World War II Service
On 18 December 1944, the attack transport commenced her shakedown in the San Pedro area and, on 3 January 1945, proceeded to San Diego, California. From 6 to 19 January, she carried out amphibious training in Coronado Roads, off San Clemente Island, and at Oceanside, California. After availability at San Pedro, Beckham shifted to the San Francisco, California, area, loaded cargo at Oakland, California, and got underway on 8 February for the Marshall Islands. The ship reached Eniwetok atoll on Washington' Birthday and—after discharging cargo for the U.S. Marine Corps garrison on Engebi Island—lingered there awaiting onward routing.
Assigned to Task Unit (TU) 12.6.2, Beckham departed Eniwetok on 2 March in a convoy bound for the Volcano Islands. At night her men could hear airplane engines as Boeing B 29 "Superfortresses" winged their way toward Japan to carry out some of the first massed raids on Tokyo. The convoy proceeded to, and then marked time in, a rendezvous area approximately 100 miles southeast of Iwo Jima.
Read more about this topic: USS Beckham (APA-133)
Famous quotes containing the words world, war and/or service:
“What is most original in a man’s nature is often that which is most desperate. Thus new systems are forced on the world by men who simply cannot bear the pain of living with what is. Creators care nothing for their systems except that they be unique. If Hitler had been born in Nazi Germany he wouldn’t have been content to enjoy the atmosphere.”
—Leonard Cohen (b. 1934)
“—Thus their hands are plucking at each other;
Picking at the rope-knouts of their scourging;
Snatching after us who smote them, brother,
Pawing us who dealt them war and madness.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
“Let not the tie be mercenary, though the service is measured in money. Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)