Tazewell (APA 209) - Naval Cruise Book

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Axxu xxxxyxxxx XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX xyxXXX'WTfa . Kxyuxxxxxxxvx Xxxyyxxxxgxx N xxxxxx 1 Www QL-ucv-'k to get along, the little things that grow with the support of the helping hand. It is here that we turn to the ofhce of Lt. Doyle Ragle, the ships Chaplain, who directed and comforted the many who visited him during these times. Gut Navy knows that this service to the men is very necessary to the maintenance and smooth X running of the ship. Not once during a religious D service did the General Alarm sound. 5,1 I From March 26 to April 50 General Quar- ters was sounded many times due to enemy action, 0 Q but not once did enemy action cause damage or M 53, injury in any way upon this ship or its crew. Dur- ing this time twenty-two enemy planes were sight- ed and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were fired by our guns in action. There are many more little facts that are not easily recalled. Let us remember that the Japs were sent out to Hght and die for what they believed in. We were sent out to iight and live for the things in which we believed. After two short days l in San Francisco Bay, we l again steamed under the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and turned north- ward, Seattle bound. It was a cool Sunday morn- ing, the 10th of June, when the Mighty TH en- tered the famous Straits of juan de Fuca. We could see the fir-lined A shore of Canada off the port-side and the virgin timber of Washington to the starboard. Proceeding into Puget Sound, a few hours sailing brought us to Seattle where we tied up at Vashon Island in time to make liberty. The old town surely looked good. Some of the crew were able to take short leaves while others had to be satisfied with seventy-two hour liberties. The ship spent two weeks in the shipyard undergoing minor voyage repairs, Then, with her sides scraped and a new paint job, the Trzzewelf was ready for business again. We steamed across into the Seattle Port of Embarkation. In three days we had embarked three Army General Hospital units, the 30-fitli, 24 r Q U

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QXXXXXXXXX gxXXXXXxy X xxxxxxXXX xxxNXXxxxxxXXXXxxx xxxwxxxxxx On April 50th we departed from Okinawa in convoy for our next stop, Saipan, where we arrived on the morning of May Sth, The next day the port watch was granted liberty and getting our feet on Mother Earth again, eating peanut butter sandwiches, drinking a few bottles of -beer or coke, and playing ball was enjoyed by all who made the trip to the Navy Recreational Cen- ter on Saipan. Once again we enjoy- ed the privilege of sleep- ing through the night without the sounding of General Quarters. Then came the mes- sage we were waiting for Proceed to San Fran cisco . Happiness and ex- citement ran through the ship with the knowledge of our destination, and as We got underway the sight of freshly washed dress blues hanging from stem to stern brought thoughts of the good times ahead. These thoughts were ac- companied to the tune of hammers going chip-chip-chip, as the Captain had given the order to clean 'er up and paint 'er down. He realized full well that a clean ship and also the Jap plane painted on the bridge would be good argu- ments to back up a request for leave. At 0750 on june 6th, the Mighty T dropped her anchor on the Hoot of San Francisco Bay. The surrounding atmos- phere was natural for Fris- co, but the sights at hand were of great ease to the eyes. The requests for leaves began to swamp the Exec's office, and a good portion of them, to our surprise, were granted. But let us pause a moment before we go on leave, and glance back to Oki- nawa taking into consideration a few facts that should be imprinted in our minds Let us look at thesc little things without which we would not be able A-HAH 23

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V ..'f., . , wwf' fp ii . in . . i- w gg It . g g XXNSXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX KXXX , . f'tig.3uxxxxXxxw,x Xyxxxxxxxxxxxgsx XXXyxxxxxxxxxxx..4-Lux the 3U9th, and the .5lUth. A sick man didn't have a chance with all those Docs aboard, Our holds were bulging with medical equipment and we had a capacity load of troops. On the twenty-seventh of june we reluctantly shoved off for Tinian in the Marianas where the Army was plan- ning a large hospital in preparation for the invasion of japan. The two-week trip was made on an unusually calm sea. Arriving at Tinian we quickly de- barked the troops at their new home. ff l Then we moved over to the neighbor- A ing island of Saipan to await further orders. It was quite a thrill to watch the huge Superforts take off loaded with bombs for the japanese home islands. Both Saipan and Tinian had large B-29 fields. In a few days we were again headed Stateside with a small group of Marines who had been overseas for many months. july twenty-ninth saw the Tazewell anchoring in the bay just off Long Beach, California. Scuttlebutt had it that another yard period was in the offing so the Exec's Office was deluged with leave requests. Many of us were able to take substantial leaves, and it surely was great to get home again, if only for a short visit. A Then things began to happen. The B-29's had AA 5 l 4 T been pounding japan's cities unmercifullyg peace feelers were emanating from Tokyo. Then came the atomic bombs which virtually demolished W? Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Rumors came thick and fast of japanese surrender and, almost before we realized it, the war in the Pacific had ended. 25 .-...,,..g.. -f-,A-env.,-X..-.-. .-4. 1'i ?'T R'1 M-rn-.1