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We are still on board the USS Missouri. A ship at sea had to be pretty much self reliant, hence this machine shop. If a part breaks, it is up to the Machinist to fabricate a new one. Pete's brother Joey will appreciate this piece of machinery. He is somewhat of a master machinist himself.

A huge horizontal lathe in the machine shop on board the USS Missouri

I assume this to be the quarters of an officer. Not a bad state room. No porthole though,
so he has to go above deck if he wants to enjoy the blue sky and the fresh salt sea air.

The title of the book on the desk is "The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh". He's got to be an officer. LOL

On a huge ship like this, bunks are placed just about anywhere there is room. After all, she was home to 1,851 officers and men, and they've all got to sleep somewhere. I supposed if somebody snores, it is drowned out by the engine noise.

This must be that chair used by the Captain when he wants some fresh air. The teak floorboards were being replaced
while we were there. Maintenance seems to never end on a huge ship like this, and painting is a continuous process.

I'll never forget my very first summer cruise when I first joined the US Naval Reserve in North Hollywood. I was still in high school. Our summer cruise was a two week trip on a Destroyer Escort from Long Beach, California to Vancouver, British Columbia. I remember that the entire trip to Vancouver I spent my daylight hours on deck chipping paint off of depth charge racks. Then on the return trip back to Long Beach, I spent my time putting battleship grey paint back on those same depth charge racks. This was enough to convince me that I wanted to change my career goals from a seagoing sailor to an airborne sailor. So when I returned for my next monthly meeting at the Naval Reserve Station, I requested to change my rating from Seaman Apprentice to Airman Apprentice. That proved to definitely be the right choice.

It was quite an experience and an honor to meander through the bowels of this great shop, and to cover
every inch of her decks. She entered World War II late, but she still had a heroic part in its final days.

This is the badge worn with pride on the jackets of crewmen of the USS Missouri.

Some interesting facts about the USS Missouri; designing the Missouri took 175 tons of blueprint paper. The ship was built in 3 years and required over 3 million man-days to complete the job.

The Commissioning Ceremony of the USS Missouri, New York, 11 June 1944

The nine 16-inch guns are the Mighty Mo's trademark feature. Each gun barrel is approximately 67 feet long, weighs an incredible 116 tons, and can fire a 2,700-pound shell 23 miles in 50 seconds — with pinpoint accuracy.

This cutaway view really gives one a better perspective for the size of this great ship.

When we left the Hale Koa early this morning on a bus bound for the Arizona Memorial, Pete and I were the only two who had also purchased the USS Missouri part of the tour. So our bus driver gave us an appointed time to meet him back at the bus parking lot at the memorial, and he took the rest of the tourists off on the remainder of their tour. We met him about 3 hours later, and we were the only two on the bus, so we sat in the front seats and talked with the driver, an interesting and talkative fellow. I mentioned my cousin Rick who was the volleyball coach at Punahou. He said Rick Tune? I know Rick Tune, and then began reciting a list of Rick's accomplishments. It truly is such a small world.

He decided to give us a bit of a tour, and he took us up to Punchbowl, which is the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

This is the Lady Columbia who symbolizes all grieving mothers and looks out on the cemetery that fills the 116-acre Punchbowl Crater

Lady Columbia stands on the symbolized prow of a US Navy carrier with a laurel branch in her left hand and the inscription by President Lincoln "... The Solemn Pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom".

This pretty much concludes our time in Hawai'i, because tomorrow we fly to Detroit by way of San Francisco and Chicago. We departed Honolulu at 1:20 in the afternoon and arrived in Detroit at 9:35 the next morning. We were there to attend a memorial service for Pete's sister Phyllis, and to attend Pete's nephew's high school graduation party the following day. There would be a huge turnout of family members from Michigan and beyond who were not able to attend the memorial service held for Phyllis last February in the community room where Pete's mother lives in South San Francisco. Pete's brother Joey and his wife Terry did a fantastic job preparing for the dual events.

Joey had the biggest Bar-B-Que I think I had ever seen, and it was kept busy most of the day.

I guess we don't look too bad for having flown all night. L-R, Pete, his sister Cindy, Jack Whetter's daughter Tyler, and me.

It is always a joy when you can get all the Caswell girls together for a photo op, but at this event there were only four of them.

L-R, Aunt Hazel, Pat (Pete's mom), Aunt June and Aunt Cindy. Philipa couldn't make it.

It was good to be here with all the relatives that we rarely see. Joey and Terry certainly have a wonderful place for such a gathering of the clan. Everyone was having a great time. Even though it was the end of June, the temperature was still a little on the cool side. When the sun went down, it was nice to be inside the garage. Besides, that's where the bar was. LOL

I should be able to wrap up this travelogue in one more chapter. I hope so, because soon it will be time for us to start packing for Aruba. We leave in just six days. No rest for the weary, or so I've been told.