Blair (DE 147) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 14 text:

The word that the ship was to receive a new skipper came while BLAIR lay alongside the pier at U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia. This was looked forward to with mixed emotions by Captain Charles L. Nagle, BLAIR's Commanding Officer. He was glad to be relieved after a command tour of more than two years, for the grasp of command responsibility is relentless, but at the same time he deeply regretted leaving the ship and her crew. The crew regretted losing Captain Nagle and Qas crews generally arej were somewhat skeptical of the new Captain. A farewell party was held for Cap-tain Nagle just before the prospective new Commanding Officer ar- rived onboard at which time the tedious and pr0- tracted details of relief would begin. Most un- fortunately after all the details were completed on the evening before the date scheduled for the relief ceremony Captain Nagle received serious juries in an auto accident requiring indefllilfe hospitalization and the Executive Officer was T6- quired to temporarily assume command.

Page 13 text:

RR1.C,.A?xI2 CAROL 'N XRR.AC,,ANfa.kfI Tr BA'5r Claire, Mrs. Wm., and Robert Boudreau-immediately prior to rescue by BLAIR, still cling to roof of their summer cottage which was swept into bay. Dear Lt. Cmdr. Nagle, Last Tuesday's experience now seems to have been but a terrible nightmare. Bruises and a few sleepless nights served to remind us, however, of Hurricane Carol and of what we owe to the brave men on the U.S.S. BLAIR. We shall never forget the skipper and crew who saved our lives. You will always be included in our prayers, that is the least we can do to repay you. Our very special heartfelt thank you to the five courageous men who jumped into the water after us: Torpedoman Second Class Charles Guertin, Seaman George Nash, Seaman Luigi Petrosino, Seaman Henry Halvorson, Jr., and Seaman Ernest Edelman. They risked their lives to save ours . . . The immediate medical attention my brother and I received from the Corps- man, Mr. Prescott, helped us to recover more quickly from the experience. Thanks to him, we suffered no ill effects from the exposure of more than two hours . . . Your fine hospitality, sir, while we were on board your ship, gave us quite an insight into why we ought to be proud of our Navy. Also, we'd like to thank Ensigns Copp and Palmer who patiently waited through the delays on the road and finally got us home safe and sound. It is pretty hard to express in a letter all the gratitude we feel toward the skipper and crew of the BLAIR . . . we'll never forget the ship and its men. We'll thank God for the rest of our lives that the BLAIR was in Narragansett Bay on August 31, l954. Sincerely, Claire Boudreau

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