USS Meeker County was an built for the United States Navy during World War II. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her hull designation. Later named after Meeker County, Minnesota, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
In April 1944, after completing shakedown exercises in Chesapeake Bay, LST-980 loaded equipment and got underway for England, where plans for the invasion of France had been stalled in debate over the need for shipping, a need and resultant disagreement so acute that Prime Minister Winston Churchill had quipped, "The destinies of two great empires...seem to be tied up in some God-damned things called LSTs." Upon arriving in England, LST-980 underwent further amphibious training and by early June, stood ready for "D-Day." On 5 June the ships of "Operation Overlord" sortied from the English coast and on 6 June, the Allies landed on the Normandy beaches. Participating in the invasion, LST-980 was bracketed by bombs, one of which, a dud, penetrated the hull and two bulkheads, killing one man and causing minor damage. After the establishment of the beachhead, the landing ship remained in the area providing shuttle service between the United Kingdom and France. Carrying men and equipment to France, she returned to England with prisoners of war, transporting upwards of 900 at one time. LST-980 returned to the United States in February 1945 and was assigned to training activities along the east coast for the remainder of the war.
Post-war activities, 1945–1955
Following the war she remained at Little Creek, Virginia, and continued her training operations, extending them to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Those included participation in CAMID I, II, and III, joint Army-Navy operations to acquaint US Naval Academy cadets and midshipmen with amphibious warfare. On 30 April 1949, LST-980 departed Little Creek, for the Mediterranean and five months' duty with the 6th Fleet. Returning to her base on 4 October, she resumed east coast operations. With only three interruptions, two resupply missions to the Baffin Bay area in the summers of 1951 and 1952, and a two-month tour as support LST for Marines on Vieques Island, in 1954, she continued to provide amphibious training to Naval and Marine Corps personnel until July 1955. Renamed Meeker County on 1 July 1955, she steamed to New York, in mid-July to begin inactivation. On 23 September, she arrived at Green Cove Springs, Florida, to complete the process. Decommissioning on 16 December 1955, she remained in the Florida Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, until transferred to the Philadelphia Group in October 1961.
In 1965, an urgent need for amphibious types caused Meeker County to be reactivated. Modernized at Baltimore, she recommissioned on 23 September 1966, underwent intensive training at Little Creek, and on 20 January 1967, departed for her new home port, Guam. She arrived at Apra Harbor, Guam, on 7 April, and then sailed for South Vietnam, for a tour of duty as a unit of Landing Ship Squadron 3. Operating from Da Nang, she provided almost continuous support to combat operations in Vietnam into 1970.
