COMBAT PHOTOGRAPHY FROM PARADISE...1971
By the Boys Who Carried In
The Boys Who Built the Seahuts!
LST 1176
USS GRAHAM COUNTY
Many thanks to Roger Allie <lword@theofficenet.com>,
who provided these photos.
Go
Back To Page 1 Of The Graham County series!
This page is devoted to photos of the early days, as well as any other "first photos" anyone would care to share.
Send me YOUR Photo NOW!
The Stories are
in the "guestbooks".
Entries are listed
by the 1st year the writer got there. Select the years you're looking
for:
Meanwhile, Welcome to Diego Garcia,
30 years ago...
The USS GRAHAM COUNTY has docked,
and the men are off to have a beer and build an airfield...
...
Who Were These Guys? Anybody Know? They'd
be a little bit older now, of course...
"Let's see... I think we'll put Air Ops right about
here..."
The first trees come down to make way for the runway.
But seriously folks... What ultimately handled B-2s
attacking the Taliban started right here!
The Lagoon Beach, the first day.
The "Welcome To Diego Garcia" Sign set up by the first
arrivals.
The docking area. Approximately where the Seaman's
Club now stands.
Piping the Captain ashore.
The docking area:
6 inch gun at "Cannon Point"
Captain Colbert's fishing excursion - probably the
first by Americans at Diego Garcia.
More shots of the docking area:
The very first land crab to be run over by a piece
of USN heavy equipment. Not the last...
Setting up the Causeway.
Donkey in the jungle, 1971. Looks like nothing's
changed!
Fuel Bladders for heavy equipment. Lots of fuel
bladders.
DG 1 - the hut in the foreground eventually became
the "Ship Inn" which was the name of the original Brit Club.
The site was located across the street from the current
Brit Club.
DG 1 on the way to Point Marianne.
The Temple of Doom at Point Marianne, 1971
Here's some info about the Graham County in 1965: From Michael Turner <rascule@stonesurfer.com>:
I was stationed on the Graham County
LST 1176 in 1965. I dont have any pictures but while aboard we made
a Med cruise and a Caribean cruise, while in the Caribean we we dropped
off our contingent of marines and seabees at Gitmo and transport the Army
to the Dominican Republic as a peace keeping force, while there we came
under small arms fire.
The Graham County was also refered
to as a 'tanker T' as it carried fuel for refeuling other ships in the
fleet..
The dock we tied up to in
Little Creek right next to the seal training facility.
And by the way a 36 degree roll
would ring the ships bell, the flat bottom had a tendency to roll in high
seas, it was the pontoons that kept the ship from rolling over. Michael
Turner E3 bo'son striker
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This, and everything else I write and every
photo I produce is copyrighted by Ted A. Morris, Jr.