La Salle (LPD 3) - Naval Cruise Book

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I vw- :--H I- -. - v. . .,,.A..4--., ...A. , . f PRI-FLY Home of the Good Guys. . I V Division has 47 men, Department Head is LCDR Schussler, Division Officer is LT Chin, and Leading Petty Officer is Davis, ABF1. The Division consists of the Fuels Crew and the Flight Deck Crew. - The division earned an E and three hash marks and completed 5952 landings without an accident. While in the Med eight duty drivers from Air De- partment did all the driving for the ship while in port. ln most ports two duty drivers lived on the beach and drove every night from liberty call until two or three in the morning. During the day two drivers alternated driving on their duty days until relieved by the permanent drivers. Most of the runs were for mail, or taking officers on business, or taking the Chaplainfs working party to an orphanage. The airdales fielded seven out of the twelve players on the ship's basketball team which had an outstanding record of 15 wins and 2 losses, playing foreign nationals and other ships in each port. The airdales. left Norfolk, some looking forward to new and exciting experiences in the Mediterranean, others regretting having to leave their wives and families behind for five months. But all returned with a greater awareness of the people in foreign countries and also a greater appreciation of the life they left in the States. Most of Air Department would agree that the ports of France and Spain were the best ports hit in the Med with Naples, Italy running a close third, Kannas and Payne would probably put it first on the list while Gause tries not to think of it at all. An historic event that occured while in the Med was when Boswell, the division clown, received word that his wife gave birth to a baby girl. One of the major highlights of the cruise was the beach party at Navplion, Greece. The airdales probably stole and drank more beer than any other division on the beach. Some of the airdales went mountain climbing, notably Frawley, Kannas, Mock, Camden, Burgher, Payne, and .Hornick, and almost didn't return, others, Felix, Whitaker, Gregoire, Gamel, Kidd, Emery, and Bell played football, some went swimming as the day--wore on and the rest just sat around and drank beer. The greatest moment of all for the airdales was when the LaSalle left Rota and headed back for the States. All in all, the airdales would agree that the Med is a nice place to visit but we wouldn't want to live there.

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One. could say that preparations for our Med deployment was an intense job of equipping and training, but no one knows this better than R Division. Many long and extra hours were put into preparing Marine spaces and our own for this deployment. After many hours of preparation a cruise sounded like a rest and vacation. To some it was an escape from an over-anxious girl friend, but to others it was duty, and absence from family. The cruise went over smooth and we began to develop the at-ease attitude, but excitement began to stir when our Frenchman, ' 'Lt 'L Peanut was called to the bridge to assist the pilot in Toulon, France. For Peanut it was a fright, and navigation something new to a shipfitter. The results bore one hole -and some extra un- anticipated work. The blame was on no one, just poor com- munications, but our Lt 'L Peanut became his fame and fortitude. Again the R Division was called away to replace a section of our hull, which extracted much of their liberty. This drew the interest of our ex-Captain, H.L. Matthews,Jr., who for three days and nights walked a path into the pier while looking on at our men in action. Once the job was completed, the R Division made its way beachward to scoff up all the booze and girls they could find. It has often been said that LaSalle's capabilities are second to none, but without the R Division aboard, this statement would and could never have been made. This division has repeatedly repaired embarked boats, kept the piping functioning, innumerable repair jobs of every nature including an act of mercy on the Grant County's causeway. - DUTCHMAN'S GOLD. T It seems that during an operation the Old Bucket lost its causeway and here we go again to the rescue. At two o'clock one morning the R Division manned the ballast detail to retrieve one slightly mangled causeway which was only the beginning. After fetching it from the sea, the R Division supered as a tender to repair and return it to its rightful owner. In liberty ports, the duck or tourists became our refuge on many occasions, whereby we would take as many tours as possible. Taking these tours wasn't entirely for getting a break from our everyday routine. No, some of us just wanted to say we saw something in the Med besides the bars. The division thoroughly enjoyed whatever liberty was received and left many new acquaintances with a lasting impression. Cameras were everywhere we libertied, es- pecially with ' ' Lemo . Everywhere he went, people got the impression that he was Mr. Kodak . Everyone bought souvenirs and fcoins?2, but photography seemed to rate number one in every port of call. To R Division, one memorable experience occurred one brisk day in December, during our port visit in Naples, when Mr. Dinkins arrived. From every corner in R Division one could hear gasps of fear. Yes, we all felt a change coming on and that it would be an adjustment and a half to make. He arrived and shook his head, and said, God, what a job I'll have here! ' Liberty wasn't R Division's only thrill, you could witness in our work, the pride and ability each of these men have. Our operations went successfully because the -division was on its toes and had the ' ' can do attitude. A WO1 DINKINS SPOT LECTURE. FN iyvl MB:-xkerr SN R Mcfluaid FN R. Pietrowski. FN R. Svoboda FN N. Thompson FN T. Chenel FR G. Sullivan 'N i I 4 l E i E 2 1 1 K l 1 i l 1 I I v K X I 1 4 4

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.0 XX gk. Flight Deck Crewscutries to do their job. AIR DEPARTMENT I LCDR G. A. SCHUSSLER LTJG K. s. CHINA AIR OFFICER V DIVISION OFFICER 1 x 9 ,. -