Posted on 04/01/2016 5:14:25 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
This is so interesting! My dad lied about his age, too and ended up on the Enterprise! He sent his pay home to his mother and 9 sisters, shot craps for more. My aunts have told me they would have starved during the war if it were not for him. These guys were such heroes. I can’t see any 12 y o today doing what they did, but you never know...
Good picture to have and a good lesson to teach.
“By all accounts the Franklin should have sunk but they somehow saved her which was a miracle.”
Yup. I’m impressed you know about it.
Most of that stuff is being forgotten.
It is true what a lot of critics say that air craft carriers are vulnerable. But they don’t take into account how damn tough they are. They are damn hard to sink. Even heavily damaged with right shipyard they can be repaired fairly quickly.
“Good picture to have and a good lesson to teach.”
The more of what I see being taught at schools, the more I agree with you.
I had another smaller version for my daughter that had the tagline “Think your life sucks? At least your not here.”
With an arrow pointing to decks at the water line. (Where my dad says he was trapped, with water coming in)
Nothing like a little perspective for the kids!
” They are damn hard to sink.”
That’s for sure. The Franklin lost 900 hands in about 5 minutes, and still managed to keep her afloat.
“These guys were such heroes.”
You got that right.
Somehow the engineers managed to keep her moving under her own power. That is what helped a lot.
Some kids stepped forward early in life and generally, the military knew who they were. There were also old timers, too old to step forward, who found a way to join the fight. My dad was one; born in 1906. He served in the China-Burma-India Campaign as a civilian pilot over the Hump in a C-46.
I seem to recall that the South Dakota was put out of action fairly early in the battle. The engineers had done something to the ship’s circuit breakers that caused them to lock out when the ship first fired its main guns, leaving it literally powerless and unable to respond to the Japanese.
It was the USS Washington that did the bulk of the shooting that night, sinking a Japanese battleship (IJN Kirishima) in the process. The Washington continued on in the campaign, while the South Dakota limped home for repairs...and its crew claimed for itself the victories scored by the Washington. When the men of the Washington learned of this months later, there was no end of enmity between the two ships’ crews.
Interesting story. Thanks.
“as a civilian pilot over the Hump in a C-46.”
That’s cool. What’s over the Hump? It sounds familiar.
Excellent thread. Amazing story, amazing guy.
My Dad quit school as soon as he turned 17 and enlisted in the Navy...
Was a destroyer sailor in the Pacific...He and other members of his crew were involved in firefighting and damage control on board the Franklin...He had some great pics taken from his destroyer (USS Melvin DD680) along side the Franklin as she listed, engulfed in smoke...
They helped save “Big Ben”...
It was a different time.
In “Band of Brothers” one of the men of Easy Company, talked about how a few guys from his hometown committed suicide when they were turned down for serving.
Nuthin` new:
“1777: KIDS FIGHT WITH MUSKETS AND BAYONETS
AT BATTLE OF SARATOGA”
Thirteen year old boys with muskets fought at Saratoga.
Dwight, “The Northern Traveler”, 1841, p141
“Powder monkeys” go all the way back to the first ships with cannons.
My Dad quit school as soon as he turned 17 and enlisted in the Navy...
Was a destroyer sailor in the Pacific...He and other members of his crew were involved in firefighting and damage control on board the Franklin...He had some great pics taken from his destroyer (USS Melvin DD680) along side the Franklin as she listed, engulfed in smoke...
They helped save “Big Ben”...”
That’s awesome ! Nice to know you!
While the battleship USS South Dakota was scrapped, parts of the ship including one of her massive propellers, is part of a memorial in Sioux Falls, SD.
The Hump was the Himalayas, overflown by C-46’s enroute to supporting the China-Burma-India theater. Hump time was logged separately & many aircraft were lost where there was absolutely no place to land. Hump pilots were an elite.
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