Epperson (DD 719) - Naval Cruise Book

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ACTIVVUES 'I

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ffrort THIS WE cor MEDALS7' With the squ-awk box blaring-HCQMCQRTDE N- ' ' , F ' . SO falitrivlngb iigle ami Chuck Strode aboard our 2250 ton Man O' War on that 10th ' - - - l 'Q ' day 0 iwem er. mil es ater W1-h 3 blast of the horn the Fi htin E a from c4M1keso docks, Pearl Harbor. 4 9 g g b Cked away Our first .objective was to reach the Mi A . dway Isl d . . . d' Our valiant crew stormed up Nimitz Ave. fThe an S we ld manage to get there. Of thi- Coonelziiglrdicl- Mani' of our comrades were lurking behind bushes, crawling around OH l e grqun ' 100 eying for pgsition and soing lh1'OUgh Hell for a shot of the famed Cooney Bird. , sD1v 12, arriving, EPPETRSON, EPPER. uOreat White Way of Midway-thanks In spite of the Offerings Of the island fsand, deteriorating buildings hidden by an over- afarersv -chose the water and held growth of shrubs, trees, etc.,j our little band of use swim sessions in the uniform of the day . . . clean dungarees . With 2 f3's of the crew already suffering from an agitated ocean-we received news of coming RHI'-HCUOHS- CHrmen', fthe Navy name d-typhoonj. Fortunately we only took-45 degree rolls as a- few more degrees would have shaken up the Epperson Salts . The Officers and Chiefs were' in their dress blues, it was misty, and the air had That peculiar odori'-we knew we were close to Yokosuka. ' We're not here on a tour of the Far East-we,re here to work! With these words of our Executive Officer, F. A. TOMASINI urgingus 'on4we did just that! But this was our home, and we loved every minute of it. ' LIBERTY! Leaping from the M boats we dashed through the gates and to the streets of Yokosuka. Here we were greeted by peddicyclers, cab drivers, yen peddlers, watch buyers, business men and business girls . Dodging bicycle riders, motorcycles, and cabbies we managed to catch thevfirst glimpse of Japan-for many of us. On the 23rd of November our little band of misplaced civilians were off to fight the wars. Task Force 77 was desperate and needed our support! fHow desperate can you g-in t We steamed into the war zone fwe knew it was the war zone as we could mail letters Free,'j and with a dramatic changing of the guard we began our active duty . . . on the High Line! ' ' -4 ' Life floated on in 'its own miserable fashion, when suddenly a contact was made on a sub! This was right up our alley, the Eppy's reputation as a Hunter-Killer was wide- ly known. Armed with weapon '!Able fwhich was derangedj, anti-sub torpedo tubes tibut no torpedoesl and various other useless defensive piece-we frightened them away. Another first! Our first battle scars were inflicted when that nasty ol' U.S.S. PUSSUMSIC tossed her weight around and tossed itright into our port side bending the superstruc- ture where it wasn't intended to be bent. - N 1 a Q n CC One dark night we were relieved of our responsibilities as Canymead fScreen Com- mander! and were designated to escort the ROCHESTER to the bomhline and to Wonsan Harbor. T X The word awonsann had a Special Significance at first. The harbor demanded respect, . . ', a . - 1 t d th in spite of being battered daily. Our first entrance into the harbor was se ec e as . e . d earl mornin most outstanding event of our Navy car66fS- The Previous Cvemng an Y 5 b t ous were marked by a more serious mannered crew, the talk was not 10115 and 015 ef d0g tags were taken out of the back end of V T the lockers-every'one was wondering! . . tg the harbor final precautions were taken, instruc- , t, g . . . . , ed Immediately prior to our entrance n out and ever one mann tons were given to the Elin crewS, ammumuon was broke y