Albany (CA 123) - Naval Cruise Book

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... and Exec Commander Dwight L. Moody — Executive Officer Commonder Moody was commissioned an Ensign 6 June 1935, upon graduation from U. S. Naval Academy. Anna- polis, Maryland. His naval career has taken him to points far distant from his birthplace, Packard, Kentucky. Our executive officer ' s first tour of duty was in the USS New Orleans, which qualifies him as a cruiser sailor from ' way back . In )941, Commander Moody served as Assistant Naval Attache at the American Embassy in London, England. Just prior to our entry in World War II, he was ordered to the Pacific, where he served as Commanding Officer of I the USS Montgomery (DM 17) and the USS Stockham (DD 683) in operation with the Third and Fifth Fleets during the war. I In this capacity he took part in the Solomons Islands and the Okinawa campaigns and the mopping up operation leading : to the occupation of Japan Commander Moody placed the USS Henley (DD762) in commission as her Commanding Officer, serving on board in this capacity for eighteen months. 5 His last tour of shore duty was in Bupers, just before he was assigned to the USS Albany as Executive Officer, 8 Au- ! gust 1951. I The geniality and amiability of our three-striper has not been lost on the officers and crew. He displays these rare virtues through the daily routine. Commander Moody wears theNovy Unit Citation; American Defense Medal; American and Pacific Campaign Medals; Navy Occupation Medal; European Medal and World War II Victory Medal. We ' re happy to have you with us Commander Moody.

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s K I u P R P E K Captain Eller was born in Marion, Virginia, on January 23, 1903, and attended the North Wllkesboro High School, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and North Carolina State College, before entering the Naval Academy where he graduated in 1925. He attained the rank of Captain in 1944 to rank from July 20, 1943. In September 1946, he ad- vanced to the rank of Commodore, reverting to the grade of Captain in December 1947, when this rank was discontinued. After serving in the battleships USS Utah and USS Texas, Captain Eller went to the undersea side of the Navy, going from submarine school to the USS S-33 in China. Subsequently he taught at the Naval Academy, went afloat again for three years to organize and conduct the Fleet Machine Gun School in USS Utah and returned to the Naval Academy for duty in the Departments of History and English and Ordnance and Gunnery. From September 1940 until May 1941, he served as Assistant Naval Attache and Anti-Aircraft, Ordnance and Radar Observer in the British Fleet and development stations. After a brief tour in Fleet Training and Bureauof Ordnance, he joined the USS Saratoga, serving as her Gunnery Officer in Pacific operations until May 1942. While she was under repair following torpedo damage, Captain Eller was detached and served for the next three years on Admiral Nimitz ' s staff as Assistant Gunnery Officer and Training Officer. For a time also he wrote CincPac ' s war reports. For these services he received the Legion of Merit with the following citation: For exceptionally meritorious conduct, .during operations against enemy Japanese forces in the Pacific war area from May 1942 to April 1945, analyzing war reports and developing, expanding and supervlsingall types of training, particularly anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, amphibious and shore bombardment. Commodore (then Captain) Eller participated in landings on Makin and Okinawa and in other combat operations which led to imporved methods and development of new weapons , In his constant attention to improvements in weapons and armament of his ships and In his supervision of fleet ammunitions supply , he rendered vital service in developing and maintaining the com- bat readiness of the Fleet... and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service . During the Summerand Fall of 1945 he commanded the Attack Transportation USS Clay, participating In three occu- pation moves into Japan and China. He reported in April 1946 to the Office of Public Information, Navy Department, where he served as Deputy Director until July 31, 1946, when he became director. He held the rank of Commodore until December 1947, when this rank terminated in accordance with the Officer Personnel Act of 1947. After completing the National War College Course from August 1948 to June 1949, he reported for duty in the Strat- egic planning section of the Joint Chiefs of Staff One of his first duties there was to accompany the joint chiefsof staff totheother NATO countries in connection withestablishing the NATO military organization. In August 1950, he became commander of the middle east force operating in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Indian Ocean areas. Upon completion of this tour of duty in April 1951 he reported to USS Albany as commanding officer. Captain Filer ' s wife, the former Miss Agnes Fogle Pfohl of Winston Salem, North Carolina, resides at 2 Kent Road, Wardour, Annapolis, Maryland, when he is at sec. Captain Eller has published several prize winning articles in theU. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, the latest in 1950 being Will We Need A Navy To Win?

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... Your Friend and Mine Chaplain Frank M. Graf, LCDR, U5NR Maiden, Mass. was bestowed a great honor on the day that Chaplain Graf was born. In fact, on that August occa- sion, even Boston was overshadowed. Usually in a family of ten, a baseball team is started, with a substitute in tow. However, just to be different. Chaplain Graf, at the tender age of twelve, was driving an express truck At fifteen he became a grease monkey, and at eighteen, a railway mail clerk. To illustrate his versatility , he completed three years of high school in one year, at the age of twenty-seven. At the semi-tender age of thirty, he entered the seminary at Boston to prepare for the holy priesthood. In 1944, Chaplain Graf joined the ranks of the navy, where he still holds forth. When asked why he remained in the navy after World War II instead of returning to civilian priestly duties, he re- plied: Sailors do not put on a front. They are themselves. They don ' t put on any party manners and try to pull the wool over your eyes. They are what they are: Don ' t make any bones about it, and that is why I like working with them and for them. Just that way When they come any better, drop us a line and tell us about it. (P. S.) We don ' t expect to hear from you, thanks just the same.