These were the ones with fewer than the USS Russell (DD-414)
USS Sauffley (DD-465) 16
USS Taylor (DD-468) 15
USS Thresher (SS-200) 15
USS North Carolina (BB-55) 15 Hey, that's my ship!!
USS Morris (DD-417) 15
USS Fletcher (DD-445) 15
USS Narwhal (SS-167) 15
--GreGen
On 27 January 1945, the Russell sailed north again arriving off Nasugbu Bay in the Philippines and covered the minesweepers as they cleared approach channels then fired on enemy positions. Relieve4d late in the afternoon, she returned to Lingayen Gulf and then to Leyte, Bew Guinea and the Solomons.
On 15 February she was at Guadalcanal and rejoined the 5th Fleet for Operation Iceberg, the Okinawa Invasion. On April 1 she arrived off the invasion beaches and commenced screening until May 28 when she got underway for the United States for a much-needed yard overhaul.
Still undergoing the overhaul in Seattle, Washington, when the war ended. Then on November 15, the Russell was decommissioned and struck from the Navy List thirteen days later. In September 1947, she was sold for scrap to the National Metal and Steel Corporation, Terminal Island, Los Angeles.
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During the war, the USS Russell received 16 Battle Stars, making her one of the most decorated U.S. ships of the war.
--GreGen
On 13 October 1944, the USS Russell sailed to the Philippines with TF-78 and on October 20 patrolled off Alabat Point, while troops landed and continued operations around the Philippines before returning to New Guinea and escorting reinforcements from there to the Philippines in November and December.
On 28 December, she departed Aitape for the invasion of Luzon and then steamed to Mindoro Strait. Two days later, she joined three other destroyers in forming an interceptor force to destroy Japanese ships sortieing out of Manila Bay. At 2230, the Japanese destroyer Hinoki was discovered and fire opened on it.
The Japanese ship sank in twenty minutes. The Russell was ordered to pick up survivors and several were seen in the water, but refused assistance.
After that, the Russell patrolled, illuminated, bombarded and fought off kamikazes for nine days. From 18-23 January, she escorted damaged vessels to Leyte.
--GreGen
Continuing with action in the Pacific. These were some of the Russell's actions:
1943
Betio, Tarawa
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1944
Wotje
Kwajalein
Escort work along the New Guinea coast
Wakde
Padaido Islands
Biak
Toem
Noemfoor
Morotai
One Really Busy Tincan. --GreGen
The USS Russell (DD-414) was commissioned two months before World War II in Europe began and cruised in the western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea doing Neutrality Patrol before Pearl Harbor was attacked.
It was then ordered to the Pacific Ocean and then was involved in screening reinforcements to Samoa. By the time she arrived the Japanese had taken over that part of the Pacific. After that, the Russell was involved in several actions and screen two different aircraft carriers.
Next, it was in the Battle of the Coral Sea and screened the sinking carrier USS Lexington. Next, the ship was involved in the Guadalcanal Campaign and then the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands and rescued men from the sinking carrier Hornet.
After that, the Russell screened convoys to Guadalcanal and Tulagi and then did the same for the carrier USS Enterprise. By July 1943, the Russell was overhauled at Mare Island and then involved in the attack on the Aleutian Islands.
--GreGen
From Wikipedia.
I have been writing about the USS Russell (DDG-59) in my Cooter's History Thing blog. This ship is serving at present in the U.S. Navy and is a guided missile destroyer. It was named after a Civil War naval officer, John Henry Russell, Dr. and the 16th Commandant of the USMC, John Russell, Jr..
I wrote about John Russell of the Civil War in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog earlier this month and am writing about the Russell who was Marine Corps Commandant in my Cooter's History Thing blog.
But, there was an earlier USS Russell (DD-414) which fought in World War II and was one of the most decorated of all U.S. warships during it.
**********************************
The USS Russell (DD-414) was a World War II Sims-class destroyer named after Rear Admiral John Henry Russell who fought in the Mexican War and the Civil War.
