Lets talk about old times.
I made three trips to Korea and surrounding area from San Diego. Even though I served on the Whetstone, my true love is the 409, because of the time served and the experiences I was involved in on that ship. In fact, the size of the 409 could have been accommodated within the USS Whetstone. From one veteran, I learned that near the end of WWII, they ate with white tablecloths and plates. During my tenure on the LSMR-409, we ate the ok to good food using metal trays at a table welded to the deck along with the bench.