| Summary: | Manuscript pictorial route map of the Pacific War following the World War II service of an unidentified U.S. Navy sailor. Pictorial vignettes highlight the sailor's wartime experience: swearing in, working at the Charleston Navy Yard, surveying the Pacific, weathering typhoons, mine sweeping and good times in Shanghai. Dated lines trace his travels, with red dates marking wartime movements and yellow dates identifying his return. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee (where he was drafted on April 17, 1944), this sailor was sworn in at Memphis on April 19, 1944. He shipped out to bootcamp near Williamsburg, Virginia, via Cincinnati, Ohio, where he arrived on April 21, 1944. Then, he was assigned to Radar School (June 27, 1944) and minecraft training (July 12, 1944), before becoming part of the crew of the U.S.S. Inflict (AM-251) on August 28, 1944. He spent the next few months on the Atlantic Seaboard, going on a shakedown cruise, minesweeping exercises, and participating in antisubmarine warfare exercises off the coast of Maine in late October and early November 1944. Ship arrived in Miami, Florida, on December 1, 1944, and served as a training school ship until March 9, 1945, when she left for a tune up before embarking for the Pacific. She left for the west coast via the Panama Canal on April 14, 1945 and arrived in San Diego in on May 6, 1945. Ship left for Hawaii two days later, arriving at Pearl Harbor on May 17, 1945. Then left Pearl Harbor on May 22 for Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands and then proceeded to Guam and Saipan. Inflict led a convoy bound for Okinawa from Saipan beginning on June 15, 1945. Ship operated out of Okinawa after the island was declared secure on June 21. From Okinawa, the Inflict commenced mine sweeping operations in the South China Sea during July 1945 and cut first mine on July 7, illustrated by an individual with a dustpan and broom sweeping up a mine. Ship then swept mines near Kyushu from August 13 to August 23, 1945 and prepared for occupation duty. Inflict left for Korea, Formosa, and Japan, on August 30, 1945, illustatred by a bell proclaiming 'Liberation' for Korea and a sinking Japanese ship off Kyushu. According to the map, Inflict went to Taiwan from Kyushu in mid-November, where on November 28, 1945 the sailor transferred to U.S.S. Mainstay (AM-261). From Taiwan he went to Shanghai, where he spent a week enjoying the 'nightlife'. Finally, he transferred to the U.S.S. Basilan (AG-68), a barracks-stores-water distillation ship, for the voyage home. The Basilan left Shanghai on December 9 and arrived in Hawaii on Christmas Day. Apparently, the Basilan encountered mines along the way and the sailor contracted dysentery. The Basilone left Hawaii on December 27 and arrived in Seattle on January 5, 1946. The sailor left Seattle on January 9 for Memphis, where he was discharged on January 16, 1946.
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