General Characteristics:
348 feet long
36 foot beam
35 knots speed
Crew 192
Armament
Five 5-inch guns
Four .50 caliber machine guns
Eight 21-inch torpedo tubes
Two depth charge racks
--GreGen
The story about Elvis Presley and the USS Arizona Memorial is a relatively light-hearted story in contrast to the rest of the new Pearl Harbor exhibit at the museum which is called "Infamy: Pearl Harbor Remembered" which has its official opening on November 16 and will be on view until June 7 at the museum's Joe W. and Dorothy D. Brown Special Exhibit Gallery.
Visitors can see a 20-inch steel fragment from the USS Arizona, which shares a glass case with a chunk of wood from the USS Oklahoma. In a frame on a nearby wall is the flag that was raised on the USS St. Louis when the Japanese raid began.
"Remember Pearl Harbor" became a rallying cry for the United States afterwards and there are several propaganda posters in the exhibit on this theme.
Also in the exhibit, there are thumbnail sketches of people involved in the attack in what President Roosevelt called "The Day of Infamy."
One was Doris "Dorie" Miller, a Navy mess attendant aboard the battleship USS West Virginia. Even though he had never had training, he took over one of those guns and shot down two Japanese plan. A machine gun similar to the one he manned is also on display.
For this action, Miller became the first black person to receive the Navy Cross, which is one step below the Medal of Honor. Sadly, Doris was killed in November 1943 in the South Pacific when he was just 24.
--GreGen
From the November 15, 2021, New Orleans Times-Picayune "Pearl Harbor exhibit features artifacts, stories, shrapnel... and Elvis" by John Pope.
In observance of the upcoming 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the National World War II Museum will have an exhibit on it featuring fragments of ships that were destroyed in it, stories of heroic men and women and, Elvis Presley.
Elvis Presley was not stationed there when the attack came (he was just six years old), but he did play a part in raising money to build the USS Arizona Memorial.
By early 1861, Congress had approved the monument but not the money to pay for it. Elvis Presley was in Hawaii shooting the movie "Blue Hawaii" and his manager, Col. Tom Parker came up with the idea of staging a concert to raise the money.
The museum has a poster from the concert showing Elvis in a gold lame suit with tickets costing from $3 to $10 apiece (the equivalent of $26.47 and $88.24 today). Also on the bill were Minnie Pearl of the Grand Ole Opry, the Jordanaires, and Presley's drummer D.J. Fontana and guitarist Scotty Moore.
The concert raised about $54,000 (nearly $477,000 in today's money), but was still about $150,000 short. U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, a World War II veteran, got Congress to approve the rest.
--GreGen
6. IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUMS England (Five museums throughout the country)
7. MEMORIAL TO THE MURDERED JEWS OF EUROPE Berlin, Germany
8. NAGASAKI AND HIROSHIMA Japan
9. YAD VASHEM Israel Dedicated to the Holocaust
10. KRANJI WAR MEMORIAL Singapore
Go to the site to read more about each of these.
--GreGen
From the November 12, 2021, Fodor's Travel "10 important World War II sites that all travelers should experience" by Apeksha Bhateja.
I will just be listing them. For pictures and more information go to the site:
1. ANNE FRANK HOUSE Amsterdam, Netherlands
2. AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU STATE MUSEUM Oswiecim, Poland The concentration camp.
3. BRITISH NORMANDY MEMORIAL Normandy, France
4. THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM New Orleans, Louisiana
5. USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL Oahu, Hawaii
--GreGen
Today is Veterans Day. And there can be no way of honoring the day than the identification of a veteran's remains MIA all these years.
The 11th post on this blog on the 11th day.
From the November 10, 2021, Greater Long Island.com (New York) "Navy sailor killed at Pearl Harbor to be buried at Patchogue on Dec. 7 after 80 years" by Ana Borruto.
U.S. Navy Fireman 3rd Class Kenneth L. Jayne was identified on April 16, 2016, by the defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) after being missing all those years since Pearl Harbor.
There will be a burial event at Cedar Grove Cemetery on December 4.
