Dear Mom,
Honolulu, Hawaii July 16-22, 1908
      Hawaii was very nice and everyone there was very welcoming. It's always annoying to have to get coal at every stop to refuel the ships. But at the same time you can travel the world which we know is why I joined the Fleet in the first place. The people in Hawaii treated us like we were some great show that they were watching and loved our bands and parades through the town. We felt like celebrities.

Gibraltar Feburary 1, 1909

Dear Jim,

All the ships were supposed to meet at Gibraltar before we headed back, but when we got there it looked from a distance that our US ships were engaged in a short ranged naval battle with other countries war ships. Of course I was extremely excited and my adrenaline was going crazy. I’ve always wanted to be in a naval battle and I couldn't wait to get up close. Sadly when we got close we saw that it was actually just US ships and other ships from other countries firing salutes. I was disappointed because I was really looking forward to the battle.

Gibraltar Feburary 1, 1909

Dear Ryana,

When we first arrived in Gibraltar from a distance we saw the other US ships and then some Russian, French and Dutch warships firing salutes. Everyone on my ship thought they were engaged in a battle and that we were about to join in. I was really worried. Luckily, the closer we got, we could start to tell that they weren’t actually fighting but firing salutes. I was so relieved that we weren't going to have to fight.

Cairo, Egypt January 3,1909

Dear Jim,

Cairo had to be the best stop so far. Me along with 1600 sailors were sent ashore, for two days, and could do whatever we pleased without being watched by officers. I rode the train and went and saw the pyramids. The Sphinx was really cool too. We took pictures on it with all the other sailors. Wish you could see it, but ill show you pictures when we I get back.

Dear Jim,

Colombo, Ceylon December 13-20, 1908

Man you're really missing out. When we first arrived here I thought this was going to be one of those really boring cities that we visit because no one was cheering for us when we arrived, but I was wrong. I got to watch snake charmers control these poisonous snakes and even watch them attack a mongoose. The snake charmers would do their tricks on the ship and we didn't have to go anywhere to see it. There were dances and dinners too. Wish you would have decided to come, you would have loved all this.

Dear Jim,

October 30, 1908

I knew this was a great idea to join the navy. I feel so powerful being on these giant ships and going around showing off our dominance to other countries around the world. When our ships got to Shanghai, China the shores were too shallow for our enormous ships. That made me and the rest of the crew feel powerful because our ships couldn’t fit in their puny ports. We had to go the port of Amoy instead so their ports could fit our ship.

The Voyage of the Great White Fleet

Dear Mom,

I finally got that rest I've been needing, when we arrived in Albany, Australia September 11th. We still had work to do there and were having to carry a bunch of coal back to the ship to refuel it but in between work we had a lot of free time. I mostly rested and got in the water because it’s been really hot lately. There were a bunch of parties at the Town Hall but a lot of us were too worn out to stay long. The people there were really nice and were very welcoming. The town was a small one but the people did everything they could to make it seem fun and to show off the town. Sadly we didn’t stay long because I could've gotten used to that.