A war story...
April 16th, 2004 07:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shiredancerThis is the story of Jack E., a 25-year-old medical corpsman on board the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ommaney Bay during the last year of WWII.
It's the story of January 4, 1945, in the Sulu Sea, when Jack was walking toward the forward flight deck to man his post. The first he became aware of anything happening was when he noticed chips of the wooden deck being sprayed all around him. Next thing he knew, his fellow medical corpsman about ten feet behind was dead and a kamikaze pilot had crashed through the deck, strafing as he went. Jack dove for cover and with another crewman waited out the first effects of the crash; then, as a medical corpsman, he began looking for the wounded. The first guy he came to was named Marty; Marty had lost a hand and had a lot of other injuries and was losing blood. Jack did what he could for him and then kept helping whoever he came across. He tried to get down to his quarters to retrieve his medical gear, but the fires and smoke were too intense. He had to make do with the portable first aid kit he had on him at the time. The shock was so intense that when another crewman presented himself to see if Jack could use some help, the medic could only stare blankly. He had no words left to him. He came across one fellow whose face had been pretty much blown away... gave him a shot of morphine and announced that there wasn't much else they could do for him, he wasn't going to make it. The first guy, Marty, was unable to see and was groping for his cross... when he couldn't find it, Jack found a key in his pocket and pressed it into Marty's hands, and Marty never knew the difference. The Ommaney Bay was sinking, and they kept loading the wounded onto boats and floating stretchers to get them over to the rest of the fleet. Finally the call went out to abandon ship, but Jack stayed on until all the wounded were accounted for and sent safely off. He was one of the last to leave besides the captain. When it was his turn to go he headed for a line hanging over the side of the ship to drop into the water and swim, but felt a tug from below and realized a rescue boat was down there; ironically, it was the boat holding Marty, the first man he helped. He was taken with Marty over to a destroyer in the fleet and at 1945 that evening the Ommaney Bay was scuttled by her fellow ship and sank to the bottom of the Sulu Sea off the Philippines.
Marty didn't make it; he'd lost too much blood. Years later, though, Jack attended a reunion of his crewmates and was stunned when a man walked up and told him Jack had saved his life that day. Turns out he was the fellow whose face had been shot off... when he heard Jack announce that there was nothing more to be done, he became determined to take matters in his own hands to ensure his own survival. When the corpsmen were debating what to do with him and whether to get him to a rescue vessel, he just stood up and said "I'll make it easy on you and walk." He took Jack's words as a challenge to survive, and did. In all, 95 men were lost in the sinking of that ship.
Jack is my dad, and I get chills when he tells me this story. He's 83 now, old and white-haired and bent over, but alert and smiling all the same. It's hard to think of my kind, gentle father going through an experience like that; it's amazing to watch his eyes focus on days long past and men long dead. I'm so very proud of you, Daddy.
It's the story of January 4, 1945, in the Sulu Sea, when Jack was walking toward the forward flight deck to man his post. The first he became aware of anything happening was when he noticed chips of the wooden deck being sprayed all around him. Next thing he knew, his fellow medical corpsman about ten feet behind was dead and a kamikaze pilot had crashed through the deck, strafing as he went. Jack dove for cover and with another crewman waited out the first effects of the crash; then, as a medical corpsman, he began looking for the wounded. The first guy he came to was named Marty; Marty had lost a hand and had a lot of other injuries and was losing blood. Jack did what he could for him and then kept helping whoever he came across. He tried to get down to his quarters to retrieve his medical gear, but the fires and smoke were too intense. He had to make do with the portable first aid kit he had on him at the time. The shock was so intense that when another crewman presented himself to see if Jack could use some help, the medic could only stare blankly. He had no words left to him. He came across one fellow whose face had been pretty much blown away... gave him a shot of morphine and announced that there wasn't much else they could do for him, he wasn't going to make it. The first guy, Marty, was unable to see and was groping for his cross... when he couldn't find it, Jack found a key in his pocket and pressed it into Marty's hands, and Marty never knew the difference. The Ommaney Bay was sinking, and they kept loading the wounded onto boats and floating stretchers to get them over to the rest of the fleet. Finally the call went out to abandon ship, but Jack stayed on until all the wounded were accounted for and sent safely off. He was one of the last to leave besides the captain. When it was his turn to go he headed for a line hanging over the side of the ship to drop into the water and swim, but felt a tug from below and realized a rescue boat was down there; ironically, it was the boat holding Marty, the first man he helped. He was taken with Marty over to a destroyer in the fleet and at 1945 that evening the Ommaney Bay was scuttled by her fellow ship and sank to the bottom of the Sulu Sea off the Philippines.
Marty didn't make it; he'd lost too much blood. Years later, though, Jack attended a reunion of his crewmates and was stunned when a man walked up and told him Jack had saved his life that day. Turns out he was the fellow whose face had been shot off... when he heard Jack announce that there was nothing more to be done, he became determined to take matters in his own hands to ensure his own survival. When the corpsmen were debating what to do with him and whether to get him to a rescue vessel, he just stood up and said "I'll make it easy on you and walk." He took Jack's words as a challenge to survive, and did. In all, 95 men were lost in the sinking of that ship.
Jack is my dad, and I get chills when he tells me this story. He's 83 now, old and white-haired and bent over, but alert and smiling all the same. It's hard to think of my kind, gentle father going through an experience like that; it's amazing to watch his eyes focus on days long past and men long dead. I'm so very proud of you, Daddy.
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no subject
Date: April 17th, 2004 07:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: April 17th, 2004 08:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: April 17th, 2004 10:13 am (UTC)What a great story; what an event to live through. (of course, gruseom me wants to know what the one guy looked like at that reunion.)
It's amazing, isn't it, the stories each generation has to pass on to their children, what we have each survived? Truly, truly amazing.
no subject
Date: April 17th, 2004 10:52 am (UTC)