16. Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume VI, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, 22 July 1942–1 May 1944 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1950), 174.
17. Norton-Taylor, Heart, 148.
18. MacDonald, “Hell and Back,” 93–94.
19. Norton-Taylor, Heart, 152.
20. MacDonald, “Hell and Back,” 94.
21. James D. Horan, Action Tonight: The Story of the American Destroyer O’Bannon in the Pacific (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1945), 123.
22. MacDonald, “Hell and Back,” 94.
23. Halsey to Nimitz, July 13, 1943, Halsey-Nimitz Correspondence.
24. Halsey to Ainsworth, July 5, 1943; Halsey to McInerney, July 6, 1943; and Nimitz to Ainsworth, July 6, 1943, in Ainsworth, “Solomon Island Campaigns,” 62–64.
25. Radio script, The First Line, Episode #126, June 29, 1944, found in the William K. Romoser Papers, Box 15, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
26. Miller, “Cast Away,” 219–220.
27. Miller, “Report of Activities While Missing,” 4.
28. Miller, “Cast Away,” 223.
29. Ibid., 225.
30. “First Lady Presents Navy Cross to Hero,” New York Times, September 22, 1943.
31. MacDonald Recollections, 21.
32. Frederick Moosbrugger, Commander, Destroyer Division 12, to Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet, “Action Report for Night of August 6–7, 1943—Battle of Vella Gulf,” August 16, 1943, 12–13; South Pacific War Diary, 1942–1944, entry for August 6–7, 1943, in the Admiral William F. Halsey Collection, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
33. Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (New York: Harper Collins, 2000), 466.
34. Tameichi Hara with Fred Saito and Roger Pineau, Japanese Destroyer Captain (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1967), 188.
35. MacDonald Recollections, 25; R. H. Roupe, “Hell and High Water,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=45109&pid=45113, accessed March 20, 2015.
36. Roupe, “Hell and High Water.”
37. Burt Gorsline, “Loss of Chevalier,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=45111&pid=45131, accessed March 20, 2015.
38. “Reminiscences of Rear Admiral Donald J. MacDonald, U.S. Navy (Retired),” United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, Interview Number 4, September 10, 1974, 257 (hereafter “MacDonald Reminiscences, September 10, 1974”).
39. George Gowen, “Various Reminiscences,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/usschevalier/index.asp?r=45109&pid=45110, accessed March 20, 2015.
40. Review of American Magazine article about O’Bannon done by Commander W. W. Hollister, USN, Navy Department, June 1, 1944, found in Box 1, Folder, “Correspondence, 1944 Jan–June,” Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
41. “Presentation of Presidential Unit Citation to the USS Nicholas by Admiral Nimitz,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=44904&pid=44923, accessed February 2, 2015.
42. Horan, Action Tonight, 157–158.
43. Message from Admiral William Halsey to Destroyer Squadron 21, October 29, 1943, found in Ainsworth, “Solomon Island Campaigns,” 70.
CHAPTER 8: CLIMBING THE NEW GUINEA LADDER
1. Jack Bell, “Introduction to ‘Doc’ Ransom’s Diary,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=44805&pid=44816, accessed March 4, 2016.
2. Doc Ransom Diary, October 3, 1943. Access to the full diary granted by Dow Ransom’s son, Dow Ransom Jr.
3. Author’s interview with Martin Johnson, May 16, 2016.
4. Doc Ransom Diary, August 8, August 20, and August 22, 1943.
5. Ibid., October 5 and October 10, 1943.
6. Ibid., November 2–3, 1943.
7. Henry DeLaureal, “From Guadalcanal to Tokyo,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=46804&pid=46817, accessed March 22, 2015.
8. Doc Ransom Diary, December 9, 1943.
9. MacDonald Reminiscences, September 10, 1974, 263–264.
10. Navy Department Press Release, December 18, 1943; “U.S. Destroyer O’Bannon Returns Home; Helped to Sink Battleship and 3 Cruisers,” New York Times, December 19, 1943.
