Over the next two decades he served in the occupation forces in Japanese and in Chinese waters. His ship, the light gun cruiser , was in the mouth of the Huangpu River when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces fell to Mao Zedong's Red Army in March 1949. Probably the last U.S. warship in China, his ship sailed for home only to head to Hunters Point, San Francisco shipyard for decommissioning. From 1951 through 1955, he attended the Joint Guided Missile School, Fort Bliss, Texas, the Naval Line School, Monterey, California, and served as instructor at the Special (atomic) Weapons School, Norfolk, Virginia. He returned to sea as Executive Officer on followed by service on the Staff, Commander, Destroyer Force, Atlantic.