Death of USS Arizona Survivor Donald Stratton-- Part 4: Despite His Injuries, He Got Back Into the War

During his long recovery, Stratton's military surgeons urged him to let them amputate his burned limbs, but he refused and forced himself  through the pain and agony of learning how to walk again.

He was medically discharged from the Navy in 1941 and that could have been it for his World War II service.  But, a year later, he got back into the Navy through his draft board, which meant that he had to go through boot camp again to prove that eh could still serve.

He graduated, and afterwards was stationed Naval Station Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay where he drew orders to report to the destroyer USS Stack as a gunner's mate 3rd class.

This ship participated in action off New Guinea, the Philippines and did picket duty off Okinawa.

He survived America's first battle of the war and its last.

But, he never forgot the sailor on the USS Vestal, who saved his life on December 7, 1941.  That man's name was Joseph Leon George.  He wanted recognition for him.

Like I've said before, the Greatest Generation.

--GreGen

USS Missouri 16-inch Gun Comes to San Francisco

From the October 1, 2012, Huffington Post, San Francisco "WWII Gun in San Francisco" Weapon Finds New Home in Marin Highlands."

A 16-inch gun from the USS Missouri which was on the ship when the Japanese surrendered is to be installed on a cliff at the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

The 68-foot-long, 236,000 pound gun will be painted and displayed at the Battery Townsley fortification in the Golden gate National recreation Area.  It made a two-day trip from the naval weapons station at Hawthorne, Nevada.

The gun was one of three on the turret that have long since been removed.  It could fire a 2,100 pound shell to a 25-mile distance.

The battery and another one like it at Fort Funston became models for other ones planned for defense on the east and west coasts of the United States during the war.

Battery Townsley fired its guns for the first time in 1940 during practice.

--GreGen

World War II Reshaped the Bay Area-- Part 2

In East Bay, Henry J. kaiser built three shipyards which together built 747 ships during the war.  One of them was built in a world record four days.

During its shipbuilding height some 240,000 workers were employed in Bay Area yards.  That is the equivalent of the number of men in 13 Army divisions.

Fort Mason, on San Francisco's northern waterfront, became the main port of embarkation for the Pacific War.

--GreGen

World War II Reshaped the Bay Area and Its People-- Part 1

From the May 28, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle by Carl Nolte.

World War II had a huge impact on the Bay's racial makeup, economy and even physical appearance.

The conversion of the orchard-rich Santa Clara County into Silicon Valley can be traced to the war.

Oakland and Richmond turned into boom towns.  After Pearl Harbor, the Bay Area became a centerpiece of FDR's Arsenal of Democracy.

Shipyards went up.  In San Francisco, Bechtel Corporation got a telegram from the government on March 2, 1942 asking if it wanted to build ships on San Francisco Bay.  Within ten days, the corporation began clearing marshlands in Sausalito for a shipyard named Marinship.  Just three months after the call, the keel of a freighter had been laid and in September, the William Richardson, named for Sausalito's founder, was launched.

--GreGen