(I have published before)

 This is a picture of the aircraft carrier Wasp before it sank during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II. This battle lasted over six months and was fought on land by Marines, supported by numerous ships. My dad was on this ship when it sank. The Yorktown was sunk at the Battle of Midway, and my dad was on it too. The Hornet participated in many battles and 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, and my dad was on board when it went down. He had four ships sunk under him during the war. When my dad died in 1991, a friend who served with him sent us this letter and story about him.

“We were sitting in a gun turret mounted on the side of the ship under the flight deck. We were letting our gun cool off after rapid firing; if the gun is loaded while hot, the powder can ignite before the projectile is loaded. We had successfully loaded it before deciding to let it cool. While waiting, a Japanese kamikaze plane flew low around the ship, heading straight toward us. Duke stomped on the foot firing mechanism and blew that plane into little pieces 200 feet away. It was funny when it was over, but I can tell you both Duke and I thought we had bought it that day. We served together on the Hornet, Wasp, Yorktown, Enterprise, Saratoga, North Carolina, O’Brien, and others. We spent many hours together—sometimes two or three days straight—in battle at our stations. Please allow me to say that Delbert Duke was a good man.”