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Page 3 text:
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QF' ART T1 Tiff ,AV AR CTI'C TO TROPTC rABOARD'FHE USSCASA.GRANDER A 1955 RECEIVED JUL 2 5 T958 NAVY DEPARTMENT LIBRARY A EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Q DONAILD N. EKVALL xg,-,J uv XA ASSOCIATE EDITOR Q ROLAND E. McCANDLlSH 8 9 A ASSOCIATE EDITOR 0 ROBERT L. GLADFELTER , f 4 PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Q BENJAMIN BACKUS - A 'fa R: CONTRIBUTING STAFF MEMBERS 55 30 A I Z ROBERT E. WILDRIDGTE .E PETER A DENTIOI XY ! JEROME B MANSKE LlNwOOD N CANADY DONALD J WORTH ,
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Page 4 text:
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'Q 77 i THE CAPTAIN ZCOMMANDER wn.uAM o. SPEARS, JR. fCHATTANOOC-JA, TENNESSEE Commander William O. Spears, Jr., followed fhe example of his fafher now a refired rear adm' l . :ra , in choosing a naval career. Born in Chaffanooga, Tennessee, abouf half his boyhood days were spenf in S h . . . . . . ouf America where his fafher served on fhree naval missions fo Peru and Brazil during fhe l92O's. Refurning from Peru in I93O, young Spears complefed high school af his birfhplace and was, by fhen, decided in his ambifion fo become a naval officer. l-le passed The examinafion and enfered +he U. S. Naval Academy in fhe summer of l934. Commissioned an ensign upon graduafion in June l938, he leff fhe cl s- , as room for his firsf four of dufy aboard 'rhe baffleship Colorado. Two years lafer, upon accepfance of his l' f f app :ca ion or Asiafic dufy, Ensign Spears was ordered fo 'rhe USS Pope lDD 225l. Affer an apprenfice- ship as firsf lieufenanf and commissary officer, he became forpedo and communicafions officer and was promofed fo LT JG in l94l. Operafing asa unif offhe Asiafic fleei' fhe Pope was anchored in lvlanil- Bay when fhe Ja an f- . a p ese a faclced Pearl Harbor. ln fhe early monfhs of fhe war. shorf of men. ships and planes, fhe navy ufilized ifs I 1 n T I 1 1 p u n - y a weapon e splrlf fo win. Before winning, however, if losf mosf of fhe Aslaflc fleef, includ- ing fhe Pope. which was sunlc by bombing and surface fire on I March I942 while escorfing fhe damaged HMS Exefer foward Ceylon. Several days passed before fhe Pope's crew, driffing abouf fhe embaffled wafers, was spoffed and falcen capfive by a Japanese desfroyer. Firs+ confined on Celeloes Island, a few of fhe crew were senf fo Japan where fhey were inferned in a cam which fh o d d l p e c mman er ryy labels. Nof as bad as some. Three and a half years laferfhe war ended and Commander Spears was released orfly affer his refurn he mef his fufure wife, Marie O l-lara, of Norwich, N. Y.. and was married five monfhs lafer. By July of I946 he was back on acfive dufy, insfrucfing midshipmen af Annapolis in seaman- ship and navigafion. Then, in Sepfember. I949, he served for an eighfeen-monfh period as execufive offi- cer of fhe USS Fremonf IAPA 441 and for one year affer fhaf in command of fhe USS lsherwood IDD 5201. Commander Spears' warfime experience resulfing from fhe navy's fragic unpreparedness af fhe oufsef of World War ll had primed him for his nexf assignmenf: Readiness and fraining secfion of sfaff. Cinclanffleef, where he spenl' fwo years prior fo affending fhe Armed Forces Sfaff Colle d I I ge an assum- Ing his presenf dufies. Slf1Ce l'1lS faking Command of fhe USS Casa Grande lLSD-l3l on 2 Augusf l954, fhe ship has Success- fully mef all commifmenfs-from 'frying operafions in fhe Arcfic fo exacfing assaulf landing in Hue Carri- biin,.The vyorlc ainoard ship during fhese operafions has been balanced wifh a liberal amoun+ of liberfy w ie in por 1. . , ringing a high degree of morale fo fhe crew. The cap+ain's calm manner and consid- eraflon for his men have prompfed many fo decide in favor of a naval career.
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