Today is the anniversary of the official ending of the battle for Okinawa, the bloodiest and the final battle of the war in the Pacific. Losses to suicide planes and the fierce fighting on the ground had President Truman and military leaders giving second thought to the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland. The decision was made to drop the atom bomb, which led to Japan's surrender.
Our ship, the USS Pickens, had done its job, including rescuing survivors from three ships, and had returned to Saipan. In June we set sail for Noumea, New Caliedonia, a French possession in the South Pacific. I wrote about my experience on the island on my blog two years ago, which in summary was that one third of the crew operated the ship, one third went on liberty and one third took care of the drunks, which was everyone on liberty.
Our ship, the USS Pickens, had done its job, including rescuing survivors from three ships, and had returned to Saipan. In June we set sail for Noumea, New Caliedonia, a French possession in the South Pacific. I wrote about my experience on the island on my blog two years ago, which in summary was that one third of the crew operated the ship, one third went on liberty and one third took care of the drunks, which was everyone on liberty.
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