GOING HOME
1952

In mid July we are back in Yokosuku. All of our flyable planes have been flown to air-bases in Japan, and the hanger deck is loaded with "junkers" to be taken back to the states for overhaul. We also have some enlisted personnel aboard that are being transfered to the Philippines, so we gather that's where we're headed next, before going home. Sure enough, we leave Japan and cruise south, getting warmer every day until it's down-right hot. As there are no planes on the flight deck, we are allowed to sleep there day or night to escape the heat inside the ship. We arrive at Subic Bay on my 22nd birthday, and anchor out in the harbor. Uniform of the day for going ashore is white "T" shirts, white trousers, white sox, black shoes, and of course white sailor hats. Because the Navy wanted to keep most of us on the base and away the native bars and dives, they open up the base Enlisted Mens Club at noon as we arrive on the beach. My buddy Ray Grover is stationed here, I round him up, and he gladly joins us to celebrate my birthday. We somehow make it back to the ship and sail out the next morning. The following day 4 Banshee photo-recon jets land aboard and we find out why we are there. For the next few days we cruise along the coast of China while the jets film everything in range.About the time the jets came aboard our 'copters engine developed an internal oil leak that couldn't be repaired. We decided to swap engines with a "junker" we had aboard, and worked for 3 days with-out sleep to make the change. Even our Chief Mechanic got his hands dirty for the first time on this cruise.

The tropical heat and long hours almost did us in, but the damn thing flew, and our "Boss" Lt. Martin was grateful and awarded us a bottle of whisky - which we consumed in his quarters. After cruising back out of the China Sea, we sent the photo-jets home and head for Hawaii. The ships stay at Pearl Harbor was brief, only 2 days, but everyone was anxious to get state-side again. We arrive back in San Diego on August 9th. Everyone was glad to be home and alive. We did lose 6 pilots due to enemy action and other crashes. Our arrival at ALF Ream Field, our home base, was un-eventful but there were some questions about the painting on our chopper. Because we knew it was going in for a complete overhaul we 'doctored' it up a bit, by changing the side numbers, etc - with the approval of our 'boss' Lt. Martin.

Doug Froling