Happy Memorial Day my American Friends
Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 7:04 pm
Title says it all.
Hope all is well everyone
Hope all is well everyone
Thanks Swerve! If I may share...On November 20, 1944 my Grandpa Joe's ship was hit and sunk by a Japanese Suicide Torpedo called a Kaiten off the Ulithi Atolls. The ship was only commissioned in May of the same year and my Grandpa (who didn't know how to swim) was tired of being on shore, so he gave a friend his dog tags and had him pass his swimming test so he could get on a ship!
He told the story how it he and some others decided to sleep up on the deck instead of down below and that night the torpedo struck. It was a Navy ship, (Auxiliary Oiler) used to refuel ships in the South Pacific during WWII, so when stuck it was engulfed in flames.
My Grandpa, not knowing how to swim had the choice of floating on the surface with a life vest (where the oil and flames were) or drowning. Not wanting to burn alive, he went under and by some miracle was one of the soldiers saved. When I was little, he used to tell me the story of how he swallowed all the water in the ocean to save everyone! Unfortunately though, 63 US Sailors died that day. Thinking of them today and the rest of our courageous, brave men and women who lost their lives serving and protecting our Country.
If you want to learn more about it, you can check it out at ussmississinewa.com
Anyone else have a story to share?!