I was with the Laffey from the beginning, when it was launched, and I had been on the ship for the Normandy invasion, and then out to the Pacific. First we were in the Philippines and had encountered kamikazes there, so we kind of knew what to expect. I was assigned to Mount 43, which was a quad-40. It was right behind No. 2 stack on the starboard side. We heard that we were going on picket duty and we pulled alongside the ammunition ship to unload our empty shells and take on more ammo. We all felt that our time of testing was near at hand.
Our first day out there on station, Saturday, was rather quiet. We had moved north to relieve the ship that had been on picket station No. 1. We heard of a few bogeys around but none came close to disturb us.
Sunday was much the same. G.Q. was before sunrise, and we kept a constant lookout from sunrise to sunset for any bogeys that might appear. It was really a pleasant day.
Monday, G.Q. again was called at sunrise. And then it all started at approximately 8 A.M. I heard over the headphones that a large number of bogeys were on the radar screen. They were approaching us from the north. The skipper already had alerted the engine room and we were on the move.
On Mount 43, we all began to scan the horizon. It wasn’t long before we spotted a faint outline over Mount 3 to the stern of one or two bogeys scouting out the ships awaiting them. Then I heard on the headphones, “Bogeys approximately nine miles.” They closed to about seven miles, then retreated.
Now the word came over the headphones that as many as fifty bogeys were in our vicinity. We now were up to full speed and moving away from the previous sightings. On the horizon aft of Mount 3, the bogeys appeared. Mount 3 commenced firing, and soon we saw smoke as one of the bogeys went spiraling into the sea. But then there was an onslaught of planes from many directions.
We in Mount 43 spotted a plane about 100 feet off the water, coming in on the starboard beam. It was too close for the 5-inch guns, and they already had targets, so it was up to Mounts 41 and 43 and Mounts 21 and 23 to stop this plane. As it bore down ever closer, we could see the pilot trying desperately to make his target, and we were firing at it as fast as we could.
Our guns were down level with the sea, and the bullets from the 20s and 40s began to shred the plane as it got closer, and the Laffey began turning to port. When the plane was only 100 yards away, it slowly rose up and then plunged into the sea. Those of us in Mount 43 let out a yell of victory. That was short lived.
Almost immediately, another bogey came in from the starboard bow quarter. We fired a few bursts. The plane passed over the ship and our gun cut out as we swung past the No. 2 stack. The plane continued on a swooping quick turn out over the port side and back toward the stern at a steep angle and hit Mount 44, which was diagonally across from us on the other side of the ship. But as it hit, the plane cartwheeled over Mount 2 3 and those of us in 43, spewing gasoline and starting fires, and there was flying debris everywhere as the plane blew up.
Right before the plane crashed, my crew could see it would hit us, so they jumped over the gun tub and down underneath to the main deck. But I had headphones on and a helmet on top of that so I couldn’t get loose or I probably would have jumped down to the deck and out of the way also. So, I stayed on the gun with my headphones as the plane cartwheeled right over the top of me. About all I could do was dive down under the gun and try and get some protection from the plane that was disintegrating into pieces as it crashed into and over the ship. My pointer, K. D. Jones, and I both dove under the gun. Pieces of the plane were flying over and around us, and the generator out of the engine of the plane ended up in the gun tub with us.
The fires set off the 40-mm ammunition stored around Mount 44. The gun covers on Mount 43 were burning, so it was time to get out of there. As I crawled on my stomach around the gun tub and toward No. 2 stack, exploding ammo kept whistling by. I went to the gunner shack under Mount 41 to collect my thoughts and to thank God that I was still alive. I then moved down to the main deck amidships. Every time a plane would come at the ship, there were other crew members who had taken cover there, and they would run back and forth to get on the opposite side of the ship from where a plane looked like it would hit. I figured this wasn’t a great place to be.
