There was never a day during my tour as Commanding Officer that I was not proud and honored to be a member of the Devil Dog team.  Even during days of great adversity I was always given a reason to be thankful.  The dedication of this young and not so young group consistently overcame every challenge and continued the BELLEAU WOOD tradition as ship that could be counted on to consistently meet or exceed every mission requirement.  That said, there are two periods of performance that are indelible and as vivid today as when they happened.

1.  During the transit to our new homeport of Sasebo, Japan we stopped in Pearl Harbor for some much anticipated Hawaiian Island liberty.  The ship was refueled soon after arrival and a large liberty party had made its way ashore for local activities and organized tours.  As XO Bob Annis and I were finishing up the daily routine and preparing to head for the O’Club pool, we received an emergency sortie order to evade Hurricane Iniki which was heading toward Oahu.  In a shorthanded situation, the engineers did an outstanding job lighting off one space and then going to bare minimum watch standers while lighting off the second boiler.  Recall efforts brought many key personnel back but the watch bill for getting underway was innovative to say the least.  By the time we had cleared the channel the seas were impressive and on the beam as we made best speed to the eastern side of the big island to wait for Iniki to pass. 

Hurricane Iniki veered west and struck the Island of Kauai on 11 September 1992 as the most devastating storm in Hawaiian history.  It caused more than 2 billion dollars in damage.  As we listened to radio reports it became apparent that we would be needed in the subsequent relief effort.  When we moored to the pier on our return, the Joint Task Force had already put a great deal of material in place for loading.  During the return transit to Pearl, all departments had expertly developed a plan to expedite this process.  The loading was complex in that much of the material and vehicles were not designed for amphibious or vertical transport.  Immediately after loading, we made preparations and got underway for Kauai.  On arrival off Nawiliwili Harbor we could see the area around Lihue and it looked like a nuclear weapon had been dropped on the city.  Using Marine helicopters and organic LCU assets, the supplies started flowing in record fashion.  Vehicles, field hospital equipment, water purification stations and a myriad of other relief materials made their way ashore.  BELLEAU WOOD air controllers augmented Lihue’s airport tower to assist with the tremendous influx of air traffic evacuating people and delivering relief supplies.  In total, three shiploads of much needed supplies and equipment were delivered to Kauai on a round robin basis between Pearl Harbor and the island.  Every shipload of material was offloaded in less than one day.  For the better part of a week, the crew of BELLEAU WOOD worked around the clock to accomplish the mission.  I never heard any grousing about lost liberty.  The Sailors and Marines responded to people in desperate need in a heroic fashion.  At 2200 when the last offload operation at Barking Sands was finished, the ship proceeded on track for Sasebo and was joined by USS CIMARRON for a three plus hour underway replenishment, finishing in the early morning hours.  For its effort the crew was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal.  I believe it was one of the ship’s finest hours.

2.  In November 1992, BELLEAU WOOD was designated as the ship that would participate in the final drawdown and withdrawal from the U.S. Naval Base in Subic Bay, RP.  This would mean more than three weeks moored to the pier at the former NAS Cubi Point.  Having been stationed there for two years, I told the crew it could be blessing or a curse.  Liberty in the Philippines was highly sought after but the worldwide visibility of this operation required a zero-defect performance from the standpoint of conduct.  The BELLEAU WOOD Navy/Marine team performed in superb fashion.  Working closely with Admiral Tom Mercer and his staff, each base function was sequentially rolled to the ship.  We became the base hospital, public works, barracks, BOQ, post office and so on.  This process continued until 24 November 1992 when a Marine color guard from the Devil Dog lowered the United States flag and we boarded a bus for the trip to the pier.  We stopped at the gate between Subic and Cubi Point to pick up the Marine sentry.  He made a last entry in his logbook, tucked it under his arm and boarded the bus.  The Olongapo Mayor and head of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Mr. Richard Gordon, an official delegation from the city of Olongapo and a large group of citizens came to the pier to bid farewell.  Fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, the last line was taken in ending 94 years of continuous United States military presence in the Republic of the Philippines.  As we backed away from the pier the rails were manned by Sailors and Marines while the strains of “I’m Proud To Be An American” played loudly on the ship’s PA systems.  There were few dry eyes on either side of the equation and mine were not among them.  The crew was exemplary by every measure and performed this complex task in truly outstanding fashion.  For many of us, the sight of Grande Island passing down the port side and Subic Bay fading into the distance was an unforgettable experience and one of the proudest moments of my life.          

CAPT(Ret.) Douglas J. Bradt, USN