Duncan (DDR 874) - Naval Cruise Book

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DEPARTMENT HEADS LTJG M. H. LASELL, Gunnery Officer LTJG J. P. WISE, Operations Officer LTJG J. P. GILLETT, Supply and Disbursing Officer -, LTJG W. W. O ' DELL, JR., Engineering Officer

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Lieutenant W.O. Chartier, the son or Mr. ancl Mrs. W.J. Cnartier or San Diego, Calirornia, was born in August or 1919 at Manistique, Micnigan. Attending Saint Nornert ' s College in DeFerc, Wisconsin, Lt. Cnartier enlisted in tne naval reserve at Green Bay, Wisconsin as an apprentice seaman, ana was ordered to active duty in April or 1941, a result of tnc impending war. Serving as a seaman anoard tne U.S.S. ARCTIC, (AF-7), lie was sparea tlie terror or tlie Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, as tke ARCTIC cleared ber assigned bertb nineteen bours before anotber sbip, tbe U.S.S. OGLALA, (AM-4), was sunk while moored at the bertb previously occupied by the ARCTIC. Tbe early part of World War II found Lt. Chartier aboard tbe U.S.S. ZEILIN, (APA 3), at tbe initial and sustaining assaults on Guadalcanal, for which action the ZEILIN was awarded tbe Naval Unit Commendation, and tlie initial assault upon Attn in tbe Aleutians. Armistice Day of 1942 the ZEILIN was crippled by Japanese divebombers as it reinforced tbe Marine divisions entrenched on Guadalcanal. The most notable of Lt. Cbartier ' s wartime experiences was duty aboard one of the Navy ' s first LSMR ' S at Okinawa. His ship, the LSMR J93, on picket station in company with the U.S.S. HADLEY, (DD-774), and the U.S.S. EVANS, (l)l)-552), withstood an all-out assaiut ot some one bundred-lilty Japanese suicide aircraft, absorbing seven crippling bits while accounting for forty-three enemy aircraft. Lor this action, Lt. Chartier was awarded tbe Bronze Star with Combat Clasp, and bis ship the Presi- dential Unit Citation. In 1943, Lt. chartier, then a Yeoman, First Class, was recommended for, and commissioned as Oin unrestricted line Ensign. Accepting a regular navy commission in i Liy of 1947, Lt. Chartier served twenty-three months aboard tbe L ' .S.S. CLNLMAR- RON, (AO-22), on tbe Arabian oU run, followed by an eighteen-month tour aboard tbe U.S.S. RICHARD B. ANDERSON, (DD-786), as Operations and C.I.C. Officer. It was during this tour, in May of 1949, that he as promoted to this present rank. The ANDERSON was awarded the BATTLE EFFICIENCY PENNANT in 1950, as top destroyer type in tbe I ' acific, and most noteworthy, her Operations Department was designated by COMCRUDEI ' AC as Outstanding. This assignment was followed by successive tours of duty as C.I.C. Observer Instructor with the FLEET TRAINING GROUP, San Diego, student at Marquette University under the Navy five-term program, and as a General Line School student at Monterey, California. Lt. Chartier reported aboard tbe DUNCAN in March of 1954, relieving Lieutenant Commajuler James L Ashley, Jr., as Executive Officer, (wgc)

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MASTER-AT-ARMS FORCE left to right: A. L. Guadagnoli, RD3 S. J. Cockroft, Mess Deck M. A. A. J. G. Weigel, Jr., GM1, R. F. LeGall, BMC, C.M.A.A., L. P. Vest, BT2.