Vesole (DDR 878) - Naval Cruise Book

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71? V Even though it is the major sea port on the island of Crete, we were more than a little doubtful ab o ut the type of liberty which was awaiting us on the island. S ur pris e - it was pretty good. Thanks to the U. S. AIR FORCE and their unit there, we found we could have a very enjoy- able time. The facilities at the Air Force Station were thrown o pen to us and the exodus was on. The town circle with the many sidewalk cafes formed an interesting point at which to rest and survey the surroundings. The arid landscape of the island made it very difficult to conceive how the inhabitants eked a living out of the seemingly barren soil. The highlight of our stay in Iraklion was the distribution of the cloth- ing we had gathered in Charleston p rio r to our deployment. Early on the rno rning of our last day in port, CDR. WHITE led a contingent of VESOLITES and they converged on the village of Damastas, Crete. The Air Force contributed the tr ucks for transportation, so it ended up a joint operation. The distribution of the clothing was greeted with joy and in return a Greek celebration fe a s t was given in honor of the Navy and Air Force personnel present. This small act of generosity on the part of a few Americans, greatly bolstered U.S. prestige in this area. iraklion A Vw 4 , wgf 3, .ct X W,,, J lj 9 'Vf-Q, ,gi.,,,, Q4 - 6 Wk me ' , .skit :ww 'K .

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istanhu Exotic, mysterious, exciting - Istanbul was all of these. . . and more. In this city, farthest po int east in the cruise, VESOLE came in contactwith a different type of culture. The Moslem religion is uniquely dif- ferent from that whichwe know. We were awed by the splendor of the rno s que s and minarets, and a little taken aback by the call to prayer. The open bazaar and the vendors never ceased to amaze us with the variety of goods on sale. Part of the excitement was caused by the following events - Turkish Navy Day and COMCARDIV TWO's surprise inspection. We came out of the latter more than a little proud of our ship. Admiral Ellis said he had never seen such an outstanding DD. l I I P w l r l 1 1 l l 1 I I 1 l

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The Riviera. . . Cote d'Azur. .. beautiful dream of les touristes , We saw it in the winter and so perhaps missed most of the glamor and enticements which character- ize this vacation wonderland. We didn't miss it all though. We saw the s un dazzled Alps gleaming in the distance beyond Cannes, the hotel-studded promenades on Nice and Cannes. The pictures que beauty of the French beaches. . the paddleboats. . . sidewalk cafes.. .. fa s hion shows. . . but alas, few bikinis. We spent Christmas at the small village of Theoule which is about six miles from Cannes. Our holiday was not as bright .as we would have desired but we did the best we could. The brilliant star on our mast-head helped to pull o ur spirits up a bit. , ,X ., 442. f r S fs-W: was if el .S fa ' , M Z, Q A- - 2 Sl ,NWWX Y vfsewffls ww , Q f , ,S WJ, is Hwy fi xy X Wvymffxlq? sf as f at XX ' ff V X l'z'WfSf'f Sf fS'7-JWSMFWW 'www Q -.Q f ,ff S- VSLMQYWQWQX 4 x AW y NWJWX wx AW x, f 17' -- ww is ,Q ff' 1 f is-fm. - W Mu ASW Q Sfwww SM-fwfsfxfi .KMA Www -. X 4 W i ,Xg,!4ggfyAf ,W M Q ns - f .X , ,M X f ,, .W ,.,,, !W,s K ff X, - 'M mms www- ms ff w ,fs ft 1' - ' ,A .f wwolfm if 1 Cie 21. 55 'f ,, , f ' , ..-, . if -yy, f,f4wrwW W'5W 1f f' w ,.f ,f24 Q EW ff -4 dh vary W ff?-5.'1T , X Anil :Tiff 'ki Q f Kew , Q 57 Aw ,' 'E W if 'f77!4 9 f J J ,i f ffm K ...,-M-wy,l,.-ree fs, , S . W. .N Q My My . 'f ' 1 - f- gcfxfiw-f. ffefgyf tv X - , A ff' ' , .-.wwffl , f is sv 4' we nge 4 , .Q-My ,',.- X e bt f 4 ' 'W' X' . , X ,ffw,WJM S, f X,, s,X,,.,.mQ,,, sim,-5 , M is f We ..-..,.,..,. - ,...,,,,, QYVV M' Q M