6 September  1951

"So your mother wants you there for Xmas. Well maybe mine does to."

 

4 September 1951

"Naturally we are out to sea all the time."

Korean War

With the increased demands on the Navy as a result of the Korean War, Halsey Powell recommissioned on 27 April 1951. After shakedown and training exercises the ship sailed for the familiar waters of the Far East 23 July from Long Beach, arriving Japan 16 August. Joining Task Force 77, the destroyer acted as plane guard and screening ship while the carrier planes kept up constant pressure on the Communist lines and shore installations. Halsey Powell continued these operations off the eastern coast of Korea until October, when she departed the nearly stabilized war zone for training off Okinawa. Late in the month she returned to take part in destructive bombardments of Suwon Dam, Wonsan, Hungnam, and other areas. Patrolling and screening duties continued until the ship sailed for the United States on 20 February 1952.

   

 

3 September 1951

"...if you can spare the time to write a few lines of wisdom, don't forget me way out here."

U.S.S. Halsey Powell circa 1945; 6 years prior to this tour.

2 September 1951

"We are still in Task Force 77 along with a few other ships...there is a "War" on and I have to be careful what I say."

Task Force 77 (United States Navy)

Task Force 77 has been the aircraft carrier battle/strike force of the Seventh Fleet in the United States Navy (USN) since the Seventh Fleet was formed.
Task Force 77 performed a number of combat deployments, beginning with its mission in the Korean War, where it provided air support and performed interdiction missions as part of the UN forces. Task Force 77 had carrier stations in both the Sea of Japan (East Coast Task Force) and the Yellow Sea (West Coast Task Force, designated Task Force 95), the latter consisting of carriers of the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and USN escort carriers due to its proximity to the People's Republic of China. Seventeen USN, one RAN, and five RN carriers served in United Nations carrier operations at some point in time during the Korean War.

 

31 August 1951
"...we could take a trip through Yellowstone National Park..."

 Note: Buss and Ruth would take that trip to Yellowstone National Park, but it would be about 17 years later. And it would not be in a tent, but it would be with a travel trailer pulled behind a 1962 Ford Country Squire station wagon.

Buss at Yellowstone National Park circa 1968.

 

26 August 1951
Dear Dorothy Dix:
"...do you think she still loves me?"

Dorothy Dix

Dorothy Dix, was the pseudonym of U.S. journalist Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer. As the forerunner of today's popular advice columnists, Dorothy Dix was America's highest paid and most widely read female journalist at the time of her death. Wikipedia

Born: November 18, 1861, Montgomery County

Died: December 16, 1951, New Orleans

 

 

21 August 1951
"Well here I am again on the high seas and I do mean "High"."

 

18 August 1951
"I went over to see Lee the other day....he hasn't seen his family for almost 15 months....why don't you go over...and talk to her for awhile."

 

15 August 1951
"So until then, It's your old sea daddy signing off for tonite."

Note: I grew to understand why the 1955 motion picture "Mr. Roberts" was a favorite movie of my dad's. Life aboard a Navy ship must have been a unique and bonding experience.

 

13 August 1951
"Well we are nearly ending our long voyage to the land of enchantment."

Buss, in the middle, with his two brothers and parents. Circa 1955.

 

12 August 1951
"I hear rumors that we might run into typhoon sometime while we are out here in these waters."

Ruth by car in Baldwin, Long Island, NY

6 August 1951
"You can look up in the mountains and see a rainbow nearly all of the time."

Rainbow off of Pearl Harbor

 

5 August 1951
"Boy I'm getting tired of being on this can,..."

 

4 August 1951
"...I got two letters from you already, I don't save them I read them over and toss them away."

3 August 1951

Clark A. Gerdes SK1, USN
U.S.S. HALSEY POWELL DD686

Hello Battlebrain: 

U.S.S. Halsey Powell

 

Even though this video is from 2010, about 60 years ahead of 

when Buss's ship, the U.S.S. Halsey Powell left for 

deployment, I thought it would be an interesting sight.

It, too, was leaving from the port of San Diego.

18 July 1950
Dear Babe:
"I don't have any too much but what I do have is all yours if you want it."

Note: This is the last letter from Buss this year. The next post will be the first of approximately 54 letters he wrote from a four-month tour of duty aboard the U.S.S. Halsey Powell beginning on August 4, 1951 during the Korean War.

Buss and Lee circa 1942

Buss and Lee on their 'bikes' circa 1942

Lee Harrington was Buss' best man.

13 July 1950
Howdy Bub:
"I think that we have one of the best looking trailers there."

Buss in Norfolk, VA 1946

 

12 July 1950
"...I will try and get special liberty on Friday afternoon and see if I can get a Quonset Hut for you to live in."

Ruth by car in front of Quonset Hut 1950

 

10 July 1950
Hiya Pumpkin Head:
"...you treated me very good while I was home."

Buss and Ruth in their trailer in 1950.