Pearl Harbor Survivor Remembers-- Part 2

Then began the long and hard salvage effort. Five months later, John Reed was assigned to a destroyer/minesweeper and deployed to the island of Attu to sweep for mines. He later became a gunnery instructor. //// After that, he asked for reassignment to the aircraft carrier USS Essex and served off Okinawa. He says the ship had over 300 "kills" and the Essex received very little damage. He remembers one kamikaze flying into the ship, but the damage was so little that it only took two hours to repair. //// He was honorably discharged on Nov. 6, 1945, with the rank of Gunner's Mate 1st Class and returned to Oklahoma and has been back to Pearl harbor twice in 1987 and 1991. //// --GreGen