Damato (DDE 871) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 81 text:

LEAVE Back in the States again from the Med all the boys are anxi- ous to get home. The leave schedule is ar- ranged to permit im- mediate departure after Customs Inspec- tion, but the short time consumed by these inspections seems like days when all any man can envision is homey dreams of wife, kid- dies, mom and dad or sweet- heart. Well, after a cruise of this sort there is also the large collection of souvenirs gathered from every port visited. This year, the boys brought back over two hundred, four hundred and thousand day clocks, horological masterpieces and timely gifts . Even though the weather on our return trip was not especially suited to the trans- porting of such delicate mechanisms — no casualties were reported. With these added to the leather goods from Tangier; gloves and artwork from Italy; perfume from Grasse; cuckoo clocks from Switzerland; cameras, binoculars and toys from Germany; the ship was truly laden with Christmas Cheer for the crew ' s friends and families. One glance at the pictures tells rest of story. That Homeward Bound smile is strictly a type of expression reserved for this very special occasion.

Page 80 text:

Ok it ' s home again, and home again, America for me! I want a ship that ' s westward hound to plougJi tlie rolling sea, To the Blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the Ocean bars, JJ ' here the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars. iV T iV it i? -)V it

Page 82 text:

WINNING THE In August 1952 the DAMATO was award- ed the Battle Efficiency Plaque for fiscal year 1952. This award, made by Commander De- stroyers, U. S. Atlantic Fleet, is made annually to those few ships which, on the basis of competitive exercise scores, performance of assigned combat and Fleet exercise missions, and general reputation, show superior quali- ties of battle readiness. Pictured on the page is an informal photo- graph of our staff of officers who contributed greatly to winning the coveted honor. In the upper right hand corner we have a photo taken in Korea of Lieutenant (junior grade) George Carpenter 111. Lieutenant Car- penter (second from left) was also a leading figure in the keenly fought competitive exer- cises that enabled us to come out on top. He is presently engaged as a liason officer with the United States Marine Corps. Shown with him are his R. O. K. Marine Lieutenant, his Korean interpreter and Staff Sargeant. Many of the other officers pictured here returned to their civilian pursuits. We would like to present pictures of many of our former crew members who contributed to our success but since that is not possible we wish to say that their mighty efforts had a salutory effect and were greatly appreci- ated by both the command and the crew.