Getting That Sinking Feeling Again: On Two Ships That Were Sunk by Torpedoes

From the Feb. 21st Charleston (WV) Gazette "WWII vets who survived two sunk ships gets medals" by Paul J. Nyden.

Most people would consider getting sunk once in a war to be bad enough, but Farris H. Burton was on two ships that were torpedoed and sunk. And, to boot, the second ship to be sunk was carrying him to safety after the first one.

He recently received five medals from Senator Jay Rockefeller. It took longer to get those medals than the total of ten days he spent in lifeboats after the two sinkings in two oceans.

The ceremony took place at the former Daniel Boone Hotel where Burton spent his last night as a civilian before shipping off the next day for Navy training in Norfolk, Virginia.

He had enlisted on April 26, 1942, his 17th birthday.

On October 7, 1942, he was on the SS Firethorn, about 60 miles off the coast of South Africa in the Indian Ocean when the ship was hit by a U-boat's torpedo and sank. The 49 survivors spent two days in life boats before being rescued by a British ship.

Along with the survivors of other sinkings, he boarded the SS Zaandam, another transport ship, and 26 days later it was hit by two torpedoes and sank. This time, Burton and the survivors spent eight days on life rafts before reaching an island off the Brazil coast.

Mr. Burton was later sent to a naval base in Florida and served on other ships until the end of the war before being discharged April 26, 1946, his 21st birthday.

Now he Could Legally Drink and Had Good Reason to Do So. --GreGen