Dear family and Friends of the HICKMAN COUNTY:

I am once again pleased to have the opportunity of writing to each of you, and I hope that by means of the family gram I can add to your knowledge of the ship's operations.

For the benefit of our new readers, the HICKMAN COUNTY's mission is to supply Allied Forces along the rivers and coast of Vietman. We operate primarily in the rivers of the Mekong Delta hauling such items as ammunition, lumber, cement, barbed wire, medical supplies, and foodstuffs. Utilizing the ship's main deck and tank deck located just below the main deck, the HICKMAN COUNTY can carry as much cargo as a good sized merchant ship. American and foreign merchant ships bring supplies to Vietnam but are unable to navigate the shallow rivers. Therefore a merchant ship will unload its cargo at a coastal port, and the HICKMAN COUNTY and other LST's will carry it up the rivers to Allied bases further inland.

The HICKMAN COUNTY operates in Landing Ship Squadron TWO, made up of five LST's, all of which perform the same basic mission. The squadron is led by CDR Charles H. Cross and his staff. They perform two basic jobs. The staff directs the squadron administratively and provides assistance to the ships whenever possible.

In early January Commodore Cross and his staff came aboard the HICKMAN COUNTY, thereby making the HICKMAN COUNTY the flagship of the squadron. The presence of the staff has one big advantage of providing us with immediate assistance. Already the HICKMAN COUNTY has received especially able assistance from Chief Engineman Fred R. Tew. The commodore expects to remain onboard until May.

On January 14, the HICKMAN COUNTY was forced to leave Vietnam for Subic Bay, Philippines to obtain emergency repairs to the ship's power plant. For three weeks the HICKMAN COUNTY remained at the ship repair facility in Subic Bay while the repairs were completed. As always when we arrive in port away from Vietnam we do our best to make time for use of available recreation facilities. Each weekend we had softball games usually with the high spirited Engineering department challenging the rest of the ship.

On February 13 we arrived back in Vietnam, immediately resuming our cargo operations.

I would imagine that some of you at home wonder just what is required of the men aboard a ship that seems to take so much of their time. What is it they have been doing when they write home that they have been working hard? I won't try and discuss every man's job in this family gram, but I will talk about a few of them. In following family grams, I will try and cover all departments.

The truth is, the men work very hard. For some men reporting aboard the ship, it is a very abrupt change from their previous life. Often they report aboard really as excited boys who are inexperienced in hard work and a bit soft. Yet, after their tour on board they become physically solid. They learn the value of a constant, steady effort and can be depended on to willingly carry out their responsibilities. In short, when they leave, they depart as responsible young men.

The group that admittedly works in the least comfortable environment is the Enginneering Department. It is headed by LT(jg) John Gates. He is assisted by the Main Propulsion Assistant, Ensign Tom Barth who works directly with the Enginemen. Our enginemen are ENC Fred Tew, EN1 Walt Bolton, EN2 'Pete' Peterson, EN3 Rick Fry, EN3 'Rusty' Rusnak, EN3 Chuck Liston, ENFN Barry Mason, FN Rollin Sieveke, FN Ken Miyashiro, FN Dave Paaaina, FA Lambert Caracol, FA Willy Berryman, FA Bob Michael, FA Art Hyneman and FA Marv Bretsen.

The engineman are responsible for the two large twelve cylender diesel main engines, four diesel generators, all the pumps, purifiers, piping and valves it takes to make the machinery run. They also maintain two sets of evaporators, a boiler, and the diesel engines of both of the ship's LCVP Landing boats.

Being responsible for this equipment means just that. During the working day they perform routine maintenance, or if something has broken down they repair the casualty. Maintenance and repair can vary from applying grease or replacing an oil seal to a complete stripping and overhaul of an engine. HICKMAN COUNTY's engineman are talented and conscientious. They do work that in the civilian community would be most expensive.

Besides the daily work, the engineers have to stand watches around the clock with the equipment that is running. It is necessary to take constant temperature and pressure readings. The men must be able to take emergency action such as shut down an engine if a bearing overheats. The watches are for four hours and are rotated among them. Usually each man is on watch for four hours and off for eight hours.

Not only must they take care of equipment during the working day, they must also perform housekeeping chores. This consists of cleaning bilges, chipping rust, painting, swabbing the deck and wiping down bulkheads and machinery.

The electricians stand watches similar to the engineman. We keep an electrician watching the switchboard in the auxiliary engine room whenever the generators are running. In Vietnam that's all the time. The electrician on watch is responsible to see that proper voltage flows into the operating electrical circuits. He too has to be ready to take immediate emergency action. If one of the two operating generators were to cut out, he has to turn off the non-essential lighting circuits to ensure that the available electrical power can keep the main propulsion and steering systems operating.

Our electricians are ENC Bill Bone, EM3 Ken Barringer, EM3 John Orcutt and EM3 Mike Alex.

The electricians have to keep all of the electrical motors and pumps on the ship operating. Frequently they have to replace old cabling and circuit switches. Of course, all of the lighting is theirs to maintain. They conduct weekly checks of the portable electrical tools to prevent electrical shock to anyone operating them. The housekeeping work also must be done.

A third group of engineers are the shipfitters and damage controlman. The shipfitters are SF1 Marv Higgins, SFM2 Charlie Hood, SFM3 Ernie Sambrano, FN Ray Lawhenore and FA 'Willy' Williams. The damage controlmen are DC2 Charles Gladhill and FN Ron Case.

The shipfitters are the ship's welders and plumbers, They do many kinds of metal work and maintain the extensive piping and valve systems.

Damage controlmen do all kinds of work that will assist the ship in fighting combat damage. They ensure that doors and hatches operate properly and fit tightly. They are responsible for maintaining all of the ships fire fighting equipment. Because of their training and knowledge the damage controlmen and shipfitters are the repair party leaders and damage control scene leaders during general quarters.

The internal communications electricians are ICC Jerry Kline and FN Stan Seymore. They maintain the ships internal sound powered phone systems. The ship's gyro system is also their responsibility. A large morale factor for the crew is movies and the movie equipment. The IC electricians take care of this also.

Aboard HICKMAN COUNTY the officer in charge of the electricians, shipfitters, damage contromen and internal communication electricians is the Damage Control Assistant who is Ensign Frank Flannery.

While returning to Vietnam from the Philippines, Commodore Cross's staff conducted an operational readiness inspection. Much like the refresher training period in Japan, this inspection evaluated our ability to respond to circumstances that could develop if the ship actually is confronted by a battle situation. Our overall performance was good.

I am pleased to be able to tell you that the HICKMAN COUNTY man-of-the-month for January and February were Seaman Ralph Verges and Electricians Mate Third Class Michael Alex respectively.

On 8 March LT(jg) Larry Fish relieved Lt Jerry Faricy as Executive Officer.

Something interesting, that impressed me happened in February. Electricians Mate Third Class Billy Toney reenlisted on board. He received a lump sum variable reenlistment bouus of $8200.00. Since he reenlisted in the combat zone, it is all tax free. To show how appreciative he was, Petty Officer Toney bought the entire crew all the beer at beer call that night.

If in anyway I can assist you or answer your questions, please don't hesitate to write me.

Sincerely.

M.D. Bickel, LT, USN
Commanding Officer