Quite a few folks have asked me for info on this Christmas menu, so I thought I'd post it to the list. I hope that's ok. I'll sweeten the pot with some genealogical info... My connection with the Dyess family is somewhat indirect. My GGM's maiden name was "Dious", a spelling which caused me much grief for awhile. I finally traced her back through a few generations of "Dias'" to a Lud Arnold Dias. Lud's mother was Elizabeth Everitt, the widow of William Dyess (one of the 6 Dyess brothers of SC). After William's death, she had a common-law relationship with Josiah Boyet. It seems that Josiah's wife left him for another man, but Josiah never divorced her. He then took up with the widow Dyess. Their children (I know of at least 2, Lud and Eliza) both had the last name "Dyess", but Lud's surname became spelled Dias for reasons I don't know. I have some more info on the descendants of Lud Arnold Dias. This story is documented in SC court records and recounted in Pam Trammell's book "The Descendants of the Dyess Brothers of Barnwell, South Carolina". It is pure coincidence that my wife's father served on the USS Dyess during WWII while I am the one with the Dyess family connection. Her father, Bailey Evans Wilson was a seaman and died in 1970, so unfortunately I don't really have any interesting stories. However, her family has preserved his copy of the ship's menu from Christmas, 1945 while the ship was stationed in Tokyo harbor. Several folks have asked me for a copy of this menu. My mother-in-law "decoupaged" this menu onto a wooden plaque many years ago, so I don't know how well it will copy, but I will try and let y'all know if I succeed! The text of the menu is as follows: 1st page: Oriental characters (Japanese?) at the top with a life preserver drawn below with a bow to look like a wreath! It says "USS Dyess DD880". Below the life preserver are the words: Christmas Day Menu Tokyo, Japan December 25, 1945 2nd page (reproduced as best I can): CHRISTMAS MENU *********************** ****************** ************* ********** ****** *** * 25 December 1945 Roast Turkey Bread Dressing Mashed Potatoes Giblet Gravy Buttered Corn Pickled Beets Cranberry Sauce Sweet Pickles Ice Cream Pumpkin Pie Candy Nuts Fruit Cake Lemonade Cigarettes Cigars Music By Armed Forces Radio * * * (End of menu) As good as all that sounds to me, I can't begin to imagine how good it must have tasted to those sailors who had done so much and were so far from home. I hope this was interesting to some of you. Paul M. Hendricks, MD