Missouri (BB 63) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 10 text:

mf 1 9517, - 1 y 4231 A ' ISM 'Z WW' LX, vw f UXQQ' Svkxwisx ' nf? a . ' W' 5941 .. ' ' Z N- fmw A V5. x AXW. Q -'1'.i4 A ,,,. M hw f WSWS 'YC' ' ' if : f ,W -W ,y ,f , gygm ww M! 1 I .A ,, Ai , N . A1 . ' 1- 1:7 V W-WNW - , Vs, W ' f -. -ax A ' ,W 435 'f K 4 ei, ff S4 N' Q N X w f , X -Y-,kvb-P. .,.,..........4-.-.--.,- , .' . . , 1 . Q I

Page 9 text:

J UARY 1944... . HE DEMOCRACIEQS have begun an inexorable march . . . From ships of the United States Navy, which have been blasting, pounding, softening Japanese defenses, foot soldiers of the United States leap to the beaches of Roi and Kwajalein Islands inthe Marshalls . . . Allied troops, spearheaded by fighting Americans, capture Minturno, Italy, enter Gassino, establish Anzio-Nettuno beachhead south of Home . . . The Russians, grimly exultant, drive toward Rumania, penetrate deep into Pripet Marshes, smash beyond old borders of Poland, capture Leningrad . . . To the homefront in the United States come revelations of Japanese atrocities against American and Filipino captives of Corregidor and Bataan . . . A nation gasps as the horrors are described, then settles down intent on the job that lies ahead-a terrific job, with bombs, shells, bullets, Whistling, screaming, blasting and roaring. All instruments are being tuned for the Overture to Victory . . . ' East and West, the growing might of Allied offensives is being massed for the reconquest of the Philippines, the destruction of the Japanese Empire, the liberation of millions of men, Women and children, conquered, tortured and oppressed by Hitler, the Bismarck of the Beer Halls, Mussolini, the Chin on the Balcony, and Hirohito, who peered down from his private heaven through bi-focals. i A A Ships, planes, munitions, men, food, are on the march from the Arsenal of Democracy.

Page 11 text:

AILY 29, 1944 aturday BADEN SKIES have settled low over Brooklyn Navy Yard . . . Under that dark canopy an icy wind Whips through the yards, its raw blasts nipping noses and watering eyes of 26,000 shivering persons gathered for the launching of one of the mightiest of all battlewagons-the U.S.S. Missouri. A smooth-faced, graying man, overcoated, be-gloved, be-spectacled stands on a platform, talking into a microphone. Behind him are admirals, cabinet officials, leaders of government and its arms, listening intently. All of them, though, shift their eyes now and then to stare in awe at the masterpiece of shipbuilding science into which on this day is being breathed the spirit and soul of the nation whose security it is to defend by carrying the battle across dark waters of the globe to hidden holes where aggressors lurk. he Missouri slides down the ways