The USS Talladega (APA/LPA-208) was a Haskell-class attack transport laid down on June 3, 1944, and launched on August 17, the same year. It was commissioned for the first time on October 31, 1944, under Capt. Edward H. McMenemy’s command, with the hull number APA-208 and served in the US Navy for 20 years until it was decommissioned for the last time on October 20, 1969. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 536 people on board and had its main missions in California, Okinawa, San Francisco, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Yokohama, Yokosuka, and Subic Bay. After the last decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on September 1, 1976, and sold for scrapping in 1982. For the services brought to the country during the Korean War, the USS Talladega received 2 battle stars and another 3 battle stars for the Vietnam activity. The terrible thing about asbestos-related diseases is that many veterans did not do anything to cause these conditions but to serve our country. A considerable number of Navy veterans have been exposed to asbestos and many may not even know how. Asbestos' heat resistance and fireproofing capabilities made it an ideal material for use in the shipbuilding industry until it was phased out in the 1970s.