Arrangements for the 2022 USS Calvert Associates Reunion are as follows:

September 21st – 25th at the Ramada Inn Wyndham at Spokane Airport, Spokane, Washington.

• 2022 USS Calvert Registration Form – Form and payment are due to Tom Upchurch no later than September 10th. See form for additional information.
• 2022 USS Calvert Hotel Form – Reservations must be made directly with the hotel no later than September 10th. See form for additional information.

The reunion hotel is located very close to the airport with a free airport shuttle, and the reunion rates are $130 for USS Calvert reunion attendees.  

As you look at the Reunion Registration Form, the hospitality room will be open from Wednesday through Saturday, Sept. 21-24.  There is a complimentary breakfast buffet included with your hotel registration.  Tom and Shirley Upchurch have planned a city tour of Spokane that begins on Friday at 10 a.m., with a box lunch and tour continuing in the afternoon.  All other meals will be at the Ramada Inn.  Lunch will be served in the hospitality room on Thurs. and Sat, and dinner is planned at the Ramada Inn for Thurs., Fri., and Sat. nights. 

September daily high temperatures generally range from 82 to 69, so expect pleasant fall temperatures.  We hope you can join us, and please invite your relatives and friends to come to the Spokane reunion.  

On behalf of Glynna Morse, Secretary of USS Calvert Associates

This document contains chronological research notes covering the details for the period January 1, 1943 to June 8, 1943. During this period:

• The yard work which had begun in December 1942 was completed and she ran successful sea trials in early January 1943.
• The crew trained during wintery weather of January, February, and March in the Chesapeake Bay in preparation for the upcoming Invasion of Sicily, Operation Husky (July, 1943).
• The ship was re-designated APA-32, an Attack Transport, on February 1st.
• The ship underwent significant overhaul and improvements in the Todd Shipyard, New York and in Norfolk. Radar equipment and systems were a major addition.
• Newly specially trained boat crews replaced many of the Calvert’s existing boat crews. The ship also received new LCVP landing craft.
• Elements of the 45th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, embarked. The ship and crew departed for the Invasion of Sicily.

View and download the 61 page document via this link: USS Calvert – Chronological Research Notes – 1943.01.01 to 1943.06.08

Additional documents covering other periods of WWII are available here: https://www.usscalvert.com/history/apa32-1942-1947/

Notes:

• The document was last updated on September 3, 2022.
• Please contact me with any questions, additions, or corrections.

As always, thank you for visiting the website and anything you are wiling or able to share regarding the history of the USS Calvert.

Henry Dittmer enlisted in the US Navy on July 24, 1943 in Portland, Oregon. He reported aboard the USS Calvert on August 29, 1944 while the ship was in the Hawaiian Islands.

As a Pharmacist Mate he was a member of the ship’s medical crew and was involved in landing operations in the Pacific, including the landings at Leyte, Philippines.

Occupation of Japan – Atomic War Veteran

Henry was also aboard the Calvert during the occupation of Japan, Hiroshima area, in October and November 1945. He took leave of the ship in San Francisco on November 30, 1945, following the crew’s return from the occupation of Japan.

Appreciation to his son David for providing photographs, documents from his father’s collection: “My father was a corpsman in the navy during World War II, although the navy term for his classification was pharmacist’s mate.  He served on a troop transport ship and was stationed in the waters around the Philippines. I asked him if he was drafted and he said he was afraid of being stuck in the infantry, so he enlisted in the navy. If you saw ‘Saving Private Ryan’, you saw the Higgins boats that brought the troops ashore. Dad said he was on the 7th wave, although it was in the South Pacific, not Normandy. He was at the Battle of Leyte Gulf and saw kamikaze attacks, Towards the end of the war after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, his ship was sent to Japan. He and a pilot were dispatched on a small boat with a couple of officers to Hiroshima.”

Below are five photographs, and interview notes, from his time ashore in Hiroshima Japan in October and November 1945. These photographs and pages were originally posted, around 2007, on a web site dedicated to sharing the stories of Atomic War Veterans, but which is no longer available online. The interview and photographs were introduced as follows on that web site: “Henry went ashore at Hiroshima in October 1945, as a Medic and tells what he saw there. He also sent five photographs taken while he toured the ruins of the 1st city blasted by the atomic bomb.”

Additional information on the Calvert’s and crew’s experiences during the Occupation of Japan, Hiroshima, in October and November 1945 are available on this page: https://www.usscalvert.com/2021/01/16/occupation-of-central-japan-hiro-wan-bay-hiroshima-area-october-1945/

Emery Thompson enlisted in the Navy on October 16, 1942 and reported aboard the Calvert on April 23, 1943 following graduation from the US Navy’s Wentworth Institute service school, Boston MA on April 10, 1943 where he had completed Machinist Mate training and certification.

He transferred off the Calvert sometime during late 1943 or early 1944.

Appreciation to Emery’s son, NCCS Bruce E. Thompson, USN, Retired for the personal items shown below.