�� On our January-May, 1955 cruise to the Mediterranean we had the honor of serving as the flag ship for RADM William C. Cooper, Commander Destroyer Flotilla Six, from January 5 - Feb. 21. The Admiral was often in CIC and we teenagers stood in awe of him. We were not accustomed to rubbing elbows with an Admiral. As I look back now , after 43 years, I realize what a personable man and great role model the Admiral was to all of us.
�� We had a few musicians aboard at that time and LTJG Horvath put together a band of 8 or 9 members. I was one of the members playing trumpet. We named ourselves "The Saints" and played loudly when we refueled or took on supplies out to sea. It sure beat handling lines or passing boxes of canned food to storage areas. The band's last performance in the Med was in Cadiz, Spain, when we played at a nightclub for three nights.
�� There was a ship's party, I believe in Cannes, France, which was a dandy. There was swimming, a tug-of-war and a pie eating contest that was second to none. We also had plenty to eat and drink.
�� On a sad note, we lost one of our ship mates, Rusty Moores. Rusty had been called back to the states due to the illness of an infant child. As I remember there was a malfunction in the heating system in their home and Rusty, his wife and baby were all asphyxiated.
�� A cruise book was put together to record our many experiences on this deployment. I wouldn't trade this book of memories for a million dollars.
�� We arrived at Newport, R.I. on May 27, and were greeted by a pier full of family and friends.
�� Some of the members of O Division who were on this cruise were: Ralph Bishop, RD1; Hernandez, ET2, Paul Maroon, RD3; Dave Moon, ET3, Earl Dicksom, RD3; Chuck Lagoni, RDSN; Christopherson, RDSN; Don Burke, RDSN; Lennon, ET1;
Gemmell, RD2; Bob Schweitzer, RDSN; Pete Rotondy, RDSN; Hall, ETSN; Harrower, RDSN Chip Fortune, RDSN; Walter Kopp, RD2; Anderson, ET2; Steward, RD3; Merideth, ETSN; Gagliardi, RD3; Jimmy Ebbert, RDSN; and "Dips " Duggan, RDSN.
�� On July 2, 1956 the Dickson again headed for the Med
and to some unexpected experiences. By this time I had made RD2 and was in charge of 13 radarman. A motley crew we were.
�� In my memory the second half of the cruise was more memorable. We went through the Suez canal into the Red Sea and then on down to the Arabian Sea and up into the Persian Gulf. Our sister ship, the Purvis DD709, accompanied us. We went to Bahrain where we met another ship, a WWII converted seaplane tender I believe. At that time the three ships were a show of the flag in that part of the world. My how times have changed.
�� As I remember we were in the Persian Gulf during August and September. It was extremely hot and we didn't do much work. I do remember going ashore to a very nice swimming pool and drinking cold beer.
�� When we left the Persian Gulf Israel and some of the Arab States were about to go to war. We managed to pass through the Suez Canal before the Egyptians closed it. We weren't back in the Med too long before we were sent, along with a DE, to pick up some American refugees at Haifa, Isreal and transport them to Suda Bay, Crete. We probably had about 50 men, women and children aboard for the trip to Suda Bay. Many of our men gave up their bunks and slept on the deck so as the refugees could have a place to sleep. The Dickson carried out this task in its usual exemplary manner.
�� The next outstanding memory I have of this cruise came on September 20, when I received word that my son had been born. Our Captain, Commander Edwards asked if we planned to name him "Harlan R. Dickson" . I told him in that this was our first son it had to be named after me - maybe the second one. My next good memory came on November 5, when I received word that I was promoted to RD1.
�� On December 5, we returned to Newport, R.I., again to a pier filled with family and friends. We returned home with many great memories and the knowledge that we had done our job well.