He was born in Patchogue on August 15, 1915 and entered the Navy at age 26, serving on the USS Oklahoma.
Jayne and 428 crewmembers died that day.
A Big Thank You to the Government for Identifying These Men. --GreGen
And still as mean as ever.
Happy birthday USMC!!
During World War II, Marines performed a central role in the Battle of the Pacific, along with the U.S. Army.
The Battles of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Guam, Tinian, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa saw fierce fighting between the Marines and the Imperial Japanese Army.
Some 600,000 Americans served in the Marines during the war.
The Battle of Iwo Jima, which began on February 19, 1945, was arguably the most famous Marine engagement of the war. The Japanese had learned lessons from their defeats during the Marianas Campaign and prepared many fortified positions on the island, including pillboxes and a huge network of tunnels.
They put up a fierce resistance, but American forces reached the top of Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945. The mission was accomplished with high losses of 26,000 Americans and 22,000 Japanese.
--GreGen
From the November 7, 2021, WMTV 15 NBC News by Gretchen Gerlach.
The McFarland, Wisconsin, American Legion Post 534 honored its eight remaining World War II veterans this past weekend. Organizers say that it is a chance to thank and recognize them as heroes while there is still time.
The U.S. Department of veterans Affairs estimates that only 1.5% of the 16 million Americans who served in the war are still alive. today. So, it is not often that you have a chance to get eight of them together, in uniform, in the same room.
A full house of family and friends were present to recognize the following service members:
John "Jack" Fitzgerald, US Navy, (1943-45)
Glen E. Hanusa US Navy, (1942-46)
Virgil A. Houff, US Navy, (1943-46)
Marjorie Marshman, US Marines, (1943-46)
John S. Ong, US Army (1946-49)
John L. Reed US Navy (1944-46)
Walter R. Whitehorse, US Navy (1942-45)
Congratulations Veterans. --GreGen
From the November 7, 2021, North Escambia.com (Florida).
Two years ago, Pearl Harbor survivor Frank Emond set a Guinness World Record as "World's Oldest Conductor." Saturday night, he broke his record leading the U.S. Air Force Band's Airmen of Note playing Glen Miller's "In the Mood."
He was wearing a Hawaiian print shirt with a Pearl Harbor Survivor patch.
Originally from Rhode Island, Emond enlisted in the Navy in 1938 as a musician. He played the French horn for the ship's band and even got to perform at the 1939 World's Fair in New York.
He was on the stern of the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) preparing to play the morning colors on his French horn when the Japanese attack came on December 7, 1941. He went into action, evacuating the dead and wounded.
--GreGen
As one of the oldest and last-surviving Pearl Harbor veterans, Ganitch said he's often sought to speak at schools and veterans organizations. Prior to the pandemic, he said he spoke between 30 and 35 times a year.
"I talk to everyone who wants to listen to me but mainly schools because kids are the future of this country, so I like to talk to kids. They're paying attention and they're listening," Ganitch said.
Ganitch said that shifting from live to virtual speaking was an adjustment for him, but he doesn't mind as long as he gets his message out to people.
To his knowledge, Ganitch says there are only about 40 Pearl Harbor survivors still living and the youngest he knows of is just 97. However, he said that he has found out over the years that not every Pearl Harbor survivor joined a veterans organization so there could be more survivors that he doesn't know about.
During his speaking engagement at the college, Michael Ganitch is set to share his full story of his experience at Pearl Harbor as well as his Navy career before and after the event.
The event is free, but registration is required.
A Salute to Mr. Ganitch. --GreGen
From the November 3, 2021, Pleasanton Weekly (California) by Cierra Vine.
U.S. Navy veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Michael "Mickey" Ganitch will take the virtual stage at Las Positas College's Veterans Day seminar his coming Thursday.
Ganitch, 101, was stationed on the battleship USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) in Pearl Harbor that fateful day. he was just 22 years-old at the time and a member of the ship's football team. He was getting ready to play a scrimmage against another ship's team.
"I didn't have time to change clothes or nothing," Ganitch said, adding that he was well-protected during the attack because of all his football padding.
