Hi Mike. Some additional information on these two ships for the period your grandfather was on board:

Alcoa Pegasus: She was in San Francisco when your father joined her. She left San Francisco January 9, 1944 for Milne Bay, arriving January 31. I am missing the next few months, but she left Milne Bay March 17, 1944 for San Francisco, arriving April 7. She left San Francisco April 30 arriving at Espiritu Santo on May 17, 1944. She left Espiritu Santo May 18 for Guadalcanal, arrival date unknown. She left Guadalcanal on June 6 to return to San Francisco, arriving June 23 (could be wrong, the file I got this from is very blurry). She returned to Guadalcanal (departure date unknown) arriving on July 24. She left Guadalcanal (unknown date) for Treasury Island, arriving there on August 4. Left Treasury Island on August 7 for Torokina, arriving the same day. She continued short hops between the various islands around Guadalcanal for most of August. She left Guadalcanal area on August 23, 1944, to return to San Francisco, arriving September 7, 1944.

West Cusseta (also spelled West Cussetta in some records, but I believe West Cusseta is correct):
She was in San Francisco in early October, so your grandfather likely joined her there. She left San Francisco October 12, 1944 for Noumea (New Caledonia), arriving November 6. She left Noumea November 10 arriving at Espiritu Santo on November 12, 1944. She left there on November 17, 1944 for Guadalcanal arriving November 20. She left Guadalcanal on December 2 for Milne Bay, arriving December 5. She left Milne Bay December 24 for Finschhafen (multiple spellings exist) Arriving December 26. She left there on December 29 for Manus arriving on December 31, 1944. She left Manus on January 8, 1945, unknown destination. She arrived in Port Hueneme (Los Angeles area) on February 28, 1945. She left Port Hueneme on March 5, arriving Pearl Harbor on March 14. She left Pearl Harbor March 29, destination unknown. Next record I have is she arrived Honolulu on July 4, 1945. I have no further records of her.

I hope this helps! Tracking down these merchant ships is a real challenge. Like your Grandfather, my father served in the Armed Guard as a Signalman for all of the war. My simple search for info on his background has resulted in a 20 year project!

Ron - FYI - I have been remiss in not checking in more often. I have been spending endless hours trying to document as many of the Pacific Convoys as I can, along with other merchant ship movements, since there is no other source for this information (no Hague for the Pacific). I have amassed over 50,000 records for various merchant ships that served the Pacific, and over 5,000 convoys. Hoping to someday get it into a format that can be published so others have access. That's a story for another day!