. For every four men processed for the Army, one went to the Navy. When Bernie’s turn came, he tried to go to the Navy recruiter. “No, no. It’s four to the Army and one to the Navy.” The Navy recruiter asked if Bernie had ever tried to enlist previously, and Bernie said yes. “You’re in.” Off to the Navy he went, confident he would be better off than Charlie.
Bernie was 6’2’ and all muscle. He did well in boot camp which he recalled lasting only two weeks. From there he went to engineering school. Bernie received his order and was assigned to the USS Semmes “an old four stacker”, berthed in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. The Semmes was a destroyer with one 3” gun and one torpedo on each side, which they could reload. The primary mission of the Semmes was working with depth charges and determining the right depth for detonation.
Bernie recalled that he was always at sea, and he also recalled being sick his entire time in the Navy. The ship spent time in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the US and travelled through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean where they also sailed along the US coast. In the Atlantic, normally there were 3’ swells. The Pacific on the other hand was like glass unless there was a storm. Bernie thinks that the swells in those storms reached 50’. He recalled the middle of the ship sitting on top of the waves as they crested, and it would come crashing down. When they returned to port after one of their deployments, they found cracks in the hull.
Bernie worked in the engine room, and he had shifts of 4 hours on and 4 hours off. He recalls never getting a good sleep. The temperature in the Fire Room was normally about 100 degrees. They were well below deck and the room had an air-tight seal. There was forced air coming in from two overhead fans and went directly into the furnace which kept the flame burning. Bernie recalled one of those days when it was over 100 degrees, and he was so sea sick he couldn’t stand. One of the sailors dumped a bucket of ice cold water on him expecting he would jump up, start screaming and forget about his sea sickness. Bernie didn’t even move.
Berne did benefit from all his time at sea. It earned him extra “points” which enabled him to be discharged after only 15 months. When he was discharged, he took a train home to the Bronx and his mother met him at the train station. Bernie signed up for “52/20”. He would get paid $20/week for 52 weeks as long as he was actively looking for a job. He interviewed but never took a job and relaxed until the money ran out. When Bernie was done relaxing, he used the GI Bill to attend the New York institute of Photography in downtown Manhattan.
Bernie began by working for his brother who had a small photography business. His brother did all the shooting and Bernie stayed at the store. From there he went to Pink and Blue studios and earned $2 per assignment. His first assignment was to photograph a two week old baby. Since the baby couldn’t sit up Bernie had to come up with a creative idea to get a good shot. He lay the baby on a table with his hanging off the edge. Bernie crawled under the table and shot up looking at the baby. He got some great shots, and the client was happy.
In 1950 Bernie opened his own graphic arts agency called Graphics Reproductions located in Manhattan. He was always inventing systems to improve quality, save time or create other competitive advantages. “My cameraman that I taught could do four times the work of other cameramen.”
Bernie recalled paying $800 for a used 1940 Buick Roadmaster. He used the car to takes his friends to the beach in Rockaway. He could fit four in the back and three in the front. “It was a big car.” Bernie recalls on one occasion taking a full load of nine people to the beach. One of his friends asked him if he could fit one more, Selma Lieberman, in the car. Bernie said he couldn’t fit anymore, it was too dangerous to drive with that many people and he said, “I don’t know her from a hole in the wall and I’m not taking her.” Sometime later he ran into Selma in Poe Park in the Bronx, and they became friendly. On February 19th, 1950 they were married and the couple found an apartment in the Bronx. Later they moved to Jackson Height and in 1963 they moved to the New City, New York area. Bernie drove his Buick to work every day.
Bernie and Selma have two daughters, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
In 1993 he sold his share of the business to his partner and finally retired.
Bernie has a very upbeat personality and is always ready with a joke. “I see the humor in almost everything.”
Remembering his time in the Navy Bernie said, “No matter how bad I felt I got up and did my job. I was all in for it.”
Thank you Bernie for doing the right thing, serving your country and doing your part to save the world.