USS COLLETT docked at San Diego about October 1, 1945, after returning from Japan and service with the Third Fleet on the final operation off the coast of Japan. She left Leyte for this final operation on July 1st till VJ Day in August 1945. Notice the homeward bound pennant flying from her yardarm. Picture taken by Ken Perry.
Picture taken in Dec 1945 returning from leave. Left to right; Reckenbeil,
Perry, Ross Pearson, Paulson in background. Sal Pavese took picture.
August 19, 1945 "USS COLLETT Windjammer"
Front and Rear of Los Angeles and Hollywood Canteen Postcards from 1945
| After the war in September of '45, the Collett
anchored in Tokyo Bay and all hands had a chance at liberty. That
was when Ken Perry got this large poster as well as some other
items.
The poster is printed on a thin paper, like tracing paper, that has held up very well since 1945. The size of the paper is about 21-1/2 inches by 15-1/2 inches. The printed area is about 11-1/2 inches by 12-1/2 inches. The strange looking bent stack of the aircraft carrier and the biplanes overhead, date the original version of the poster with it's "Rising Sun" flag in the 1930s, possibly the late 1930s. We requested our shipmate Joe Kozerski and his wife Fumiko to attempt a translation of the lettering. Joe wrote that the poster appears to have been from the souvenir store located in front of a bus stop or train station, he can't be certain. Fumiko translated the lettering. Based on the ship's name of "Kulaka," and the phrase, "Always in the wind," the poster appears to have been a recruitment tool in its first life. Based on the phrases "Shipyard, the best shop" and "Yokosuka Miyage Souvenir Store" and the phone number "Yokosuka 472", the poster, with additional lettering, had a second life as a souvenir for American sailors after WWII. |