Dear Family and Friends of the Virgo,

This will be my last letter from Wespac for this cruise, your men are on their way home Barring some unforeseen troubles, Virgo should be home as scheduled in the latter parts of September.

I'd like to recount some of the many accomplishments of Virgo’s outstanding crew during this long deployment in the Vietnam conflict. Virgo has been deployed since January 12; as of this day she has been away from the United States 260 days, of which 188 days or 72.3 percent, were spent at sea.

Your men replenished 153 ships at sea, passing a total of 11,986 tons of bullets and bombs and rockets to the aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers which pressed the battle against North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. If that doesn’t seem like much, it’s the same number as 23 million, 972 thousand pounds.

VIRGO is an old ship by any standards, and not specifically designed for transfer of ammunition at sea, as the newer AE’s. So when high praise continues to pour in from Virgo’s customers about her performance during replenishments, i can conclude that only one thing made it possible - -the crew, your men. They have done a truly outstanding job over here in WestPac in every respect. What they lacked in equipment, they made up for in hard work. What they lost to breakdown, they recovered through skill and stamina.

I can look back over this cruise and see countless cases where one man or a group of men , did what seemed impossible, and by so doing allowed Virgo to meet her scheduled commitments. If there is any one thing that has been driven home to me on this deployment, its that the men have made this ship what it is. Without them, the Virgo would be a useless pile of scrap iron, rusting away in some harbor, forgotten.

I would like to share with you the praise given Virgo by some of her customers. After Virgo’s last replenishment of the aircraft carrier USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31), the BONNY DICK’s commanding officer wrote, in part, "Virgo has consistently displayed her excellence in seamanship and cargo handling over a period of several months. The spirit and enthusiasm of her crew were a source of inspiration to the deck seaman and ordnance men of the BON HOMME RICHARD, and, in six rearmings since the beginning of April, 1967, led to an exceptionally high average transfer rate of 166.4 tons per hour." (The last replenishment was at a rate of 200 tons an hour.)

The cruiser, USS ST. PAUL (CA-73), had similar feelings. After Virgo transferred her 10,000th ton of ammunition during the deployment, to ST. PAUL, her commanding officer sent a message to Virgo saying, "Congratulation on your 10,000 ton milestone. VIRGO’s always efficient crew has provided ST. PAUL with another outstanding unrep."

And the destroyer, USS FORREST ROYAL (DD 872) high-lined a special blue ribbon to VIRGO naming her "the most accommodating AE in the Seventh Fleet" during one of Virgo’s last replenishments of the deployment.

An now we’re on our way home. It’s been said that the best thing about a long deployment is coming home, and I’m sure this is true, especially for all of you, too, waiting for your men. I’m sure there’s a special place in Heaven for the Navy wife, whose endurance, patience, and strength, while her husband is away constitutes a sort of miracle. I’d like to thank all of you. Knowing that you were carrying onward has made it a great deal easier for your men to do the job they’ve done so well.

I hope we’ll see you all when Virgo pulls into port. It’s great to be coming home, and it’ll be great to see you all again.

W. Carrier, Jr., Commanding Officer