I have many memories of July -- most of those when I was growing up were of hard work in the hot sun. As I mentioned earlier, July was also the month of great food, if one liked fresh vegetables and fruits, which I relished.
One memory that I have refreshed many times is of the Pickens journey to San Francisco. We had spent weeks at Saipan after Okinawa, visited New Caledonia, returned to Saipan and left for San Francisco.
We were certainly looking forward to visiting that city from which we had departed almost a year previously. Maybe we would get leaves and get a few days at home to see our families. There was something else ahead of us, we knew, although I don't think many of us were concerned.
We were to spend our time in that city preparing the ship and loading on troops to be a part of the first group to invade Japan. During briefings we were told the navy expected 50 per cent casualties. After having been attacked by suicide planes at Okinawa, we could understand this assessment.
One memory that I have refreshed many times is of the Pickens journey to San Francisco. We had spent weeks at Saipan after Okinawa, visited New Caledonia, returned to Saipan and left for San Francisco.
We were certainly looking forward to visiting that city from which we had departed almost a year previously. Maybe we would get leaves and get a few days at home to see our families. There was something else ahead of us, we knew, although I don't think many of us were concerned.
We were to spend our time in that city preparing the ship and loading on troops to be a part of the first group to invade Japan. During briefings we were told the navy expected 50 per cent casualties. After having been attacked by suicide planes at Okinawa, we could understand this assessment.
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