"Doc," unfortunately, did not show up at Donovan's Reef last night, so I was unable to find out more about his Korean War experiences.
I do remember him saying that his ship was often involved in bombarding the North Korean shore batteries. Of course, with those big 8-inch and broadside 5-inchers, the ship was very effective.
One time, he said they were having a hard time hitting targets. Later they found that the enemy had their guns on railroads and were pulling them behind mountains when the Helena opened fire.
Another time, the Helena ended up going to Portland,Oregon, for its Rose Festival. The USS Saint Paul, a sister ship of the Helena, was originally supposed to be there, but it had had an explosion in one of its main gun turrets and they didn't want civilians seeing all the damage.
Of course, he remembers getting into a lot of trouble whenever they had shore leave.
I Sure Don't Doubt That. One of America's Greatest. --Cooter
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