Rankin (LKA 103) - Naval Cruise Book

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ONE LAST WORD Med ll-69 was RANKIN's first cruise to the Mediterranean Sea in a long time. Everyone was both eager and apprehensive. For many of us it was a totally new experience. We spent five months over there, working hard and playing hard. The weather was great at first, but by the end of the cruise it was downright miserable. We shot up tons of ammunition and burned tanks of oil and spent a lot of money ashore. What did we accomplish? Three things. We strengthened firm friendships on board and made new ones in the Med. We exercised the ship and ourselves, maintaining the RANKIN Ready -Now attitude. And we served our nation and the free world by taking our turn on station in defense of the seas. A great deal? A little? All values are relative. What one has gained from this deployment is a personal matter, and each man has his own reply. For myself, I remember the laughter, the frowns, the joys, the frustrations spawned on this ship during those five months. I have tried to recapture some of those moments of cameraderie and loneliness in this cruise book. If these pages stir your memories, this book will have been worthwhile. LTJG STEPHEN MAMIKONIAN EDITOR 80