moored at the Coco Solo Naval Reservation for a night of liberty in the wild and rugged town of Cristobal. The next day we fueled and started for Norfolk by way of the Yucatan Channel. As we left the balmy Central American climate, the cold Atlantic soon froze our tropical blood, and we were glad to tie up alongside the Convoy Escort Piers in Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Vir, ginia, on the eighth of February. Glad, because half the crew started on thirty days leave that day. Those who stayed behind maneuvered the ship into the Norfolk Shipyard, where the task of getting the ship ready for decommissioning was begun.
Those who made the first leave returned in time to take the Roberts to her final destination, Green Cove Springs, Florida, there to complete the decommissioning process. Along with hundreds of other veterans of World War II, the Roberts traveling days are over for awhile. But we who served aboard have not forgotten her, nor the way she carried us through many tight and dangerous spots. For those long and weary months, she was the symbol of what we were fighting for, our homes, our loved ones, and our country.
This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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