Menifee (APA 202) - Naval Cruise Book

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xx 1 A -114 be A0 N XX? fb 'KK-X H- J ' f , SX ' s f f 1 To X I 'X 1 , Vffgl 'HST i Y-lg! X-rf V L V me-l fe ,-if 1. :ri 1:- L lg.- If -'W -3.3 ES.? li! ,f C7 Mog Mog was the payoff. The Navy spent much of the . f --2,44 Q war winning advanced bases V 5,--'Z so that its ships could be sup Y-G T plied and repaired quickly and :atm f fgffftffais T Fug.: 5 sent out to fight again. This re- ,k ..fl96'fJ A .p ,J fqg tgflt g moved the necessity for the long if Tm' X ge, O - , haul back to Pearl, Hustralia or 7 the States. j' 'fi Q7 I ' -T --QL y 2 - 'L Mb, Ep a 'rig ' H seldom-mentioned bypro- Z , f- duct of this strategy was the 'qi gf: ,f,Jf '1 W fact that it also cut out the fair XS: .9 J if Q5 liberty of the first place, the X 0 -D XX MDCD VV, good liberty of the second, and 1. , 1 X gy- the wonderful liberty of the C21 if 5 'Rm M-ff third. -9 Q My 1 Therefore, the Navy, doing X I J Z J what it could, set up what it X V K Q . called Fleet Recreation Cen- U gk X f f ters. Sooner or later, any base ls f F f of any importance had one. X Some, in the rear areas, had 4-9 -5- 2 Red Cross girls, beer, cokes, f juke boxes, doughnuts and box- ing rings. Others resembled Mog Mog. But Mog Mog was the payoff. Mog Mog is one of the islets of Ulithi Pltoll in the Carolines, long one of the most advanced and most secret naval anchor- ages. Ulithi is a huge and typi- cal atoll-a necklace of islets and reefs surrounding a huge lagoon. Names of the islets of Ulithi read like a fable: Waseri- meyoruuechiichi, Pugelug, Feit- abul, Lam, Flsor, Pig, Mange- jang and Elipig. Mog Mog had the recreation center and was dedicated to the drinking of beer. Pls your P-Boat skimmed the choDDY waters of Ulithi's ho- rizon reaching lagoon, you could smell two things long be- fore you reached Mog Mog -beer and urine. Hcres of co- coanut trees were interspersed with picnic-type tables set in the mud. We stopped over at Ulithi on our way to the Okinawa opera- tion. Hn entire amphibious task force-soldiers, marines, and ships' crews would be ashore at one time, inhaling tons of beer. Some, by begging, barter- ing or buying, would get enough beer to grow happy. Rnd, in that state, a considerable number 46 became suddenly inspired to climb a cocoanut tree and knock down nuts. Beer just seemed to work that way. Mon- ey meant nothing. The common price for beer was one buck straight. With too many beer just seemed to work that way. It would rain several times in the course of a three hour liber- ty. Liberty parties would come back wet, muddy, tired, but sometimes with enough beer in them to make it worthwhile. It wasn't much. But Okinawa was the next stop and beer was beer, no matter where you drank it.

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Booth Tclrkinqton says we must face the future, not with courage, but with fear-fear of the weapons we possess. Is he right?

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F' IQLAND X 1. x Y 2 JA s J BEKTIES