operations in spite of continued air alerts. After embarking over 500 soldiers at Tacloban, she sailed from that port 7 January 1945 bringing troops to Lingayen Gulf in support of the invasion. She returned to Leyte on 14 January to embark elements of the 32nd Infantry Division and brought them safely back to Lingayen Gulf 27 January. Invasion of Okinawa After loading casualties for passage to Leyte, Gilliam sailed from that port 2 February to embark Marines of the III Amphibious Corps at Guadalcanal and conducted training exercises in preparation for the coming invasion of Okinawa.Gilliam closed Okinawa on 1 April and in the face of kamikaze attacks debarked reconnaissance parties of the 3rd Amphibious Corps and unloaded vital cargo. On 5 April she sailed for the United States via Saipan and Pearl Harbor, mooring at San Francisco 27 April for drydock repairs. Subsequently Gilliam embarked men of the 6th Seabee Battalion a Port Hueneme, California, and sailed 28 May 1945 for Okinawa via Eniwetok and Ulithi. She off-loaded cargo and passengers at Okinawa and then headed back to San Francisco. After hostilitiesGilliam arrived back at San Francisco on 10 August, where nearly 1,000 troops were embarked and brought to Pearl Harbor on 27 August. Men of the Headquarters and Service Battalions, 5th Amphibious Corps came on board at Hawaii, and Gilliam sailed 1 September for Sasebo, Japan, and put her occupation troops ashore 3 weeks later. On 25 September 1945 she got underway for Manila, and after embarking more than 450 veterans of the 33rd Infantry Division at Lingayen Gulf, she carried them to Sasebo, arriving 15 October. Operation Magic Carpet After returning to Cebu in the Philippines 29 October, she became part of the Operation Magic Carpet fleet and sailed 2 November with 1,000 sailors and soldiers, debarking them at Portland, Oregon, 21 November 1945. Operation Crossroads Following a voyage to Samar, Gilliam moored at Pearl Harbor on 16 February 1946 and prepared to participate in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini atoll in the summer of 1946. On the morning of 1 July 1946, Gilliam, a target ship for Test Able, was the first ship struck by the blast and sunk quickly in Bikini lagoon, badly damaged. She was decommissioned, 5 July 1946 and struck from the Naval Register, 20 July 1946. DecorationsGilliam'' received three battle stars for World War II service and two Navy Occupation Service