Following his cook and mess sergeant training in Maryland, my pap spent a two-week leave at home before boarding a train in Pittsburgh and traveling across country towards his new assignment. Stopping in Chicago along the way, he eventually arrived at Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, California. Camp Stoneman was was the largest West Coast troop staging area for deploying troops to the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II and the Korean War.
I love the fact that Pap left Pittsburgh only to arrive in Pittsburg. 🙂
After a brief stay at Camp Stoneman, Pap traveled to San Francisco via ferry where he boarded the naval transport USS General H.W. Butner and departed for the Western Pacific Theater of Operations in Manila, Philippines on September 9, 1946. We believe this picture was taken on that ferry, probably in late August or early September.
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