Topeka (CL 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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' 1X Time passed quickly now. Nothing seemed so important as going home. On lt October the Topeka in company with carriers and destroyers steamed out of Tokyo Bay bound for Okinawa to pick up 550 passengers to take back to the States. This necessitated a certain amount of crowding but no one really cared. On 6 October the ship left Okinawa and headed for the United States. Word was passed that leave would be granted in the States, and as the information filtered down from higher commands, it was learned that the ship was to go directly to Portland, Oregon, remain there for the Navy Day ceremonies, then move to San Pedro, California, for at least two months, during which everyone would get 30 days leave. It was a happy ship that steamed eastward over the North Pacific Ocean. On 19 October in the early dawn the ship made a land- fall near the mouth of the Columbia River, the first sight of the United States in over seven months, and that after- noon she eased up against a dock in Portland. The war was won, and the men were back home. Though they had been among the last to arrive at the battle front, the Topeka and her men played their assigned part and played it well. They were a credit to the United States Navy, to themselves and to the people they came from and represented. It was the end of a story and the end of an era. 30 7, W

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