Joseph, thank you for your service. I served active duty in peace time USAF from 1977-1983. My father sailed on the SS David Gaillard from California to India in 1943 or 1944. He has a blog post on the trip that you might find interesting. Here's the link:
http://cbi-theater-10.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-10/jesse/jesse.html Best wishes to you. Mike Jesse