[1][2] President Garfield operated as a WSA troop transport that had sailed from San Francisco 6 December 1941 with troops and the remainder of the 35th Pursuit Group, whose main group had embarked the previous day aboard President Johnson, intended for the Philippines, but turned back after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

[3] During the rush to increase defenses in Hawaii President Garfield and the Army transport Tasker H. Bliss sailed from San Francisco 17 December for the islands with troops, aircraft and supplies.

[4] President Garfield was purchased by the United States Navy at Newport News, Virginia on 1 May 1942 and commissioned USS Thomas Jefferson (AP-60) on 31 August 1942.

The transport lost 16 of her 33 boats that began the assault, because they landed on a rocky beach approximately three miles from their designated area.

She disembarked troops at New Caledonia and Australia in late January 1943; and, during the passage back to Panama, she was reclassified an attack transport and redesignated APA-30 on 1 February 1943.

[1] Thomas Jefferson returned to Algeria and was assigned to TG 81.2, the Transport Group of the Southern Attack Force, for the assault on Salerno.

The transport landed her troops on schedule on the beaches in front of Torre di Paestum despite fierce air opposition and steamed to Oran to shuttle reinforcements and supplies to Italy.

The transport next held weeks of amphibious training before steaming to Weymouth, England, to join the Normandy invasion fleet.

On 5 June, Thomas Jefferson got underway for France with the mighty Allied armada that was to begin the invasion of "Fortress Europe" and, early the next morning was at her assigned position off the beaches.

[1] Thomas Jefferson remained in the British Isles for a month before returning to North Africa early in July.

From Oran, she was routed to Salerno to practice amphibious operations with the 36th Infantry Division in preparation for the invasion of southern France.

Routed on to the South Pacific, the transport trained with marines in the Solomons and then combat loaded them for the assault against the Ryukyus.

After calls at Ulithi, Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, the Russell Islands, New Caledonia and Hawaii, she arrived at San Francisco on 15 July.

Until August 1949, the transport plied between San Francisco and ports in Hawaii, Guam, Midway Island, Okinawa, Japan, China, and the Philippines.

[1] The attack transport remained at San Francisco from 1 December 1950 to 24 January 1951 when she headed directly to Pusan with troops and cargo.

The next day, the ship got underway for San Francisco, but stayed only to embark troops and supplies before beginning the return voyage, via Amchitka, to Japan.