USS John W. Thomason DD760 Association

Dear Dependent:

The good ship THOMASON has steamed over 10,000 miles; replenished from 27 ships at sea; conducted 21 helicopter in-flight refuelings; fired over 1000 rounds of 5 inch shells at the enemy in South Vietnam and enjoyed nine days of liberty in Subic Bay, Philippines, since you received my October FAMILYGRAM.   Yes, we have been quite busy and the time has been going by very fast.    At the present time we are headed north to Sasebo, Japan, where we will spend the holidays.   The ship is scheduled to arrive just before Christmas and depart shortly after New Years.   I am sure the crew is looking forward to the holidays in port.   Many of the boys will just be happy to get their feet on solid ground, as we have encountered many days of rough weather.   A destroyer is a rough riding ship and does considerable tossing and rolling during heavy weather.   It takes a special type of man to be a destroyer man, and we have them on the THOMASON.

Now to bring you up to date.    We arrived at Yankee Station (the center of Naval operations in the Gulf of Tonkin) on 23 October.   Our first duty was working with one of our own submarines for several days.   During these days we conducted special exercises with other units of the Seventh Fleet including such ships as the carriers CORAL SEA, CONSTELLATION, and INTREPID.    Upon completion of the special submarine duty we returned to the KEARSARGE on 1 November, where we took up duties as her plane guard.   While assigned to plane guard duty, the destroyers escort the carrier and protect her against possible attack, plus being available for the rescue of downed pilots.   The duty of plane guard entails keeping the crew alerted at all times for any type of an emergency.   For instance, the rescue detail personnel sleep on their posts and are readily available to put the small boat in the water and man their stations for a shipboard recovery.   The swimmers are ever ready to go over the side. In the event the plane is still floating, the personnel must know how to break into the cockpit of the pane to assist the pilot in getting out.   The personnel assigned to this rescue detail are highly trained.   For instance on the night of 3 November an emergency message was received from the carrier CORAL SEA, which was 30 miles north of our position, that one of their aircraft plummeted into the sea near by.    We proceeded to the scene at best speed to assist in the search.   By the time we arrived on the scene, one of the plane guard destroyers with the CORAL SEA had recovered one of three crew members who went down with the plane.   Three other destroyers and the THOMASON conducted a close search of the entire area throughout the night, but were unable to find the other two personnel, although many pieces of wreckage were sighted and picked up.   The next day the search was terminated and all units returned to their respective duties.

After this rescue mission we continued on plane guard duty with KEARSARGE, with the exception of a few days as plane guard for the INTREPID.   On 12 November our task group headed for Subic Bay for a little liberty and upkeep.

During our stay in Subic Bay from 14 November to 24 November the ship was able to accomplish many minor repairs in preparation for the next at sea period.   During the winter months in this area the northeast monsoons generate many days of foul weather which prevents the crew from working on deck and maintaining the appearance of the ship.   As a result this type of work must be carried on in port and the same holds true for the engineering plant because many preventative maintenance tasks cannot be accomplished while steaming at high speeds.    So the use of the in port period is most essential in keeping the ship in tip top shape.

Even with all the work being accomplished on the ship during those nine days in port, about 75% of the crew managed to take in a two-day guided tour of the area.   The overall comment from all personnel taking this tour of the country-side around Manila and the gulf of Manila, was "OUTSTANDING".   In addition to the guided tour many personnel visited Grand Island, which is located in the bay about 30 minutes boat ride from the main base.   This island has been converted into a Fleet Recreation Area. Located on the island is a 250 bunk hotel; snack bars; a club; pavilion on the beach with barbecue pits and picnic tables; game room with billiard, ping-pong tables, card tables, shuffleboard, juke box and slot machines; areas for softball, volleyball, baseball, tennis, and horse shoes; a nine-hole miniature golf course; beaches; water-skiing; swimming pool; fishing; skin diving; and a theater with a movie every night.   All of this for a couple dollars a day.   With the weather being warm and balmy in Subic Bay, this is a wonderful place to spend a couple of days for relaxation.   As you can see the Navy certainly takes care of our boys in these remote areas.

Thanksgiving Day was our last day in port and we had a most delicious dinner on board with all the trimmings.   I hope many of you received our Thanksgiving dinner menu.   Each member of the crew was given one to either keep or send home.

En-route back to the Gulf of Tonkin a major exercise was held prior to entering the Gulf.   This exercise consisted of four of our own submarines trying to simulate attacks upon all ships traveling through a prescribed area.   It was our task, along with other destroyers, to protect the larger ships against such attacks.   The exercise lasted five days.