Crowded ship bringing American troops back to New York harbor after V-Day, 1945

This is Queen Elizabeth of the Army. Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were used as military transports during World War II. Their high speed allowed them to overtake threats, mainly German U-boats, usually allowing them to travel without convoys.

She had a carrying capacity of over 15,000 soldiers and a crew of over 900. During her war service as an armywoman, Queen Elizabeth carried over 750,000 soldiers, and she also traveled some 500,000 miles (800,000 km).

The journey from the east coast of the US to the British Isles would take an average of 5–7 days, bringing troops to Europe. It looks overcrowded because everyone is on deck as it is pulling into the harbor (see top of picture).

According to Eisenhower's memoir, some soldiers were complaining to the press about the slow speed at which they were being returned to the States.

He was aware of this and asked a large gathering of soldiers at an event whether they wanted to continue to fill the ships to normal capacity or to throw them to hell to go home as soon as possible. He highly appreciated the latter option.

How did anyone find his family members when everyone got off the boat?

Actually, no one came in contact with his family. The family probably wouldn't have been waiting at the dock unless they lived near the port because train transport was really expensive.

Soldiers would get off the ship, go to the Western Union office, send a telegram to their family about when and how they would get home, and then they would get the train there.

There were other options, such as long-distance telephones, but a telegram would probably have been the most common. It is also possible that some soldiers did not have money for Telegram, so they simply showed up in their old city.