Last Man from USS San Francisco Dies-- Part 3: Richard Jongordon

The USS San Francisco took 45  major hits in the action, but the crew was able to save it.  For the valor displayed, the ship received the Presidential  Unit Citation and was sent to Mare Island for repairs.

The ship returned to action on late February 1943, but the badly damaged bridge was left behind for scrap.

The Frisco (as her crew called her)  saw further action in the landings at Okinawa and Iwo Jima.  It was preparing for the attack on Japan when peace came.

For its role in the war, the Frisco received  17 Battle Stars, making it one of the most decorated warships of World War II.

Chief Johnny Jongordon was involved in all seventeen of them.  he left the Navy in 1947 and returned to his original name of Richard Johnson.  When he joined the business world, he soon found there were a lot of Richard Johnsons and changed his name legally to Jongordon.

He was involved in many businesses after the war.

--GreGen