On April 17, 1952  I sailed out of New York harbor on the troop ship USNS General Leroy Eltinge. There were several Fireboats spraying a water salute as we passed the Statue  of Liberty. This was the 40th ANNIVERSARY, of date the Titanic was supposed to sail into that harbor. The Titanic left Southampton, England April 10, 1912 and headed south to Cherbourg, France to pick up more passengers. Then sailed for New York. On the General Leroy Eltinge, we headed south to pick up more military personnel in Norfolk, VA. Then proceeded to Southampton, England (the opposite route the Titanic took) and eventually to Bremerhaven, Germany. A large amount of troops disembarked at Southampton. We were there on April 27th which was the 40th ANNIVERSARY that the Titanic was supposed to be back in Southampton on it’s return from New York. The Titanic was the largest maritime disaster. The largest U.S. Naval peacetime disaster occurred several hundreds miles south of us on 8th day after leaving Norfolk. The aircraft carrier Wasp sliced into the destroyer Hobson with the loss of 176 sailors. The damaged Wasp then proceeded to New York/New Jersey where it's sister ship aircraft carrier Hornet was undergoing repairs. The Hornet is the aircraft carrier that Col. Jimmy Doolittle flew from to bomb Tokyo. The bow of Hornet was removed and placed on it's sister ship, the Wasp.  I saw the Wasp in Norfolk harbor on April 18th which was the 10th ANNIVERSARY of Col. Jimmy Doolittle flying from that carrier to bomb Tokyo. This was one of the major stories of World War II. Months later, as a General, he organized the 12th Air Force. Ten years later I was assigned to the 12th AF Headquarters in Weisbaden, Germany. That same month it was the first USAFE to be assigned to NATO.)

The Wasp left a couple of days after we were there. It was much faster than our slow troop ship. We took a more northerly route. Did not see any icebergs as deck space was very limited to view anything. Titanic 46,000 Ship Tons with 2,227 person on board. General Leroy Eltnge 9,950 Ship Tons with 3,250 on board. We docked and disembarked in Bremerhaven, Germany on April 30th. This was the 7th ANNIVERSARY  death of Adolph Hitler. I wrote letters home while on ship and they were published in the Military book ANSWERING THE CALL by Grace Elting Castle which covers over 2 pages of this 224 page book. I returned to the states via MATS aircraft 3 years and 4 days later after being stationed in Weisbaden, Germany and Chateauroux, France. Joined the U.S. Air Force on 9/11/1951. On my 50th ANNIVERSARY it became an infamous date 9/11/2001 or just known as 9/11. President Kennedy was killed on my 30th Birthday 11/22/1933. Other stories on my Facebook page.