11. Robert Waithman, “The U.S.S. O’Bannon,” typewritten copy of an article enclosed in a letter from Lieutenant Gerard St. George Walker to Commander Donald MacDonald, April 26, 1944, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 1, Folder 7, “Correspondence, 1944 Jan–June,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
12. Richard Shafter, “What’s in a Name?” Our Navy, Mid-June 1944, 24–25, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 4, Folder 17, “Military Service, Historical Material,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
13. “Hero Ship O’Bannon,” Heroic Comics, March 1945, and “Commander Donald J. MacDonald,” Real Life Comics, March 1945, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 4, Folders 14–15, “O’Bannon Historical Material, Comic Books,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
14. “Navy’s Most Decorated Hero Scared by War,” New York Times, April 7, 1944.
15. H. I. Phillips, “O’Bannon and Mac,” New York Sun Dial, April 7, 1944, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 5, Folder 1, “O’Bannon Historical Material, Poems, 1943–1944,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
16. Letter from Vernice Johnson to Donald MacDonald, February 16, 1944, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 1, Folder 7, “Correspondence, 1944 Jan–June,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
17. Letter from Mrs. Richard Hall to Commander Donald MacDonald, April 5, 1944, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 1, Folder 7, “Correspondence, 1944 Jan–June,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
18. Letter from George Philip Jr. to Donald MacDonald, December 5, 1943, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 1, Folder, “Correspondence, 1930, 1936–1942”; letter from Lillian Celmer to Commander Donald MacDonald, April 7, 1944, in the Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 1, Folder 7, “Correspondence, 1944 Jan–June,” both in Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
19. Letter from Betty Keating to Commander Donald J. MacDonald, June 5, 1944, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 1, Folder 7, “Correspondence, 1944 Jan–June,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
20. Letter from Sister Superior to Commander Donald J. McDonald, August 20, 1944, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 1, Folder 7, “Correspondence, 1944, July–December,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
21. “Glory for a Tin Can,” Time, April 17, 1944, 65–66.
22. Doc Ransom Diary, January 6, 1944.
23. Martin Johnson Diary of World War II, February 1, 1944, courtesy of Martin Johnson (hereafter “Johnson Diary”).
24. Doc Ransom Diary, January 14 and January 26, 1944.
25. Chesnutt Diary, January 30, 1944.
26. Doc Ransom Diary, March 10, 1944.
27. Ibid., March 30 and June 2, 1944.
28. Douglas Perret Starr, “I Would Not Have Missed It for the World,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=44905&pid=44937, accessed December 4, 2014.
29. Douglas MacArthur, Reminiscences (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), 190.
30. Doc Ransom Diary, April 21, 1944.
31. Ibid., April 22, 1944.
32. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Action Report 22–23 April 1944—Aitape Beach,
Territory of New Guinea,” April 25, 1944.
33. Doc Ransom Diary, April 23, 1944.
34. Author’s interview with Warren Gabelman, June 10, 2015.
35. Doc Ransom Diary, May 2, 1944.
36. James J. Fahey, Pacific War Diary, 1942–1945 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1963), 5; author’s interview with Douglas Starr, June 18, 2015.
37. Starr interview, June 18, 2015.
38. Chesnutt interview, March 3, 2016.
39. Chesnutt Diary, June 25, July 18, August 11, August 31.
40. Whisler interview, July 22, 2015.
41. Doc Ransom Diary, May 3, June 15, and June 17, 1944.
42. Chesnutt Diary, June 7, 1944.
43. Johnson Diary, July 30, 1944.
44. Johnson interview, May 16, 2016.
45. Doc Ransom Diary, June 8 and September 15, 1944.
46. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Action Report—Support of Landing at Noemfoor Island, New Guinea, July 2, 1944,” July 13, 1944.
47. Doc Ransom Diary, September 15, 1944.
48. Ibid., September 29, 1944.
49. Ibid., July 2, 1944.
CHAPTER 9: THE PHILIPPINE WHIRLWIND
1. Doc Ransom Diary, October 9 and October 14, 1944.
2. Walter Allen Lee, One of the Crew: USS O’Bannon, World War II (Victoria, BC: Trafford, 2007), entry for October 19, 1944; Doc Ransom Diary, October 19, 1944.
