The West Virginai was at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines took place in October of 1944 and involved 34 aircraft carriers, 36 battleships and cruisers, more than 140 destroyers and escorts and 1500 planes.
He and his wife wrote each other everyday. Letters from her would arrive in a pile and then he'd receive none for weeks, depending upon where and when the letters caught up with the ship. His mail was read by an officer who literally cut out censored news about where he was and anything that could be used by the enemy. Some letters were cut out nearly 90 percent.
For recreation, the crew got to occasionally see movies on the quarterdeck and they had concerts. The "Wee Vee" was especially fortunate to have two former members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra on board.
The ship was at Iwo Jima and at Okinawa, a kamikaze crashed into the ship, killing four and wounding seven. Fortunately, its bomb did not explode. Said Reiter, "It was Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945. I was in the bow of the ship in the shower. All of the ship's major compartments were locked down and he and others trapped there had ample time to reflect on what must have been going through the minds of those on the West Virginia who were caught there at Pearl Harbor.
He was also on the ship when it led the American fleet into Tokyo Bay for the surrender. The ship was decommissioned in 1949 and scrapped in 1961.
Reiter journeyed to Charleston, West Virginia the past September for a crew reunion.
The Story of a Ship. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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