Randolph (CVA 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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Zn ilwmnriam LTJG THOMAS H. REID LT THOMAS A. BANTA LTJG JAMES E. PEARSON JR. LT WALLACE D. ARBUCKLE LCDR GEORGE H. GARDNER JR. LT BERT W. BISHOP JESSIE L. LAUGHLIN SN RAYMOND P. SZPAICHER AA LTJG RONALD W. CUMMINES VA-86 VA-72 VA-75 VA-75 VA-72 VA-75 Sth DIV V-1 DIV VF-71

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the unnds ol western statesiueu lor hundreds ol years. and lor lllllltllftls ol years Russia has considered ll her destiny to Hllltllltll' the world. ln .XlllCl'll'2l, be- cause we are new on the world stage ourselves, and because fi0llllIllllllSlll is a novelty. we tend lo over- look the lacl that Russia had been expanding' mightily ,,.X f 'I' l fllllllll I x:,',gTl , 11 j N A, W -. -A 'YV' , ,xg 4 ' . If X Fl gf-r 25:3 if: United States Navy and irresistibly long belore the Communist Revolu- tion. Russia has been feared and lought by France, by Great Britain, and by Germany. These three have fallen from their eminence while Russia, with all her suliering, has grown and grown. The reason we serve in the Sixth Fleet is that there is now no one else to do the job of holding Russia. The first war in the recorded history of the VVest, the Trojan XVar, was fought over the rich commerce of the Middle East and the trade routes of the Mediterranean Sea. Today, three thousand years later, the commerce of the Middle East is in oil instead of spices, we sail in steel ships instead of wooden ones, we are armed with devastating special weapons instead of spears. The problem, however, remains the same. This prob' lem has passed lrorn Troy, lo Greece, to clilllllilglf, to Rome, to Bylillllllllll, to Arabia, to Spain, to Frante, to lingland, and now to us. Not. all these powers have passed awayg the problem as it passes to us is com- plicated by the lact that we must care lor the interests ol' England and France on the one hand, and the in- terests ol Arabia on the other. XfVe see that Greece and Turkey are still bitterly opposed. The problem of Israel, the oldest ol them all, is now also in our hands. Today the concentration of the modern forms of power, unimaginably destructive, into the hands of two governments, unalterably opposed, makes the problem of the Mediterranean far graver than it has ever been in its long history. Now that we have inherited this problem, we have resolved to cope with it to the best of our ability. It is our hope that in time, if we are patient, generous, and understanding, the vital business of the world, and particularly of the Middle East, can be made to run smoothly and peaceably. That is why the sailors of the Sixth Fleet are considered to have two missions rather than one. YVhen we were at sea we were asked to stand ready to nght again the interminable, heart- breaking wars of the world, when we were in port we were asked to show the world that men can live to- gether in peace. This book tells the story of how well we have succeeded in these assignments, it tells how at sea we endeavored to be strong, and how in port we endeavored to be friendly. Each of us remembers that we were strong and that we were friendly, we only hope that as world history goes on it will be shown that we were good enough. Nelson, Victor of Trafalgar, reflects Britain's great naval tradition. IZI

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