Retired Medically.............. Commandant Department of Arizona, Marine Corps League
Past Commandant 2013 to 2015, and 2018, White Tank Mountain Detachment 1246
Past Departments Commander of Arizona, Military Order of the Purple Heart, 1999-2002
Other Comments:
Veterans Advorsary. And a Inductee of the; Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame, Class of 2007,
Purle Heart Patriot of the year Department of Arizona, 2013,
Marine of the Year Department of Arizona, 2015,
Vietnam Veterans of America Achivement Medal 2016,
Dog of the Year, Military Order of the Devil Dog, 2017-2018,
Senator Martha McSally, Veterans Distinction of the Year Award August 24,2019,
Laid down as SS Prairie Mariner, a Maritime Administration type (C4-S-1A) hull, under a Maritime Administration contract, at New York Shipbuilding Corp, Camden, N.J.
Launched, 13 February 1954
Delivered to the Maritime Administration, 25 May 1954
Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, 6 January 1955
Acquired by the Navy, 16 March 1959
Commissioned USS Francis Marion (APA-249), 6 July 1961, CAPT. David S. Bill, Jr. in command
Redesignated Amphibious Transport(LPA-249), 1 January 1969
Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 1 January 1980
Sold to Spain, 11 July 1980, under the Security Assistance Program, renamed Aragón (L-22)
Decommissioned by the Spanish Navy in 2000
Final Disposition, as of 2002 in use as a training hulk by UOE ("Unidad de Operaciones Especiales", Special Operations Unit) at La Carraca, Cádiz, Spain
Struck by the Spanish Navy per Order 600/15622/00), 20 September 2000
Final Disposition, fate unknown
Specifications: Displacement 16,828 t (fl) Length 563' 6" Beam 76' Draft 27' Speed 20 kts. Complement 414 Troop Accommodations 1500 Armament four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts Propulsion
two Babcock and Wilcox WT boilers, 620 psi WP
one geared turbine
single propeller, 19,250shp
