text: Ten-Month-Growth, 12/17/1943. New York City – Returning to the States for the first time in ten months, Carpenter’s Mate Milbert F. Baker brought a thick beard back with him. Carpenter’s Mate 3/C Edgar A. Dollar of Vancouver, Wash., Combs the face foliage of his Salem, Ore., buddy, as the two arrive in New York with the 54th Naval Construction Battalion. 12/17/43 Credit Line (ACME);