cargo operations at Roosevelt Roads and Vieques, Puerto Rico, and enjoyed liberty at Kingston, Jamaica. On 2 December, Union got underway for California via the Panama Canal. She arrived back at San Diego on 16 December and spent the remainder of 1962 in leave and upkeep. January 1963 was spent in preparing for and participating in amphibious operational training off Coronado, California. In February. Union got underway for the naval ammunition depot at Seal Beach, California, where the ammunition which had been on board for possible use during the Cuban crisis was off-loaded. The remainder of the month was spent preparing for Exercise "Steel Gate." At the completion of "Steel Gate," Union commenced preparation for her deployment to WestPac. Union departed San Diego on 26 March for the transit to Okinawa via Pearl Harbor. While underway, she participated in Exercise "Windmill," which simulated a merchant convoy. After off-loading at Pearl Harbor and Okinawa, Union arrived at Sasebo, Japan, for routine voyage repairs. It was May when Union arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, to off-load material and accomplish routine upkeep. The next mission of the Union was to participate in the 24th annual Black Ship Festival at Shimoda, Japan. This festival commemorates the arrival in Shimoda of Commodore Perry and his squadron of "Black Ships" in 1854. Having brought good will to Shimoda, Union next steamed to Sasebo for upkeep, then on to Pusan, Korea, where she provided facilities for Korean units to stage a ship-to-shore movement. June arrived with Union underway for Naha, Okinawa, to embark marines for the upcoming Operation "Flagpole" at Kuryongpo, Korea. Typhoon "Shirley" greatly hampered the landing phase of the operation, but it was finally completed despite torrential rains, floods, washed out roads, and dense fog. After a port visit to Kure, Japan, Union off-loaded "Flagpole" gear at Buckner Bay, then underwent a period of upkeep at Yokosuka. It was there that she embarked midshipmen for a cruise which took her to the ports of Keelung, Taiwan; Hong Kong; and Subic Bay, Philippines, where the midshipmen debarked. The ship travelled to Inchon, Korea, to prepare for Exercise "Bayonet Beach," which provided for ship-to-shore movements in the area of Pohang, Korea. After the exercise, Union sailed from Iwakuni, Japan, to Subic Bay, Philippines, with Marine aviation ordnance equipment. After a period of upkeep at Yokosuka, she visited Kobe, Japan, and met with an anti-American demonstration staged by the