sweetpea was the nickname of uss portland a heavy cruiser that my dad served on from '43 to'46,hence my interest in ww2 especially pacific naval actions:books,photos,artwork,film,letters,anything having to do with sweetpea.i've found out quite alot of info on the internet,that a book on the portland was written,so i bought it and read it cover to cover in no time;in it it tells of another book called "the history and times of uss portland"by heber holbrook,i cant seem to locate a copy of it if anyone knows how to find it i would be truly greatful.oh the book i did find is called "sweet pea at war a history of uss portland"i recommend it to all that are interested in naval history or ww2 in general.if anyone can recommend a web site for ww2 pacific photos,books,anything,i would sure appreciate it or specificly sweetpea even better.she was quite a ship i must say with a stellar record to back it up.my dad told me of the battles he was in and then i read about those same battles in a book or online ,it gives me goosebumps!!he was a loader on one of the aft mounted 40mm AA guns.he's been gone for 13 years now but the stories are still fresh in my head;anyway,i'm glad to be onboard with all of you people with similar interests.
Welcome to the forum. It's good to see a passion for a subject, and you seem to be well versed in it. As for the book, have you tried contacting Heber directly? He maybe able to help in locating a copy. His details are available on this site: United States Navy Memorial
Hi Sweetpea, Welcome to the forum. The memory of USS Portland accepting the surrender of the Japanese forces on Truk must have been something for your dad to remember.
something indeed,one thing i remember my dad telling me about the day of surrender ceremonies was that the japanese delegation had "no weapons ,not even a knife or a sword";then after he died we found a letter to my grandma that he had sent which told the whole story.they were expecting a sky full of komikasis to show up!!!
