Montrose (APA 212) - Naval Cruise Book

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7 H ita t . . . 7 S So then to every man his chance — To every man regardless of his birth. His shininj;. golden opportunity — To every man the right to live. To work, to be himself, and to become Whatever thing his manhood And his vision can combine to make him This seeker, Is the promise of America —THOMAS WOLFE

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. , . TiSS 7 U ttfto4e ( P i-SrS) The U. S. S. MONTKOSK. n amplul.ious assault ship with a cii ' w and a iiii i )n . . . W lu n the ship (leplovoil to WcstPac for tliis cniiso tliorr was little thought of gaiety or of a glamorous tour of exotic places among die officers and ci ' ew, because to a inati. all knew we would he part of The Ready Grouii. A simple ouuding tciin which iic crthclcss tncans a great deal to our couutn ' s aim and determination to stem tlie tide of (Communism, as it does to the men who must man the ships to cany out that aim. In reality the ready group is a task force of ships with a completely self-sufficient Marine unit and all their requisite gear embarked, ready to steam to any area ot tiie Western Pacific within a few hours ' notice; we would be part of it. We would be part of a force that would engage and quell any Communist inspired hostilities or could lend assistance, in a powerful and mobile fashion, to any friendly nation wliich might be seriously threatened by the Red Banner. Inspiring? Dramatic? Hardly, in this era of endless Cold War crises, but instead a typification of Theodore Roosevelt ' s famous admonition to: Speak softly and carry a big stick! Our very presence in this area of the world, in strength, demonstrates to friend and foe alike that we really are serious and determined that freedom shall not be lost by default, anwhere. While having this tremendous responsibility we are also plagued with the price of such responsibility. We of the task force become inseparable. We must stay onlv witliin geograjihical limit- to enable u- to lill effectively reach any iwtentiai lroul)le spots (piiikly and we silently envy other ships which can and do reach so many of the ports of call we will not even see on this trip. We practice, drill, perfect and then prac- tice some more, only to be ready if the call should come. It is tedious, boring, lonely and monotonous; but despite llie inevitable grumi)ling, we know why it must be done and we believe in ourselves and our coun- tiy enough to do it well. We have been accused of manv tilings iiv manv na- tions and among these is selfishness. This may be tnie for the men who nuist spend these vigils separated from their accustomed ways of life, their families and loved ones and their homes. A selfish interest in the laughter of children; a selfish interest in being free to go to one ' s own church to worship as we please; a selfishness in wanting to retain a government which does the bid- ding of the electorate and not vice versa and a selfish- ness in the belief that each man lia human dignity and worth and a right to live according to that precept. In this wav we are selfish but magnificently so and each member of the crew can hold his head a little higher in the knowledge that hi- work and sacrifice on this cruise helped to maintain those ideals and i)eliefs which make our nation so great.