I've had many different occupations since leaving the Navy and am now retired.
Deployment - Western Pacific (WESTPAC) Cruise '71
From Month/Year
January / 1971
To Month/Year
October / 1972
Description A Western Pacific Cruise is a ship's deployment from her home port, usually lasting between 5 and 8 months. Ships visit different ports such as Phuket, Thailand; Salalah, Oman; Darwin, Australia, Bali, Jebel Ali, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. The ships hosted foreign militaries, performed numerous underway replenishments-at-sea and conducted general quarters drills, fire drills and maritime patrols.
US Navy provides during these deployments provocative "freedom of navigation" operations, known as FONOPS, that send warships into the disputed areas around the world on any given year.
Any cruise is hazardous with sailors injured or killed during flight, refueling, ordnance, operations or weather; day or night. Foriegn military vessels threatening by fast approach to ramming. Often at times ships are endangered by low fly overs from hostile aircraft.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1971
To Month/Year
December / 1971
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember Crew of the USS Monticello LSD-35
Memories I remember Les Bacon and another guy he ran with were inseparable, so I nick named them Eggs and Bacon. I also played spades every chance I got with Jim Gilbert. We were hands down the best spades team on the ship! Left in January for a cruise, not sure where we were headed except west. Crossed the Equator at the 180th to become Golden Shellbacks. Stopped in Sydney, and Perth Australia, after which we finally were told that we were on our way to a little deserted island in the middle of the Indian Ocean called Diego Garcia. Great cruise that I had cut a little short. I got my orders for Vietnam and got off the ship at it's last stop on the way home, Okinawa, and flew from there to Travis AFB on a C141.
