USS Point Defiance (LSD-31) was a Thomaston-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for a location in Pierce County, Washington, the site of a military reservation established by the U.S. Government in 1866.
10 Members

You need to be a member of Navy Veterans to add comments!

Join Navy Veterans

Comments are closed.

Comments

  • Say shipmates still hanging in there at 75 living part time in SC and about 5 months a yr in Cebu Pi   Any shipmates from 72-74 give me a shout norman243@gmail.com

  • hey all was wondering if anyone got their claim accepted,mine is at the hdqs in dav headquarters with the appeals team in washington.hopin new evidence found helps get my claim accepted.

  • Stephen hope your doing ok with your health problems . So far i just turned 74 and doing ok have some hips that hurt but other than that with all the lagging i tore off the pipes to fix leaks and working in the Eng room Ect have had no effects on my health. 

  • have found the records detailing the disposal of our ship,it shows there were some toxic material found before she could be scrapped,asbestos,lead pcb's and maybe ao.it was scrapped in brownsville tx,she was listed on agent orange exposure list on jan.2012.a congressional was able to find this info by a contact that is in a govt office .you can email me at sgibson3 @ cox.net for more info.

  • just had a visit with dav reps from wicita,ks,told them i was in a third appeal process with va and didn't what else to do.pulled up my file and they found a form needed to be filled out we did that i then signed where needed so now i wait.hopin for favorable decision.stephen gibson usn retired.

  • i finally got some diagnosis from a internist she looked at my records an ran a lab work on me discovered i am type diabetic and copd third stage due to asbestos exposure from point d.who knows how long i've had this i'm assuming more than two yrs when i filed for compensation will wait an see what happens now.

  • Do any of you remember this? I am not sure of the date, but the Point Defiance was docked in Long Beach. I was asleep in my house in Anaheim and early in the morning the XO called me and told me I had to come back to the ship, because the after engine room  was completely flooded up above the second level. The shipyard had removed a ballasting valve for repair. There was  a list on the ship to one side so in order to correct the list, someone had open the wrong valve which had opened opened the ballasting piping to the sea! The first indication that anything was wrong was when all the lights went out, when the shore power breaker on the after switchboard tripped. When I got back onboard and stated down the ladder, I could see that not only was the lower level flooded, but so was the ship service generator along with the main turbine and reduction gear. A hole was cut on the well deck, above the after engine room, so repairs could be made. I don’t remember if this event was before our collision or after, but our home at sea had some real bad luck! At the time I was acting MPA. Memories that I will never forget!

  • I went to Boot Camp at great Lakes and our Company Commander was Chief Mayberry. Most of our company was from Ohio. About three weeks into our training, our Chief told us that we were going to have “field day” which we soon found out, that means everything gets cleaned and I mean everything! My cleaning station was cleaning the tiled deck between the bunk room and the head. There I was, on my knees steel wooling the deck. But the other entire boot kept walking across my clean tiled deck to get their water for their cleaning jobs. Frustrated I yelled out, “The next guy who walks across my clean deck is going to be sorry”! Still Down on my knees with steel Wool in hand, I glanced to my left and there was a pair of black shoes on my clean deck. With out looking up I reached over and shined the toes of the shoes with the steel wool! Than I looked up saw that in the shoes was a very tall lieutenant! He could not believe what had just happened and not saying a word, he just walked away! If anyone would have tried to tell me right than that I would end up at the end of a 22 year career in the Navy and retire in a Lieutenants uniform I would have laugh at them and that night I think I dreamt of being in front of a firing squad in the morning1

  • anyone having any luck getting claims accepted?,a relative of mine said he knows someone w/paralyzed veteran's and was going too ask for help in my claim.said they seem to have some clout,told him to go for need all the help i can get.stephen gibson

  • If any of you were on the Point Defiance in Vietnam and are having health problems that you think may be caused by Agent Orange exposure. go to the website <bluewaternavy.org>! Because of finding that website and the fact that the PD is on the list of ships exposed. My Wife and I are putting health records showing my health issues and working with our County Veterans Service Officer  here in Denver, we  are getting ready to submit my claim to the VA. Let me know if you need any further info from me.

This reply was deleted.

va red tape

 i recently got a va benefits book from dept of veterans affairs but no clue of if my claim was denied or accepted,the dav rep said he hadn't heard anything other than the one in charge of my claim is workin on it and will be completed soon.

Read more…
1 Reply

Former USS Point Defiance LSD-31 shipmates

I was assigned to the USS Point Defiance LSD-31, late 1972 she was on her way back from Vietnam. It would be great to communicate with anyone who was assigned to this ship at anytime! I was onboard from 8/1972 through 8/1975. I was a gunners mate, my 5 inch 50 gunmount was the forward port. We were staioned out of Long Beach, CA. Navy Base (now closed), then we went to Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon border the Willamette river for a overhaul. The ship was literally taken down to…

Read more…
2 Replies