From San Francisco we carried Army troops out to Ulithi in the Carolines; then visited Manila, Batangas and Tacloban in the Philippine Isands. It was very hot there in June and we were glad to be sent down to Finchhaven near the southern tip of New Guinea where we found old friends in a hospital unit from Cleveland.

We brought a geodetic survey unit from New Guinea back to Manila, arriving July 9th when it was hotter than ever. July 14th we left Manila for the States, arriving at San Francisco Aug. 2nd. We were sent to Seattle Navy Yard for repairs and there we were when the bomb fell and the war was over.

It was hard to leave the States after the victory was won but as soon as our repairs were finished we proceeded to Tinian in the Marianas and loaded with part of the Second Marine Division which we took to Nagasaki. These were the first troops landed in Japan for the occupation. It was thilling to sail unopposed into enemy territory but appalling to view the frightful devastation caused by the Atomic bomb. We were restricted from going ashore there as there was believed to be some danger from radiation."]]>
These pictures were taken on a later visit. The damage to shipping was caused by a typhoon. The skulls being examined by Cmdr. Midgett, Dr. White and myself were found in one of the numerous burial caves on the island."]]> First Row: Thomason, Fisher, White, Sinclair
Second Row: Bolinger, Rempfer, Heffren, Shelton, Brennan, Lee, Miller
Third Row; Eckley, Tafoya, Comotti, Queen, Padovan, Munn, Brazina, Blotkovsky]]>