Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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Captain extends greeting I hands at Chi-istn would be in and around Manus for some weeks before our next operation. We had, at this time, been out of the States since 1 6 October, and, except for a very few- letters awaiting us at Ulithi, we had received no mail since leaving. Mail is the one thing we look forward to more than anything else, being second only to actually returning to the States. Consequently, nothing could have pleased us more than the siaht of an LCM full of mail coming alongside our ship even before we had dropped our hook in Seeadler Harbor. We received thirty odd bags all told, and nothing could have made us happier at that point than the many letters we recei ed that afternoon, because our men in the Post Office had worked like Trojans to get it up for us at the earliest possible moment as they always do. Also, their desire to get our mail to us as soon as possible made an e ' erlasting impression on us Scene entering Seeadler Harbor, Manus. 59

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' I III Admikai ins Long IxfcjiT iciuliiiiK Munus, our l);isc ii Scciicllcr H;irl)or, we had Ix-ijiin (o suHcr from llic 111-. It worse than ever Ix-t ' orc. While llie Top: Tan o on Pil ilu with his ration of beer; hrlow: Liberrs ' Pitv-ilu. ckcls and dimes at Times Square C:hristmas Eve. air was hot and humid in New Guinea, we weren ' t bothered by it much because of the ex- citement of our first visit to a South Pacific island as well as the fact that we were hardly there long enough for it to take hold. We had now been cruising for several days in the Equatorial heat, and the Admiralties are prac- tically on the Equator. At first, the heat was almost unbearable, and nearly everyone aboard went to Sick C all daily for heat rash treatment. Even at night, we would lie in our bunks liter- ally wringing wet from perspiration. Al- though, it seemed impossible at first, we did finally become pretty well accustomed to the climate, in addition to which we were to have ample opportunity to swim in the beautiful, crystal clear waters of the Pacific, and this alleviated our discomfort from the heat some- what. Probably more than anything else, we simply became reconciled to the heat, because we had already heard the most reliable Scuttle- butt, straight from the Chow Line, that we

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Sania Claus pass( s llif quarler deck as he approaches the sta e. ; the goods. of the excellent service that the Manus Naval Base rendered the Fleet. As a result, we be- lieve that all hands really enjoyed their stay in Manus more than at any other place we have called up to this writing. m 1 «- - m . il Native hut on Pit ilu. There were many things to interest us at Manus, not the least of which was the oppor- tunity to visit with friends from the many ships in the harbor, as well as with friends attached to the Naval activities ashore. The recrea- tional facilities here were, by far, the best and most complete we have seen in the Pacific. On Pityilu Island, where we ha e an air strip, there was an unusually nice enlisted men ' s recreation area, featuring Dufiy ' s Ta crn, where our liberty parties were allowed from two to four bottles of good, cold beer or Coca- Cola per man per day. depending upon the supply on hand. There were ball diamonds, basketball courts, hand ball courts and tennis courts, not to mention a beautiful white sand beach right out in front of Duffy ' s Tavern. It was a rather picturesque sight to see the hordes of soldiers, sailors and Marines from the many ships present as they lounged about the tables in the ta ern and othersvise made use of the facilities at hand. There were always many of them taking advantage of the oppor- tunity to hunt cat eyes and tiger eyes and the many other literally thousands of various sea shells peculiar to the Admiralties. Some of the cat eyes found were er) ' pretty, and there is many a one and only back home now wearing a cat eye ring made on board our ship from a piece of stainless steel which was also found on the beach. Another favorite