When we left the USS
Sway (AM-120) in our last installment, she had just departed Algeria en route to the United States. The
Sway had been in the European/North African theater of operations since 1943. She had participated in operations Shingle and Dragoon, had come under fire in Italy and Southern France, and been involved in a friendly-fire incident with General Mark Clark. Now she was en route to the United States for a major overhaul and refit before reporting to the Pacific Fleet for operations against Japan. My grandfather had joined the ship in May 1944, and as of 1 January 1945 he had risen to the rank of quartermaster third class. (All entries are from the ship s war journal unless otherwise noted.)