3. Chesnutt Diary, October 18, 1944.
4. Doc Ransom Diary, October 20, 1944.
5. Ibid., October 25, 1944.
6. Chesnutt Diary, November 4, 1944, and March 13, 1945.
7. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Action Report—Operation in Leyte Gulf, 16–29 November 1944,” November 29, 1944.
8. Doc Ransom Diary, December 3, 1944.
9. Johnson interview, May 16, 2016.
10. Doc Ransom Diary, December 5 and December 8, 1944.
11. Author’s interview with Robert Whisler, May 12, 2016.
12. Lee, One of the Crew, entry for December 10, 1944.
13. Ibid.
14. Hanson W. Baldwin, “Blow at Luzon Indicated,” New York Times, December 16, 1944.
15. Doc Ransom Diary, December 15, 1944.
16. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Special Action Report (Anti-Aircraft Action by Surface Ships), Submission Of,” December 15, 1944 (hereafter cited as “Howorth, ‘Special Action Report’”).
17. Doc Ransom Diary, December 15, 1944.
18. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Action Report—Invasion of Southwest Mindoro, P. I., December 12–15, 1944,” December 29, 1944; Howorth, “Special Action Report.”
19. Christmas menu and message from the Martin Johnson Collection.
20. USS O’Bannon War Diary, December 24, 1944.
21. Doc Ransom Diary, January 5, 1945.
22. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Action Report—Operations in Support of Seizure and Occupation Luzon Island, P.I. 4 January to 31 January 1945,” February 1, 1945 (hereafter cited as “Taylor Action Report”).
23. Doc Ransom Diary, January 8, 1945.
24. Taylor Action Report.
25. Doc Ransom Diary, February 13, 1945.
26. Chesnutt Diary, February 14, 1945.
27. “Destroyer USS Hopewell Trades Blows with Japanese Shore Batteries on Corregidor,” Navy Department Press Release, August 23, 1945.
28. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Action Report—Manila Bay Operations, 13 February Through 17 February, 1945, Inclusive,” February 22, 1945.
29. Chesnutt Diary, February 14, 1945.
30. Johnson interview, May 16, 2016.
31. James J. Fahey, Pacific War Diary, 1942–1945 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1963), 284.
32. Doc Ransom Diary, February 14, 1945.
33. Johnson interview, May 16, 2016.
34. Medical Officer to Commanding Officer, “Medical Report of Action, 14 February 1945 of the U.S.S. La Vallette (DD-448),” February 21, 1945 (hereafter cited as “Ransom Report”).
35. Doc Ransom Diary, February 14, 1945.
36. Ransom Report.
37. Doc Ransom Diary, February 14, 1945.
38. Ibid.; Jack Bell, “Introduction to ‘Doc’ Ransom’s Diary,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=44805&pid=44816, accessed March 4, 2016.
39. Doc Ransom Diary, February 15, 1945.
40. Douglas Perret Starr, “Taking Corregidor, Manila Bay, 13–16 February 1945,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=44937&pid=44974, accessed December 4, 2014.
41. Chesnutt Diary, February 16, 1945.
42. Doc Ransom Diary, May 2, May 22, May 30, 1945; Martin Johnson letter to his mother, May 30, 1945, in Martin Johnson Collection.
CHAPTER 10: KAMIKAZE CARNAGE
1. Orvill Raines letter to Ray Ellen, July 30, 1944, in William M. McBride, ed., Good Night Officially: The Pacific War Letters of a Destroyer Sailor (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994), 289.
2. Orvill Raines letter to Ray Ellen, September 12, 1944, in Good Night Officially, 72.
3. Orvill Raines letter to Ray Ellen, December 9, 1944, in Good Night Officially, 159, 161.
4. USS Howorth Ship’s History, October 20, 1945, 1.
5. Author’s interview with Russell Bramble, June 14, 2016.
6. Orvill Raines letters to Ray Ellen, December 16 and December 20, 1944, in Good Night Officially, 167–170.
7. USS O’Bannon War Diary, December 18, 1944.
8. USS Howorth Ship’s History, 1.
9. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016.
10. USS Howorth Ship’s History, 1.
11. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016.
