Mispillion (AO 105) - Naval Cruise Book

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F S I We D' ,N 5 X U fy wk V ' ct? 3 gg-, Ali, if ,. 'FQX , ,.. - C . .1 . X K K I iN X ,QAXYIM Mgr THE PENNY NELSON STORY Near the end ofthe '5'l-'52 cruise, the benevolent hearts of the officers and men ofthe Mispillion opened wide to offer assistance to their new-found sister , Penny Nelson. Three-year-old Penny, a cheerie little lass, was a bulbar polio victim and for a time was entirely paralized. The crew rallied and raised a kitty of S600 which went into a trust fund for little Penny and was presented to her in absentia when the ship arrived in the States that September. Penny's father, Lt. Forest A. Nelson, a Marine pilot, was taken prisoner by the agressors in Korea in August 'l952, shortly bofore Penny became stricken. Penny's mother, Mrs. Sally Nelson, an employee of the Douglas Aircraft Corporation, and her two-year old brother, Jon, live in the Nelson trailer at 5602 Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach, California, the Mispillion's home port. . Penny was hospitalized when the original trust fund was presented, but as the ship was preparing to embark on the '52-'53 cruise, little Penny came aboard the Mispillion to greet her big brothers . Miss Penny, after receiving a salute worthy of her station, was taken on a tour of the ship so she could see where the men ate and slept and worked. At that time, Penny still had one foot and ankle in a cast, but, supported by her mother, she was able to stand at the dock and wave her farewell as the ship pulled away to win the war, and bring her Daddy back home. Early this year, the men of the Mispillion ioined the March of Dimes campaign, and, in the name of Miss Penny Nelson, contributed over 51,650 to the Long Beach Branch of the National Foundation for lnfantile Paralysis. Penny continued her recovery from the paralysis, but again her struggle for health was ieopardized. This time it was a case of pneumonia that placed her in the Navy hospital at Oceanside, California. Fighting hard, the high-spirited Penny strove to ward off the chest ailment and rebuild her weakened chest muscles. Back aboard the Mispillion the crew members didn't call it quits when the March of Dimes campaign had ended. instead, they continued their Penny Nelson Fund in order to raise enough money to present the Long Beach Branch of the National Foundation for lnfantile Paralysis with a child-size iron lung to be used in other cases such as little Penny's. Upon being advised that the Long Beach area was not in need of an additional iron lung, the crew, not to be thwarted, continued to swell their funds, this time for an Electromyograph which was direly needed by the foundation.

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46 Penny gives the fellows a big smile The Electromograph is a delicate electronic de- vice that accurately measures and records muscle move- ment and reaction, and, is very important in effecting the treatment and cure of the scourge, poliomyelitis. For the remainder of their Far Eastern tour of duty, the 309 personnel of the Mispillion held raffels, bingo games, and pay-day contributions to raise the 52,060 needed for the purchase and delivery of the machine. The Electromyograph, bearing an appropriate engraved chromium plaque, was presented to Miss Penny Nelson by Seaman John A. Welker in a ceremony held on the pier alongside the Mispillion on June 30, 1953. Penny, after accepting the gift, presented the machine to Mr. Vermillion, a representative of the Long Beach Branch of the foundation, who, in turn, presented it to Mrs. Algeo, of the Tichenor Clinic. Among the many notable guests present at the cermony was Miss .loan Kelly, Miss Long Beach of 1953. ,SW if-v ,442-Q Penny talks it over with her brothers