After writing For Crew and Country: The Inspirational True Story of Bravery and Sacrifice Aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts, my editor asked if there were another World War II ship that piqued my interest. He felt it might be an apt companion to the story of the destroyer escort. Of a handful of options, one shone above the rest: the exploits of the USS Laffey (DD-724). I was convinced that readers would be moved by the crew’s stirring April 16, 1945, performance against twenty-two kamikazes off Okinawa.
I soon found that the destroyer had amassed quite a record before that penultimate act. After experiencing her initial combat during the Normandy invasion, where Laffey supported the ground forces from the June 6, 1944, landings through the end of the month, she participated in three Philippine assaults and the landings at Iwo Jima, and screened for a carrier task group as it charged north to attack the Japanese Home Islands. My interest heightened when I learned that the ship still exists as a floating museum in South Carolina, meaning that I could walk the decks and gain a feeling for the crew stationed inside the five-inch mounts and on deck among the 40mm and 20mm antiaircraft guns.
I was delighted to learn that the veterans of the destroyer formed an active survivor’s group. The USS Laffey (DD-724) Association hosts reunions bringing together not only the veterans from World War II but also the men who served aboard the ship during the Korean conflict and after. The Association’s website holds a wealth of information and provided me with my initial material about the destroyer, and the current president, Sonny Walker, compiled a list of the World War II survivors that I might contact.
Interviews and other research led to the present volume. In arriving at this point, many people helped along the way. Atop that list are the men who served aboard Laffey during World War II, who kindly offered their time for interviews, as well as their letters, photographs, and other memorabilia. Ari Phoutrides, who had already posted riveting material on the Association’s website, was available for in-depth interviews or for those times when I needed a quick answer to a question. He also took me on a tour of his destroyer when I visited the ship on the sixty-ninth anniversary of the April 1945 encounter. In addition to our many interviews, Robert Johnson kindly offered the large collection of letters he wrote during the war and shared photographs with me during an early 2014 visit to his Richmond, Virginia, home. Daniel Zack of Massachusetts offered meticulous insight into the ship’s operations during many interviews, and the family of the late Wilbert Gauding gave me access to his World War II diary. Joel Youngquist provided a compelling account of his time on the aft guns during the April 1945 action, and he, Lloyd Hull, and Jay Bahme opened up the world of an officer aboard a wartime destroyer. Robert Dockery, Dr. Andrew Martinis, Joseph Dixon, Fred Gemmell, and Lee Hunt helped me better understand the ship’s operations from the enlisted viewpoint. Marguerite Fern, whose love for her late husband and crew member, Tom, shines to this day, opened her impressive collection of articles, photographs, and wartime letters when I visited her Massachusetts home in 2013.
A special thanks goes to my gifted agent, Jim Hornfischer. I could not have asked for a more professional person to help steer me in the right direction, and his attributes—as an agent, a fellow World War II author, and friend—have been one of the true blessings of my writing career.
A team of editors at Da Capo Press, led by Bob Pigeon offered comments that improved the manuscript.
As always, I cannot forget the advice and friendship of two men. The words of Dr. Bernard Norling, my history advisor at the University of Notre Dame and my consultant through the years, and Tom Buell, my writing mentor and the author of acclaimed biographies, influence me each day, even though, sadly, both are no longer with us. Their memories prod me to produce the best possible manuscript I can deliver.
I have been fortunate to enjoy the amazing support of family. My three daughters, Amy, Julie, and Karen, and my older brother, Tom, a naval aviator and Vietnam War veteran, freely exhibit their pride with my work and with me. The grandfather in me loves that my four grandchildren, Matthew, Megan, Emma, and Kaitlyn, think it is cool that I write books, and the past two decades would not have been as fulfilling without the companionship of Terri Faitel, an extraordinary mathematics teacher/coordinator who meticulously scours my manuscripts with the same fervor with which she attacks the Pythagorean theorem.
Finally, three family members who are no longer with me provide impetus to exert my utmost. My parents, Tom and Grace Wukovits, gave unquestioned love throughout their lives and were proud that I reached my dream of writing history books. My younger brother, Fred, would also have shown his pride, most likely through a humorous remark or a wry smile.
Two final notes. I have used two sources in determining the ranks and ratings of the crew—the list of survivors included in the Appendix to F. Julian Becton’s The Ship That Would Not Die, and the Laffey muster rolls for March 31, 1945. In the interest of uniformity, I used those designations throughout the book, even if earlier in the war a crew may have held a different rank or rating.
Also, the two poems I have referenced throughout, “An Ode to the USS Laffey (DD-724)” by Gunner’s Mate 3/c Owen G. Radder and “Invicta,” by Lieutenant (jg) Matthew C. Darnell Jr., can be found respectively at http://www.laffey.org/glenrodetolaffey.htm and at Laffey News, April–June 1990.
John F. Wukovits
Trenton, Michigan