Vesole (DDR 878) - Naval Cruise Book

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Cflb' Cfrui 5 Owr OUR MIDSHIPMEN CRUISE CUT SHORT, DESRON 24 SET TO WORK FOR A MONTH IN NEWPORT PREPARING FOR WHAT WE WERE TOLD WAS TO BE AN EXTENDED DEPLOY- MENT. WE HOPE, IN THIS BOOK, ATO RELATE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR DEPLOYMENT WHICH WE WILL REMEMBER AS WESTPAC 65 - 66. WE LEFT NEWPORT 'ON A SUITABLY GLOOMY DAY IN SEPTEMBER. SOME OF THE FAMILIES HAD BEEN THROUGH LONG SEPARATIONS BEFORE, FOR OTHERS IT WOULD BE THEIR FIRST, BUT FOR ALL, THE COMING MONTHS WOULD BE A SA'D TIME. COUPLED WITH REGRETS, HOWEVER, THERE WAS THE ENTHUSIASM OF THINGS AHEAD. WE HAD BEEN GIVEN THE HONOR OF BEING THE FIRST EAST COAST DESTROYER SOUADRON SELECTED TO SEE ACTION IN VIET NAM. WE KNEW WE COULD DO THE JOB! THE ATLANTIC OCEAN IS NEVER VERY ENJOYABLE IN THE WINTER AND THIS WAS TRUE OF OUR TRANSIT TO GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA, WHICH WAS OUR FIRST OF MANY FUEL STOPS. LEAVING GITMO AFTER TWO DAYS, WE STEAMED SOUTHEAST TO THE PANAMA CANAL WHERE WE TOOK DEPARTURE FROM OUR HOME WATERS. PROBABLY THE MOST MEMORABLE THING ABOUT PANAMA WAS RAIN, RAIN, RAIN! STRANGE AS IT SEEMS WE HAD TO STEAM SOUTHEAST TO GET FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, BUT FROM THERE IT WAS WEST AND ON TO SAN DIEGO. OUR PRIMARY CONCERN DURING THIS TRIP WAS TRAlNING,THERE WAS SOME RUMOR ABOUT RUNNING Za? OUT OF GAS BUT HAIL OUR ENGINEERS, WE AR- RIVED WITH JP5 TO SPARE. THERE WERE SIGNAL DRILLS, RADIO DRILLS, ENGINEERING DRILLS, CIC DRILLS, AND THOSE GOOD OLD GENERAL QUARTERS WHICH KEPT EVERYONE SMILING. ', SAN DIEGO WAS A COMBINATION OF WORK AND PLAY. HERE OUR COMBAT INFORMATION CENTER f MI , S,-,,...., TEAIvI RECEIVED TRAINING AT THE FLEET ANTI- .. ,I AIR WARFARE TRAINING CENTER, AND OUR GUN- ,-K FIRE SUPPORT TEAIvI ATTENDED SCHOOL AT THE fy , I AMPHIBIOUS BASE AT CoRoNADo. SAN CI.EMENTE I 1 -x ISLAND WAS THE SITE OF OUR ACTUAL GUNFIRE ,I ' SUPPORT TRAINING, AND IT WAS HERE THAT WE S a I- BECAME THE FIRST SHIP OF THE SQUADRON TO BE F3 06 T GG , I QUALIFIED FOR NAVAL GUNFIRE SUPPORT IN BOTH .In G: , If THE PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC FLEETS WITHIN THE I I X, I SAME YEAR. gif' II.IIl IA X ' WHERE'S WESTPAC?

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276,011 rfizfzg eufpvrf I .. If LAST MINUTE sooo-EYES COUPLED WITH SAD GOOD-BYES WAS THE ENTHUSIASM OF THINGS TO COME. SAYONARAH TAKE IN THE BROWIH

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UP AROUND ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA THERE IS A FANTASTIC PLACE KNOWN AS DISNEYLAND, U.S.A. IT WAS HERE THAT OUR CREW SPENT MANY EN- Q, . JOYABLE HOURS DURING OUR STAY. IT WAS NOT I STRANGE TO SEE MR. MARYMONT RACING AROUND Mmm f'I Mawr, -.-W 1-it ..1!-!5-z'-?J--- -iv TO ARRANGE TRANSPORTATION AND TOURS TO 'Gigi - THIS WONDERFUL NEVER NEVER LAND WHERE r WE SPENT OUR LAST FEW DAYS IN ' ' CONUS. 1- A THE 8TH OF NOVEMBER ARRIvED AND NL ' B' , i7x:N-arg., NL., X5 7 XT' VESOLE DEPARTED.OUR BIGGEST QUESTION gy' 'gzffgf DURING THE CROSSING WAS, WHERE IS I4 THE BEAUTIFUL, CALM, PACIFIC? THE I WEATHER WAS AKIN TO A TYPICAL EAST .2 I COAST NOVEMBER AND THE RAIN SEEMED Ffi--'11, f -7 f ' TO HAVE FOLLOWED US FROM PANAMA. NOT EVEN HAWAII COULD BRING THE SUN- SHINE INTO OUR CRUISE. WE WERE GREET- ED IN PEARL HARBOR BY A FLOOD, BUT EVEN THIS DID NOT STOP THE CREW FROM TAKING TOURS AND INDIVIDUAL JAUNTS ABOUT THE ISLAND IN RENTED CARS AND PINK AND WHITE STRIPED JEEPS. SOME VISITED THE U.S.S. ARIZONA MEMORIAL WHILE OTHERS WHILED AWAY THEIR TIME AT WAKIKI. MOST OF US ENCOUNTERED A STRANGE CONCOCTION KNOWN AS A MAI TAI, BUT ALL WE CAN SAY IS THAT YOU HAVE TO TASTE IT TO BELIEVE IT. AFTER TWO AMAZINGLY SHORT DAYS WE WERE ON OUR WAY WEST AGAIN. DURING A BRIEF FUEL STOP AT MIDWAY ISLAND MANY OF US TOOK A SHOART WALK TO TEST OUR LAND LEGS AND VISIT THE INHABITANTS - - THE FAMOUS GOONY BIRDS! THEY ARE QUITE A SIGHT AND FOR THOSE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO CATCH ONE IN A LANDING, THEY CAN TELL YOU, IT'S A PICTURE WHICH JUST CAN'T BE DESCRIBED. NOVEMBER THE NINETEENTH WAS QUITE A DAY - - WE LEFT MIDWAY, CROSSED THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE IWHICH MADE FRIDAY - SATURDAYI, AND WE WERE NOW IN THE DOMAIN OF THE GOLDEN DRAGON AND WOULD NOT SEE THE WESTERN HEMI- SPHERE FOR OVER FOUR MONTHS. GUAM WAS OUR LAST FUEL STOP, AND SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTING WE TRANSITED THE HISTORIC SAN BERNADINO STRAIT. ARRIVING AT MANILA BAY IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 30 NOVEMBER WE MOORED IN A NEST OF DE- STROYERS ALONGSIDE THE USS DELTA IAR-9I FOR A FEW NECESSARY VOYAGE REPAIRS. WE HAD ARRIVED? - - 63 DAYS AND 13,200 MILES FROM NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND. SO CAME THE END OF A LONG JOURNEY AND THE BEGINNING OF OPERATIONAL. COM- MITMENTS THAT WOULD SEND Us THROUGHOUT FAR EASTERN wATERS FROM JAPAN TO SOUTH vIET NAM. IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A DEPI.OYMENT WHICH NONE OF US WILL FORGET.