Ships Ahoy, Sailor Boy!

The sailor boys of USS Henley (DD-762) had their very first reunion at the Holiday Inn Hotel in San Antonio, Texas on October 12, 2011. Remembering and reminiscing the good old days with old buddies were the highlights of the evening. I bet Big Bro Napoleon told of his days at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the fall of 1962 when Destroyer USS Henley joined the other fleets in quarantining the island. The ship was sold on June 24, 1974 and broken up for scrap. But memories linger on and the spirit of its enduring valor lives on.

Link: http://usshenley.org/

http://www.hullnumber.com/DD-762

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I Sailor Boy First US Navy Ship: USS Roberts (DE-749)

A Cannon-class destroyer escort during World War II. It earned one battle star. It was nicknamed after Arthur John Roberts, Jr. who served in the Battle of Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal. It was reassigned as a training ship. It was the first ship of sailor boy. Until October 1961, Roberts continued her reserved training duty. Then, with the Berlin Crisis, the Selected Reserve was called to active duty and Roberts was assigned to the newly formed escort squadron CortRon based at Norfolk, Virginia. On August 1, 1962 after the released of the reserve crew, she returned to Reserve Destroyer Squadron 34 and resumed Naval Reserve training. Her fate - she was sunk as target in November, 1971.

II Sailor Boy Second US Navy Ship: USS Henley (DD-762)

Permission to come aboard, Sir! [See USS Henley Reunion]

III Sailor Boy Third US Navy Ship: USS William M. Wood (DD-716)

A Gearing-class destroyer during World War II. It earned one battle star. It was nicknamed after Navy Surgeon-General William M. Wood (1809-1880). On June 18, 1965, after post-refresher availability at Norfolk, the destoyer embarked upon another tour of duty in the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet and continued alternating such deployment with normal duty out of Norfolk with the Atlantic Fleet. In May and June 1968, she participated in the unsuccessful search for the nuclear attack submarine Scorpion reported missing on May 27. Her fate - she was sunk as target off Puerto Rico during ReadEx 1-83 in March 1983.

IV Sailor Boy Fourth US Navy Ship: USS Tolovana (A0-64)

A Cimarron-class fleet oiler. It was named after a river in Alaska. It earned one battle star in World War II; two battle stars in the Korean War; twelve battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for service of Vietnam War. Among her naval operations - World War II Pacific Theatre; supporting atomic testing at Bikini Atoll; North Pacific operations; East Coast operations; Korean War operations; supplying the Trust Territories. After another routine assignment with the U.S. 7th Fleet between October 1962 and April 1963, Tolovana entered a decade in which her service mirrored the increasingly more direct involvement of US forces in Vietnam War. During that period, she made eight deployments to the Western Pacific. Her crew members qualified for combat campaign ribbons. On her next cruise to the Western Pacific - July to November 1965 - America's buildup had begun full force in Vietnam. From that point on, she concentrated repleneshing ships in combat zone, returning briefly to Subic Bay in the Philippines or to Yokosuka or Sasebo in Japan to refill the tanks. She contributed by enabling American warships to remain in action for extended periods of time. There were breaks for the sailor boys of Tolovana - calling at various liberty ports in the Far East such as HongKong, Bangkok, Thailand, Yokosuka & Sasebo, Japan and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. During the 1967 and 1968 deployment, she was ordered north to provide logistics support for ships which answered the call of USS Pueblo, captured on the high seas in violation of international law by forces of North Korean Navy. On January 8, 1973 RVN, sailor boy while on duty in Vietnam became a survivor of U.S. Forces Bomb attack (Friendly fire) in Danang. His captain did not survive unfortunately. Fate of Tolovana - sold for scrapping on October 16, 1975.

Link: http://usstolovana.org/