Christmas '45

12-23-16

Christmas 1945 aboard the Boston . . . .   by this time two major groups of crewmembers had mustered off the ship and headed back to the States.   The remaining men, on Christmas Day 1945, were only days away from hoisting anchor for the last time in Japanese waters and heading home themselves.   In many ways, this might have been the toughest Christmas aboard the ship   –   so close to leaving, yet still so far away . . .

I think you’ll enjoy this, shared with me by Bob Knight:   x45web

Here’s a couple of faces to match up with the booklet:

L to R:   Norm Bayley (p. 4 “Prizes”) (taken 4/6/12), Pat deFedele (inside rear cover “Songs”) (taken 8/16/10) and Bob Knight, who shares this amazing Christmas Day Booklet with us (taken 12/4/11).   These three men served aboard CA-69 that I had the immense great fortune of meeting, interviewing for the Baked Beans books, and counting them among my friends.   Luckily, they are all still with us!   Merry Christmas, Gentlemen.