About this time I saw Jake Snyder and Larry Delewski filling and carrying clips of 20-mm ammo to Mounts 20 and 21. So I helped them, and I made one trip to Mount 21 and was just going in to pick up one for Mount 20 when Lt. Runk told me to go to the bridge and tell Commander Becton that the aft steering room was flooded and the rudder jammed. I carried the message to the bridge then returned to pick up a clip of 20-mm ammo for Mount 20. All this time the attack was going on in full swing, with Japanese planes zooming down at us, guns firing almost constantly. Planes were hitting the ship and there were explosions from near misses. It was pretty chaotic.
I was intent on carrying ammunition to help out the various gun mounts that were still firing and didn’t even see a Japanese plane come zooming low right over the ship. It clipped the radar mast, and an American Corsair fighter that was right behind it also clipped the mast, and both crashed into the ocean off to the side of the ship.
Just as I was on my way back down the ladder after taking the clip forward, I saw a big explosion as a bomb hit right close to the ship. Shrapnel from that bomb killed Stanley Wismer in Mount 20 and fatally wounded Joe Mele who was in the handling room of Mount 2. As I touched the main deck, right by where the bomb exploded, I heard this voice behind me saying, “Please help me.” There stood Fred Burgess on one leg, the other had been torn off above the knee by shrapnel from the bomb. This was a very difficult thing to see. He was one of the gun crew on Mount 20 and he was trying to get out of the way as that bomb hit. I caught him as he collapsed, and laid him on the deck. There wasn’t really anything that I could use for a tourniquet, so I got ahold of a guy’s shirt and tied it on his leg. We carried him into the wardroom to be cared for, but they couldn’t do much to save him because he had lost too much blood. After I came back out, I found Wismer lying on the main deck. I gave him artificial respiration, but soon one of the officers came by and said he was gone.
I went back to see if Jake and Larry were still loading ammo. Someone stopped me and asked if I could help Zupon. He had been up in one of the forward gun mounts. A piece of shrapnel had ripped away part of his shoulder, and someone had to keep pressure on the artery to slow the bleeding. I stayed with him until help came and he was transferred to a waiting vessel.
By this time the attack was over, and word was passed to jettison all loose gear to lighten the ship. We were down under water at the stern. I went back to Mounts 43, 44, and 23 and disposed of all loose material, including the Japanese generator that had landed in the gun tub with K. D.Jones and me.
But through all this I didn’t get a scratch. I’ve never quite figured that out. The one time I figured I should have gotten hit was when I was crouched down in the gun tub just after that first plane hit. The ammo from the gun was going off in every which direction. You couldn’t know where they were coming from. I was lucky I wasn’t hit.
That night, I lay down in the Mount 43 gun tub, using my life preserver as a pillow, and I slept all night long—I didn’t wake up until morning. We were totally given out. My usual sleeping quarters were under six feet of water near the stern of the ship. I had been standing watch the night before and had only slept about three hours or so, so I was really beat.
I’ve got some souvenirs, some pieces of shrapnel, and a 7-mm bullet from a strafing Japanese plane that hit the ship. Thankfully the skipper was able to maneuver the ship to keep most of the damage to the stern. All of the crew at the stern, from the No. 2 stack on back, took an awful beating, but it did save the ship. The idea was that if we were under attack, to turn the stern to the attack.
We got the ship back to Seattle, and it went on display with descriptions of where the planes had hit, where people had been killed, and so on. Thousands of people came down to tour the ship, and members of the crew were standing by to answer questions. One of the ladies who came aboard to tour the ship started talking to me, and she offered to take me for a car ride. And I ended up marrying her! I guess that affected my life a little bit. If the Laffey had never been attacked, I would have never met my wife! I guess it worked out. So I came back to Seattle with my wife and have been living here ever since. I haven’t really had any problems with nightmares, but I often think of the fellows who were killed. A lot were personal friends, and I knew them very well. We had been together for almost two years. But a lot of us survived, and I believe God’s protective hand was upon us that day.