Ganitch said that his ship was dry docked that morning because it needed some maintenance work on the propellers, which meant that they were not at their usual dock on the base.
"The first attack did not hit us because they knew where all the ships were at they knew the names of the ships, they knew everything but we were not in our usual place," Ganitch said.
He continued that his ship was spotted during the second attack and hit with a 500-pound bomb that exploded two decks below him and shook him but didn't injure him. "If it had exploded on contact, I wouldn't be here."
--GreGen
From the November 4, 2021, Tulsa, Oklahoma Channel 6by Amelia Mugavero.
The USS Batfish submarine will be getting a new home in Muscogee in the next several years. It and its War Park have been in town since the 1970s.
Now the three and a half-million pound ship are being moved over the next two years to the Three Forks Harbor. This is perfect timing as the lease on the land expires in two years, plus the Port of Muscogee is expanding and needs the land. Also, the museum was already planning to refloat it after the 2019 flood moved the ship a few feet.
When moved, the Batfish will have to go downriver three miles which is no east task as the Corps of Engineers will have to raise the river three feet to get the Batfish into the river. (It is on dry land when it is not flooded.)
The cost of all this is not known, but estimates can range as high as $3 million.
Details and timing are still being worked out, but the City Council has already approved a $200,000 study to figure out the best way to do this.
So, If You're in Muscogee in the Next Several Years and See a Famous WW II Submarine Going Down the River, You'll Know Why. --GreGen
From the November 3, 2021, 11 ABC WTVD (North Carolina) "NC sailor in Pearl Harbor attack finally accounted for."
After 80 years, a North Carolina sailor is finally coming home.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Edward Everette Talbot was one of 429 crewmen who died on the USS Oklahoma that day in 1941 when it capsized after being hit multiple times by torpedoes.
He will be buried March 26, 2022, in his hometown of Albemarle, North Carolina.
--GreGen
From the November 3, 2021, 7 ABC Eyewitness News "Remains from Pearl Harbor attack identified as Burbank Marine" by AP.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has announced that the remains of Marine Pfc. Walter L. Collier have been identified. He was on board the USS Oklahoma that day in 1941. His remains were identified in May.
He was from Burbank, California.
He will be buried December 8, 2021, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Earlier this year, the remains of a Navy sailor were identified as Petty Officer 1st Class Charles E. Hudson of Stockton.
--GreGen
From there, a procession led by the Chicago, Elmwood Park and River Grove police departments was followed by the hearse containing Francis Wiemerslage's remains, with the Patriot Guard Riders and Rolling Thunder members following close behind on their flag-draped motorcycles.
During the 13-mile drive from Midway to the Elms Funeral Home in Elmwood Park, many cars pulled over and pedestrians stopped to stand and salute.
Once at the funeral home, Wiemerslage's casket was brought inside by members of the American Legion and Rolling Thunder.
Wiemerslage's niece Karen Hansen said thinking about the efforts of many that resulted in her uncle's returning home was overwhelming and wonderful and she hoped it would give hope to the thousands of families who haven't received closure about a missing loved one who served in World War II.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for October 23 at St. Crypian Church, then Wiemerslage will be buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in the same crypt as his brother's remains, and next to his mother Vivian, the woman who never gave up hope that her son somewhere survived.
Quite the Story. --GreGen
It wasn't until 2019 when the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) assisted by archaeology students from Western Carolina University did another search of the area and fund more material which was sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for scientific analysis.
On August 24, 2021, 76 years after being shot down over Germany, Wiemerslage's remains were positively identified using DNA analysis.
Since Wiemerslage has now been identified, a rosette will be placed next to his name on the Tablet of the Missing at the cemetery in Belgium to indicate that he has been accounted for.
On Friday, Wiemerslage's remains arrived on a Southwest Airlines flight. At the airport, Midway Airport Fire and Rescue created an arc of water cannons that the plane passed under once it landed. Then, befo any passengers exited the plane, members of the U.S. Army Honor Guard received Wiemerslage's remains.
--GreGen
