Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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that alone has been a great help to him and to us in satisfactorily discharging our duties. He, too, has been fair with us, and, above all else, that is the first trait we look for in an oflicer. To our Exec, also, we say, c'Many thanks! And, now, as we come to this last page in our review of the past year, we find more and more of our officers and men getting their orders to other duty. Soon, we will all be getting our orders, and there will not be a Plank Ownern left on board. To you who will rnan our ship in the future, a word of admonition. Before reporting to the Lunga Point and since, we have often heard the Kaiser-Vancouver CVE,s re- ferred to as c'Kaiser's Coffinsf' We are all well aware that they are expendable, but so are other ships. We know that she was thrown together in the haste necessitated by the exi- gencies of war. No one knows better than we .s ..,,, ,,.. that it p know this, if you serve her well, you well. Her engines have new along for thousands of miles and thousands of milcs left in her She as well as her big sisters. Her for itself. Take care of her, for she has sht is not a leasure lcruiaw. l 13 us well. Fight her victoriouslyg so tha, will soon be able to return to the States well earned rest in that Peace for which strived so hard. Many happy cruises, and Bless you all in the U.S.S. Lunga Point And, now that we are in the japs' front yard, We shall keep on going, though the going he hard Because we know weave got the finest carrier, Nothing! N 0, nothing shall create a barrier To making Hirohito himseh' anoint Thejighling men of the Lunga Poinlf 3 ff DJ J Ri X! . .,-,-.-,,,,,,i,,- . . ff M ---wr - gu- -,jx c N5Lt. '.:f- f 17's N-- 'Qn Y..- 'x

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leetions of old time spirituals, which were very much enjoyed by all present. Last, but not least, our old favorite, Sieradzinski, Mic, en tertained us with several snappy numbers on his part of the program we saw an unusually enter taining movie, Arsenic and Old Lace,', fol lowing which all hands were served ice cream and cookies. Then all hands turned in their bunks ready to start out on our 'second leg Unknown to us, howes er there was another during his talk to the Ship s Company on the aftcrnoon of I4 May 1944 the Captain told us that he was determined that thc Iunga Pom! should be thc best Combat CVE in the Fleet the best Combat CVE in the Fleet It IS no wonder, then, that we are proud to have served in the Lunga Pom! Yc s, we have had an outstanding record, so our superiors tell us Be that as it may, no one man is entirely responsible for that record .' ', . 1 ' 3 1 1 ' l I ' 2 , , . ' - . -i ,, , . 1 i 1 ' J A , .. ,A . piano accordian. At the conclusion of this With pardonable pride, we believe we have xi W 1 ' 3 ' 9 , , , ' c as ' - ' ' H 7 V . Y . ' , A 9 A ,. . , party going on that night, also celebrating the first anniversary of the Lunga Point, but it was a long ways from us, way back in San Diego, California, Uncle Sugar. Mrs. Eastwold had gotten a group of our Officeris wives together at her home, and they 'fchatted awayi' a whole evening in celebration of the great event. It was most thoughtful of them, and, while we donit know too much about the details of the party, we do know who was there, there being, in addition to Mrs. Eastwold, the hostess, Mrs. J.H. Garrett, Mrs. H.C. Howard, Mrs. N.C. Walton, Mrs. james DeAngelis, Mrs. BG. Gsborn, Mrs. W.A. james, Mrs. I.E. Mc- Dougal, Mrs. I.I. Smith, and Mrs.J.E. DuH'alo. It must have been a nice party, the only thing wrong with it being that we couldn't be there, too. Now, as we ride at anchor here in Guam, we pause to reflect on all that has transpired during the past twelve months. We have come a long ways-74,746 nautical miles to be exact, but mileage is not all we are thinking of in retro- spect. We are thinking more of the things we have done, what has happened to us, individ- ually and collectively, the contribution we have made to the war effort. We are thinking of the many exciting experiences, the narrow es- capes we have had in our ship, and how every man has fought her with all his might and main. We are thinking of those friendships we have made on board, friendships which we hope to preserve and maintain down through the years to come. We are thinking of our- selves and the progress we have made. Some have progressed rapidly and some not so rap- idly, but all hands have progressed in relation to the best they have in them, because all hands have given their best. There is not a man on board who is not a little more sure of himself than a year ago. Therefore, the Lunga Point is a better ship, and we are better men as a re- sult of having just been together during the past twelve months. We seem to recall that, 111 It is the result of the combined efforts of every man on board, from the Skipper on down. There has been an excellent spirit of coopera- tion throughout every Division and every De- partment since the day we went in commission, and the results speak for themselves. In every Naval Vessel, however, there has to be leader- ship, there has to be an established policy. If there is any one man who is directly respon- sible for carrying us safely and successfully through our first year, it is our Commanding Officer. There is not a man on board who ques- tions his ability as an aviator or a Mariner. He has been a stern disciplinarian. He bawls us outi' when we err, but he is equally as quick to recognize merit. He plays no favorites, yet he is fair to all. He is somewhat a perfec- tionist , he strives for 4.0, but, in so doing, he is constantly bearing in mind his responsibility for the lives of a thousand men and the job that lies ahead. He has never been known to turn down a reasonable request that would add to the comfort, happiness and welfare of his men. He Usweatsw our planes on and off the flight deck as if each pilot were his own son. In short, he is a man in whom we have implicit confi- dence, and, for getting us safely and success- fully through this first year, to him, our Cap- tain, we give our humble thanks. As for the policy of a ship, the Captain estab- lishes it, and the Executive Officer sees that it is carried out. The mere fact that we have come through this first year successfully is suf- Hcient proof unto itself that the Exec has done a good job. While we may not always agree with him, or he with us, he never fails to talk to us straight from the shoulder, and he gets re- sults. He has always shown a keen interest in the welfare of our oHf1cers and men, and thereby he has accomplished the execution of the Cap- tain's policy in a manner that, we believe, has been satisfying to the Captain. He has kept himself unusually well posted on conditions existing in the various Departments of the ship, . I . T..

