Gunston Hall (LSD 5) - Naval Cruise Book

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THEN CHEJU DO pers called it Operation Big Switch. We had other names for it. At Cheju Do, acting as flagship for Commander Landing Ship Flotilla One, we anchored in an unprotected cove and bobbed like a cork for a month. Some of us saw the Communists loaded into the LCUs and LSTs beached on the island. The majority of us remained aboard during the month and turned to, pre- paring for the impending Administrative Inspection. Our only prayer when an- other LST or AKA loomed into sight was ... do they have any new movies aboard? I L i Ki -A ■■ - ' ' iifef ' ' 37

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MORE LIFTS - June, July, and August merged into endless days of boredom, deadening heat, and shuttle -trips from Japan to Ko- rea. We slept topside, bolted our food to get out of the steam-filled messhall, and made one shower do the work of three. Heat rash and salt pills made the rounds, and the only bright moments were rumors of an armistice and home a month early. And finally, the big news arrived. The truce had been signed at Panmunjom. Once again rumors flew, but they were guickly forgotten as we got underway for Cheju Do to assist in the now famous exchange of prisoners of war. The pa- 36

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KOBE - AND FIVE Someone somewhere gave us five days of rest in Kobe during October. It gave many of us our first real opportunity to see Japan. The ship was spht up into two 48-hour leave parties for those who wanted a period of R R; the rest of us returned to the ship every other day to stand the watches Kobe had none of the fishing village charm or prevailing odor of little Sasebo, nor any of the glamour attractions of the Yokohama- Yokosuka area, but was an unarranged composition rep- resenting a mixture of Wilshire Boulevard, West Madison in Chicago, and Bourbon Street, New Orleans. The general shopping area of- fered an expensively decorated silk salon next door to Haki Saki ' s trinket shop. In the streets. — ' ■ ' -ii iAssss 38