Thank you Ron: Maybe someone there can answer a question. My Dad saved a piece of paper from 1945. He was in the Merchant Marines (twice) and also served in the Army. While in the merchant service he was on the SS Madawaska Victory as it arrived Cardiff January 7, 1945. His family was from Scotland and he requested a few days leave to visit. Well Sir (that's my Dad's was of talking), it seems that so many had requested leave at the same time, the Captain had only one equitable solution: cancel ALL leave. So my Dad never saw Scotland, and saved the leave slip signed by the immigration officer all these years.
I have learned that the Madawaska(along with the SS Oneida Victory) picked up troops from LeHavre at the end of the war and returned to New York on August 20, 1945. I found two sites, one with a list of the 517th returning on the Madawaska, and another with a movie of the 'landlubbers' trying to walk the deck of the Oneida.

But does anyone know where the Madawaska was between those two dates? Thank you in advance.