(I shared this about seven years ago)

This is a picture of the aircraft carrier the Wasp before it sank in the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. This battle lasted over 6 months being fought on land by Marines and supported by numerous ships. My Dad was on this ship when it sank. The Yorktown sank in the Battle of Midway and my Dad was on it. The Hornet was in many battles and was the aircraft carrier that launched the “Doolittle Raid” when Tokyo was bombed for the first time in the war. It was sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. My Dad was on it when it sank. He had four ships sunk under him in the war. When my Dad died in 1991 a friend of his who had served with him through the war sent us this letter and story about my Dad.

“We were sitting in a gun turret which is mounted on the side of the ship under the flight deck. We were letting our gun cool off from much rapid firing, if the gun is loaded while hot the powder will ignite before the projectile is loaded. We had loaded it successfully before we decided to let it cool. While waiting a Japanese kamikaze plane came in low around the ship headed right towards us, Duke stomped on the foot firing mechanism and blew that plane into little bitty pieces 200 feet from us. It was funny when it was over, but I can tell you for sure that both Duke and I thought we had bought it that day. We served together on the Hornet, the Wasp, the Yorktown, the Enterprise, the Saratoga, the North Carolina, the O’Brian and others. We spent many hours together sometimes 2 and 3 days straight in battle at our stations. Please allow me to say to you that Delbert Duke was a good man.”