12. Ibid.
13. Orvill Raines letters to Ray Ellen, February 22, 1945, in Good Night Officially, 238–239, 242.
14. United States Pacific Fleet Press Release included with USS Howorth Ship’s History.
15. Orvill Raines letter to Ray Ellen, March 17, 1945, in Good Night Officially, 258.
16. “Japan’s Doorstep,” New York Times, April 1, 1945.
17. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016.
18. George Feifer, Tennozan: The Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1992), 8.
19. “Japan May Fall, Tokyo Radio Tells People,” New York Times, April 3, 1945.
20. William F. Halsey and J. Bryan III, Admiral Halsey’s Story (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1947), 229.
21. Rikihei Inoguchi and Tadashi Nakajima, with Roger Pineau, The Divine Wind: Japan’s Kamikaze Force in World War II (New York: Bantam Books, 1958), 189.
22. Ibid., 193–194.
23. W. H. Lawrence, “Our Okinawa Guns Down 118 Planes,” New York Times, April 13, 1945.
24. Orvill Raines letter to Ray Ellen, March 27, 1945, in Good Night Officially, 262.
25. USS Howorth War Diary, April 2, 1945.
26. Orvill Raines letter to Ray Ellen, April 2, 1945, in Good Night Officially, 272.
27. USS Howorth War Diary, April 4, 1945.
28. Orvill Raines letter to Ray Ellen, April 6, 1945, in Good Night Officially, 276.
29. United States Pacific Fleet Press Release included in USS Howorth Ship’s History.
30. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016.
31. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Special Action Report (Anti-Aircraft Action by Surface Ship), on 6 April 1945, Submission of,” April 10, 1945 (hereafter cited as “Burns Action Report”).
32. Walter Karig with Russell L. Harris and Frank A. Manson, Battle Report: Victory in the Pacific (New York: Rinehart, 1949), 384.
33. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016.
34. Ibid.
35. Burns Action Report.
36. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016.
37. Burns Action Report.
38. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016; Sara Kirkley, “Sunday Salute: Russell Bramble,” KHGI-TV interview, Kearney, Nebraska, December 7, 2015.
39. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016.
40. USS Howorth War Diary, April 26, 1945.
41. United States Pacific Fleet Press Release included with USS Howorth Ship’s History.
42. George E. Jones, “Enemy Fliers Hit Troops on Okinawa,” New York Times, April 8, 1945.
43. Commander Edward S. Burns letter to Ray Ellen, April 7, 1945, in Good Night Officially, 278.
44. Bramble interview, June 14, 2016; Russell Bramble letter to Ray Ellen, May 27, 1945, in Good Night Officially, 279.
45. Raines letter to Ray Ellen, July 30, 1944, in Good Night Officially, 286, 289, 291–292.
46. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Action Report—Operations in Support of the Seizure of Tarakan Island, Dutch Borneo, 24 April to 5 May 1945,” May 5, 1945.
47. Paul E. Mahan, “Saving Jenkins,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ussjenkins/index.asp?r=44700&pid=44704, accessed March 12, 2015.
CHAPTER 11: EYEWITNESS TO VICTORY
1. Letter from George R. Thompson to his parents, undated, with the Third Fleet off Japan, U.S.S. O’Bannon Shipmates Association Newsletter, June 1986.
2. William F. Halsey and J. Bryan III, Admiral Halsey’s Story (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1947), 257.
3. Ibid., 260.
4. Douglas Starr email to author, May 16, 2016.
5. “Bull’s Eye,” Time, July 23, 1945, 27–28.
6. Halsey and Bryan, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 266.
7. Starr email to author, May 16, 2016.
8. Thompson letter to his parents.
9. John C. McCarthy, “The Handshake,” April 9, 2004, found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=46804&pid=46823, accessed March 23, 2015; Thompson letter to his parents.
10. Admiral Halsey’s Victory Speech, as broadcast to the Third Fleet, August 15, 1945, found in “Speeches 1939–45,” William F. Halsey Collection, Library of Congress; Halsey, “Life,” 592–593.
11. Halsey and Bryan, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 272; McCarthy, “Handshake.”
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