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PART VI THE MEN WHO FOUGHT HER QRanks and rates shown are as of 14 May, 194,55 OFFICERS 'f Captain George A. T. XfVashburn, USN, 12352 Sand Point lfVay, Seattle 55, Wash., or Navy De- partment, YVashington, D. C. 'tC0mmander E. R. Eastwold, USN, LeRoy, lNIinn., or Navy Department, lfVashington, D. C. If Commander E. G. Osborn, USN, 1102 El Centro Ave., Napa, Calif. 'I' Lieut, Comdr. Ivan I. Smith, USNR, Ejido No. 7, Mexico City, 'Mexico Lieut. Comdr. YV. E. Bertram, USN, cfo C. S. Aikins, 2511 Linwood Blvd., Kansas City 3, lVIo. Lieut. Comdr. W. H. Sands, USNR, Gambrills, Md. 'lg Lieut. Comdr. Leonard YV. Hag- strom, USNR, 4362 Everett Ave., Oakland, Calif. 3':Lieut. S. Linton Smith, USNR, 2205 Beechridge Rd., Raleigh, N.C. Lieut. Potter Palmer III, USNR, 1301 Astor St., Chicago, Ill. 'lf Lieut. H. Garrett, USN, 4534 Alabama St., San Diego, Calif. 'Lieut. Robert Homans, USNR, 5 Brimmer St., Boston, Blass. Lieut. Walter W. Kalteyer, Jr., USNR, 2056 Addison Rd., Hous- ton 5, Texas Y I Lieut. James De Angelis, USNR, 1031 Forest Rd., New Haven, Conn. 'kLieut. James R. Tippett, Jr., USNR, 1735 Park Ave., Balti- more, Md. if Lieut. Frederick L. Marvil, jr., USNR, I3OI New Road, Els- mere, Wilmington, Del. Lieut. R. L. Corkran, Jr., USNR 724 Raleigh Ave., Norfolk 7, Va. USNR, 818 Levering Ave., Los Angeles 24, Calif. 'K Lieut. Ivan E. McDougal, USNR, 4533 30th St., San Diego, Calif. USNR, 862 Park St., Atlanta, Ga. 'Lieut. C. V. H. King, ' Lieut. B. B. Upchurch, 'F Plank Owners. Lieut. A. H. Berndt, USNR, 4945 N. Christiana Ave., Chicago, Ill. Lieut. lXlerle Grant, USN, 26227 Alta Vista, Lomita, Calif. Lieut. Kenneth B. Little, USNR, Box 58, Wfasco, Calif. Lieut. H. C. Howard, USN, 3806 46th St., San Diego, Calif. Lieut. Robert W. Sutton, USNR, 1118 Oxford St., Berkeley 7, Calif. Lieut. Charles B. Wfhite, USNR, 1306 Sherman St., Alameda, Calif. Lieut. Henry A. Harrison, USNR Box 874, Baker, Oreg. 7 tk Lieut. Arthur W. Gilmore, USNR, 14115 Greenleaf St., Van Nuys, Calif. ff Lieut. Wayne L. Black, USNR, 1436 Laird Ave., Salt Lake City 5, Utah Lieut. R. Denny, USNR, 800 Rivercrest Road, Fort Worth, Texas. if Lieut. Albert C. Nolte, Jr., USNR, 38 Willets Ct., Manhasset, N. Y. Lieut. Cjgj C. E. Stimson, Jr.,USNR, 610 Woodland Rd., Pasadena 5, Calif. Navigation department officers. 113