George MacKenzie (DD 836) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 9 text:

HAWAII Pearl Harbor was good for the Mac. She shot, she hunted subs, she bombarded She shed her stateside dancing slippers and laced up her combat boots. The days were rigorous, jam- med with training. But the nights . . Ah, those Hawaiian nights . And who could for- get that side trip to Hilo '

Page 8 text:

1 . , ' dS S |H . . . Mid morning, 20 November 1952. The bond whoops it up on the sun drenched dock. Here and there civilians cluster around a man in blue. Smiles and tears mingle on the faces of mothers and wives. The children, excited as usual. Nestl ed against the dock the four ships, like giant greyhounds, wait for on unseen hand to ring the bell which will send them sprinting for a finish line 6000 miles away. Sea details are set. The mamouth crane eases along the dock plucking away the brows which link one ship to another. Ready on the foc ' sles. Lines are cast off. Auld Lang Syne from the band. The ships ore free. One by one they gather sternway, turn and thread their way past the divisions of destroyers tethered to their bouys; past Broadway pier, past North Island, past Point Lomo. Then - blue water. The familiar landmarks of Southern California dissolve into the horizon. Thoughts of home ore now just cherished memories. Our only link with the shore are the gulls screaming and circling in our wake. . .

Page 10 text:

Church service on the fanfail. 5 ' ' • (• . Waikiki and Diamond Head. An Aloha for fhe captain. Beaufifut girls and beautiful flowers, Hawaii ' s two rnost prized possessions, on hand to greet us at Hilo. Maestro Berry and the MacKenzie philharmonic get in a few licks on the dock. There ' s nothing like a Hawaiian welcome.