I had the pleasure of meeting a ww2 vet this evening. He was 90 looked 60. His wife told me he was a vet so I asked the theater of operations he served he said the south pacific. I asked what campaigns he was involved in he said he was simple soldier stationed on a carrier. I asked the name of his ship he told me, I immediately asked if he was involved in the battle for the Philippines , he said yes...............Admiral Halsey took the Japanese decoy bait and left the Philippines unprotected, when figured it out he knew he could not get back in time, the only thing between the Philippines and the Japanese fleet were destroyer escorts, mine sweepers, and escort carriers designation CVE commonly known as jeep carriers........they had no armor, were built on a commercial hull and only had app 25 to 50 aircraft on board..........faced with imminent danger and impossible odds they did their duty...........the heroic actions of the captains and crew on the escort carriers launching their birds over and over, the pilots that manned the aircraft performed a miracle and fooled the Japanese fleet into thinking they were facing a full carrier battle group and retreated. I had the pleasure of meeting someone that served in that heroic battle.......seemed fitting on the eve of December 7th......
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 07:13:28 +0000
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