Letter from "Pete" to his mother, 1945-03-23

"...The censors let down and so now I can tell you where I've been but I can't tell you where I am now, and some of the things I've seen but I can't mention dates...I may as well start at the beginninig--way back in New Orleans, LA. From OGU (out going unit) in Camp Peary, VA I was sent to the naval station ['Algeria'] Naval Repair Base across the muddy Mississippi River and three miles from the heart of the city, there I picked up this ship--LST 713. We shoved off from these and sailed on the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean, passed within good sight of Cuba in the West Indies. Arrived at 'Coco Solo' Naval Base about eighteen miles form the city of Colon, Panama...."