Larry Adamik:  

Life If any of you were wondering what has happen to me since graduation day from Waco High School in 1958, I'll try to fill you in what old Larry Adamik been doing for the past 40+ years or so. After high school,I did try college for two semesters at Tarleton State College and decided that college wasn't for me. I had a chance on getting on with Southwestern Bell in 1959 and I took it. I worked for SBC untill my retirement in 1999 with 40 years of service. In 1963-1965 I join the Navy so not to be drafted into the Army.I boarded the ship in Savanaha,Ga. where she was in Dry Dock for repairs. After Dry Dock she went out for a 6 weeks shake down cruise to see if she was ready for service. The name of my ship is U.S.S. DE SOTO COUNTY LST-1171 and her home port is Little Creek,Va. I went on a few assignments such as The Panama Canal Crisis, The Cuban Crisis,and the Great Lakes Cruise, which was a Good Will Cruise to promote the Navy.The Great Lakes Cruise was a three months cruise to promote the Navy. On this cruise I met my wife, Sue when we visited the port of Toledo,Ohio. In the Caribbean, San Juan was our main liberty port. We were headed for South America when the Pamama Crisis broke out and was detoured to Panama to do what we could to curtail the crisis.Some of the places we went to were St. Thomas,Bermuda, Jamacica and Haitie. The U.S.S. De Soto County played a big part in the Cuban Missile Crisis in delivering marines to Guantanamo Bay and evacuating dependents and their wives and children to Norfork Va. for safety. The most enjoyable time for me was the Great Lake Cruise where I met my wife,Sue. We was the only war ship to have sailed all 5 Great lakes and we visited 18 cities durning the 3 month cruise in 1964. The USS DeSoto County LST 1171 was the newest LST in the Navy. She was launch Feb. 28, 1957 at Avondale,La. and was commissioned June 10,1958 at New Orleans. Dimmensions: ...Expand for more