Peleliu (LHA 5) - Naval Cruise Book

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A BEACH Pl Close your eyes and picture this. The smell of food grilling over a charcoal fire makes your mouth water. The sun beats dovm on your body and happy voices of many people around you raise your spirits and makes you want to join them. Your nose wrinkles to the sweet smell of suntan lotion. No, you're not on the wann, soft sands of the beaches in Califomia. With your eyes open, you see you are on the USS Peleliu QLHA-59 at a Steel Beach Picnic. Sailors and Marines are all around you doing many of the same things they would do on a beach in California. There are no girls to watch, of course, but then there are no ants or gnats either. The grills are set up near the stem. The volun- teer cooks toil over the hot coals and the fragrance of hamburgers and barbecued chicken drifts down the entire flight deck. This time there's an added treat, though, as melted butter and boiled lobster add their savory aromas to the others in the air. Quickly long lines form. Not only are there foods from the grill and lobster pot, but also baked beans, creamy cole slaw, sliced tomatoes, lettuce, Condiments, chewy brovimies and cold sodas to make the meal worth the wait. The activities you find on the flight deck are the same as found on beaches all' over the world. There are the inevitable sunbathers toasting in the hot sun. A few individuals play Hacky Sack, where a small soft ball is kept in the air by using the feet only. Several musical instruments soon appear and impromptu groups play and sing in the shade of parked helicopters. Card and board games begin while the meal settles and cold sodas are sipped. Aboard the USS Peleliu a 'Steel Beach Picnic' is that rare opportunity to set aside things military and completely relax with your shipmates, if only for a few hours. if Pl-4 i i i r P STEEL BEACH 109

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LCPL M. HERRES Top: Sailors and marines wait at Fenwick pier. Upper Right: DS5 SAM l-IOOKANO tries to look Chinese. Right: A few marines outside Stanley Market. Below: ln CANTON the main form of transportation is the bicycle. Below Right: Jumbo Floating Restaurant- the place where OA Division decided to spend some of their Jeopardy winnings. AGC D. KIM D55 E. BUENVIAJE SSCIT S. LARTER f 1 108 HONG KONG AGC D- KIM sscn S. LARTER LT J. cAMPBcLL and Aoc D. km '- H' ' f 'Y 'f -: --- -------M -- .....,. Jul ,i-i, A,-A. ,V 4 fb i Aim -W wi i f A i A v i A

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' ' A f -2-- ---K-'---'--f-v.-.-- .-----1 v v--..-,--......-.......-. .w . in involved ln. The things that make a Steel Beach Picnic so pop ular are the same things that make a picnic popu- lar anytime, anywhere. It's a break, a chance to get away for a little while from the everyday routine. It's a chance to do something different. A chance to do .what you want to do. A These are just a few of the activities that sailors and marines Q 5.125 T. HOLCOMB 110 STEEL BEACH ' ' W H ' W ' 'WH - -- .. L.. -,, , 4 . .-..-.-.....,f.........i.,.-........-,,...-..-..-.....-,1 .. ,