May 21 - 29, 1945 - I got 3 liberties while I was here and I really filled up with fresh fruit and fresh milk. The first thing I done when I went ashore was to go to a resteraunt and fill up with milk. Just about everybody filled up their lockers with apples, oranges, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and any other fresh fruit and vegetables that they could find. Boy we sure did eat good for a while. The stores also sent the small boat up the River Toa Chinese farmers house and the boys picked 7 mailbags of oranges for 15 dollars. We also got fresh milk aboard nearly every day so we had fresh milk aboard as well as when we went ashore. The town was pterry big and it spread out instead of up. The tallest building was about 3 stories high. There was a couple of nice movie theaters in town. Some of the guys got to take a train trip to another town. It was a sightseeing tour and went by the waterfall’s (the biggest in Australia they say) and thy had a pretty nice trip. Most everybody got stewed and there was a couple of fights, but nobody got hurt bad. The river splits around a small island just before it gets to town and we were anchored on one side of the island. We beached on the lower end of the other side and it was really a narrow place to get into. The beach was just outside of town and we picked up Australian troops bound for Morotai. Boy these Aussies down here sure do believe in drinking hot tea. They have tea about six or seven times a day and the first thing the soldiers do when they get aboard is to get a bucket full of hot water and start making tea.

May 20, 1945 - Morning - Going through the channel which is very narrow and shallow into the river where we will anchor until we pick up our load. There is about 9 or 10 planes in the river. The are all American PBM’s and PBY’s except for one British Short-Sunderland. There is about 40 LSTs anchored in the river and it is really a crowded place to try to anchor. Noon - Section 2 got liberty - dress blues with a white hat.

March 15, 1945 - Went ashore on Liberty at Puerto Princesa. Boy this place sure took a beating. There is not a whole building left in the town. I saw the Prisoner Of War building where the Japs burned 123 American prisoners of war. Some of the boys saw the bones and ashes, but I didn’t go inside the building. There are about half a dozen Jap planes strewn around the town and a lot of them out on the airstrip just outside of the town. I went in some of the wrecked buildings that had been tested for mines and got some souvenirs. The town must have taken a terrific shelling and bombing before it was invaded. Two truck drivers were killed last night on the airstrip by snipers.

March 13, 1945 - 1030 - Unloaded - Retracted from beach. Tied up to Liberty ship to get CB’s Picket boat removed.

March 3, 1945 - Morning - Anchored off of Biak. It is a pretty nice level island. Section 2 got Liberty here. Some of them that went to the air field said some C-54 Skymasters left regularlt for the States on a 48 hour trip. Some of the boys got some beer for 1250 a case and got in a fight. One guy lost 2 teeth. Secured from radio watch.

January 29, 1945 - Noon - We went ashore to get radio fixed. I would have got to go to a Liberty party anyway. We landed at the air strip and went about 10 or 15 miles inland, to the city of San Jose. Boy, it sure was dusty. They really have a lot of planes on this place. All the land is level for about 10 miles, then it starts little rolls that leads to mountains eventually. The island doesn’t look much different from some places back home. The roads were gravel. When we passed San Jose, we passed a miniature train running on tracks like streetcar tracks. It looked just like one of the first trains invented with a big funnel and everything. We also saw a lot of water buffalo. The town of San Jose wasn’t much to look at, but it did have a few permenant buildings in it. There was a big sugar cane plant here that hadn’t been run since the war. When we got back to the beach, we went swimming in the surf while waiting for the small boat. This is just about as safe as at home. They haven’t had but two air raids since they took it. The last one was three weeks ago. I will probably go ashore tomorrow to pick up the SCR 608 receiver.

October 31, 1944 - LCT that we brought across the Pacific is here and tied up next to us and the crew came aboard for a friendly visit. They haven’t been in on any invasions yet. Went on Liberty.

June 10-16, 1944 - Went on liberty in New Orleans about three times. Went to the Pendlington Shipyards and got an LCT on the top deck. Went in drydock and got our screws that we used coming down the river taken off and new screws put on-the drydock was in front of a French carrier.

June 7, 1944 - Still at Gulfport- got liberty and went ashore. It was a fairly nice town though nothing extra.

April 28, 1944 - Got 3 day leave but couldn’t make it home so I just took in the town of Pittsburgh with James Gwin and Pollard who are in the next barracks to me. We had a good time even if we didn’t get to go home.

April 27, 1944 - Arrived at Pittsburgh, PA. Assigned to Collage Barracks and eat in Collage Mess Hall. Have liberty practically all the time.