Shea (DM 30) - Naval Cruise Book

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fConfinued from page 141 wherever it was needed. Special tribute should go to the men who, w-ounded themselves, lent a helping hand to those more seriously hurt. In this paragraph I think it is fitting to pay special commendation to the Medical Department, who really proved their true worth and 'courage in. the hardest of tasks. Lt. fjgl- Iohn W. Markson and a small staff actually performed many miraculous, life-saving feats on this day. Words do not suffice to describe the scenes and the many acts of heroism which occurred on this day of catas- trophe aboard the SHEA. This is one occasion when the adequacy of man's ability to express himself thoroughly is found lacking, After doing everything within human power in the care of the wounded by proper treatment aboard the ship, many of the men were transferred to hospital ships, where more complete facilities were available for their treatment. ' The SHEA, now a crippled ship with a heartbroken crew, slowly plied its way to the so-called grave yard at Kerama Rhetto. None will forget the days and nights of defenseless horror as we lay in the grave yard undergoing repairs. 'All will remember the constant rat-tat-tat of rifle fire as the crew, on edge, sought to stave off the attacks of many suicide swimmers. Also, we will always be thankful for the smoke boats and for the heavy artificial clouds of pro- tection which they created around the battered ships in the grave yard. Here at Kerama Rhetto there was no time to do much thinking for any of us because there was so. much work to be done. Oil and water flooded compartments had to be cleaned up and as much of the damage removed as possible and the ship made ready to get underway back to a regul-ar repair -base. Our hats are off at this time to the repair ship and its crew who did so much to hasten our de- parture, We certainly were glad when the day came when we could 'leave this infested spot and the threat of the Iapanese planes and suicide swimmers. Soon we were on our way, limping back to Ulithi, then to Eniwetok. It w-as a great treat for all of us' when the message came through over the wireless instructing the SHEA to report to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs. This was 'indeed a fortun-ate assignment and the h-owls of joy that went up from the men on the receipt of the news must have been heard in South America. Our journey continued to Pearl Harbor, thence to San Diego, which was our first view of the States for quite some nd what a wonderful feeling it was. I don't think it time a is necessary to describe our activities in San Diego, other than to say we all had a very wonderful time, Panama was our next stop and we enjoyed our liberties there also. We would not divulge the story of Panama here and its recrea- tional facilities 'but shall save said tales 'for our favorite sea st-ory sessions, The feeling of excitement and pleasure which came upon us as we entered the Delaware River, the entrance to Phila- delphia, can hardly be described. It seems as if they had been awaiting our arrival to release a tremendous flow of events. Philadelphia welcomed us in a manner typical of the Quaker City, with cordial hospitality. Things started to move sofast that it was hard 'for us to keep up with them. First, we were assigned to sub barracks as our residence, then in groups the men began to go on their leaves to visit their homes. Then came the startling announcement of the atomic -bomb, the rumors of peace, and finally the big news we had all been waiting for, the final surrender of Iapan- the job was done, thank God it was over. Soon our days in the Navy Yard were over, followed by the usual test runs and shakedown tests and we were on our way to Portland for further training exercises. Our assignment for Navy Day, October 27th, l945, was to Bath, Maine, Here for almost a week, the ship Was on dis- play to the public and thousands of visitors came to see the shootenis't ship in the Navy, We wish to express here our heartfelt thanks to the people of Bath for their wonderful re- ception and pay special tribute to the manner in which the U.S.O. of Bath arranged for our reception and made certain that our visit was a very, very pleasant one. We really en- joyed their fine New England hospitality. Many changes are taking place aboard the SHEA at the present time as the personnel of the ship is slowly flow- ing 'back to civilian life-the point system is gradually break- ing up our old fighting team. We know that the SHEA, a ship with a Spirit, will go on its way to protect our country against all dangers and will be in th-e forefront in the gallant quest for peace through preparedness, May the GQ gong be silent forever! I . i 1 Lt. Cjgl W. Lawrence Moore -I 16 4 1 1. LI- flgl GSOrge D. Godfrey 1-1

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OFFICERS '93 Lt. Cjgj Iohn W, Mcrrkson Ens, Charles O. Spencer Lt. Cjgb Fred V. Manor Lt. George L. Dibble Lt. Cjgl William Kuyper Lt, Og? Wllllcrm H, Bcrrnes -4171-