July 30, 2025 • 33 mins
Listen to Stories of Survivors of the USS Drexler DD741
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Welcome to the new Hights Show on Education. This is
your host Pamela Clark, and this is an episode of
American servicemen and women tell their stories of survival. The
first story I have for you today is from Henry V.
Fox and says remembers my GQ station was in the
(01:09):
main battery director located above the bridge. I was on
the JA circuit to the bridge.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Wait, sorry, yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I could hear the captain receiving reports from the first hit,
but I couldn't see what was really going on. In fact,
we were tracking the second plane after the first hit.
I can tell you one thing. When the second plane
came in, I had it in the director scoute and
(01:45):
made a B twenty nine look like a piper cub.
After the second hit, I received the message to abandoned ship.
I relayed the message but got two or but got
few answers. Everyone was told to get out of the director.
(02:06):
Daniels and Delado or Dalt. I'm sorry, del Uto dal Deluto.
Daluto maybe apparently had a fear of the water and
needed some encouragement. We helped them inflate their life belts
and both felt and both left the ship. Before I did,
(02:32):
I didn't see either one of them again. What a
loss after holding them. I'm sorry. After helping them, there
was a little short kid who was a twenty millimeter
operator by the bridge and he was standing looking straight up,
holding the lifeline with both hands. I tried to talk
(02:55):
to him with no results, and I tried to pull
him from the line without success. Shorty Horn came to
help me, and we pulled him free and tossed him overboard.
He took off like a fish. I left the ship
shortly afterwards and began swimming away from the ship. The
(03:18):
ship was listed to starboard, so I walked down the
port side. After I swam a short while, I looked
back and the ship had listed to port and looked
like it was going to roll over close to me.
I swam further, looking back just as the bow was
vertical as it slid under Carlson the water tender, and
(03:48):
I helped several mates inflating there and bringing powder cans
to them, I'm assuming inflating their belts. The words left off.
After what seemed like days instead of hours, this little
ship arrived to pick us up. Next story, William T.
(04:14):
Burrow's remembers. As I recall, the ship's crew was having
breakfast in sections so as not to jeopardize our readiness.
I had just finished eating and was standing outside the mount.
Number one g Q sounded and I climbed into my
battle station as a site setter between the twin five
(04:39):
inch guns. Being in this position, I had no idea
as to the direction we were firing. All at once
we heard Cooper, our gun captain, holler that we were
going to be hit. There was this tremendous shutter of
the ship and a loud roar of an engine. At
(05:03):
this moment we lost all power and also the sound
power phones went dead. Cooper struck his head or stuck
his head out of the lookout and said that there
was a fire or tire track, excuse me, skid mark
across the top of our mount. The second plane had
(05:25):
come in at us too high. We then started to
train and there with me to train and sight by
hand so we couldn't so we could continue to fire
at the enemy. We could not turn the mount around
(05:49):
fast enough. Again, there was another tremendous shutter and the
ship started to listen to starboard. At this point Cooper
came down from his position and told everyone to get
out of the mount. With everyone trying to to go
(06:10):
out of the hatches, I dove through the shell scuttle
hole and started to slide to starboard. Up all right,
and climbed let's see two starboard. I got to my
(06:35):
feet and climbed to the port side. Sorry me, stepped
over the rail and caught my foot in some netting.
I remember fighting to get free and going underwater. I
(06:59):
find I shook loose and found myself tumbling and turning
over and over so much that I didn't know where
the surface was. Just when my lungs were giving out,
I popped to the service surface. I found myself about
half a mile away from where the ship went down.
I knew this because I could see the oil fire
(07:21):
and sea boiling from the air escaping from within the ship.
I didn't know how I ended up so far away
from the ship. I found out later that when the
ship sank, it caused a huge whirlpool. This must have
caused me to toss and turned me around and carried
(07:44):
a few others and myself away from the ship. Now
I was floating around without a life jacket and looking
for something to hang on to. I spotted one of
our life wraps and swam to it. Climbed aboard and
discovered two others covered with oil and unrecognizable. At this point,
(08:08):
I heard planes and saw two of them diving at us.
Now this really scared me because I had heard that
some times the Japs came back and machine gunned the survivors.
I told the others to dive over and go deep,
which we did. When I came up, I looked for
the planes and noticed that they were course the air fighters,
(08:33):
pointing us out to our rescuers in our location. I
climbed back on the raft and found out that the
other two were badly injured. I saw the LC's picking
up survivors while I was in the Gunneries school at Newport,
(08:53):
Rhode Island. I became interested in the some of for
since they also trained signalman there, so I learned this
for my own pleasure. I never thought that I would
someday use this knowledge to signal for help. I realized
(09:14):
that since we were on a raft, we would probably
be some of the last to get picked up. Knowing
how bad in need of medical help the other two were,
I stood on the corner of the raft and signaled
the LCS and advised them of our needs. Well, this
(09:35):
turned into a story in itself. They saw and read
my signals and almost immediately headed for us at a
high rate of speed. As they approached us, they turned
to port and out and cut their speed down too late.
This caused the ship to glide sideways and bump the raft.
(09:58):
The ship continued forward, and now we were faced with
the ship's props coming at us. I screamed as loud
as I could, and somebody must have heard me as
they shut down the props and we slid under the
(10:19):
prop guard and bounced off the prop. At this time
I had a few choice words I wanted to say
to whoever was in charge, that LC's left us or LCS. Sorry.
I think the skipper thought we had been picked up.
(10:40):
Another LCS came right behind them and did pick us up.
All I can say is that God must have been
with me twice within an hour. I almost lost it
after we were picked up. I don't remember anything until
we were on a troop ship headed for Hawaii. They
(11:05):
told us that if GQ sounded, all of us were
to go below and stay until it was all over. Well,
let me tell you that when over the words cut
off like a lead or lead ballooon, excuse me, lead bloom.
(11:28):
Knowing what happened to our fellow mates below decks, there
was one false GQ and there were more people top
side than you could count. I sincerely wish that all
of us could have been lucky and decommissioned this ship together. Okay,
(11:51):
that's the end of that story. We're gonna take a
quick commercial break, and I'm gonna come right back with
more accounts. Are you enjoying the New Heights Show on Education?
If you love our show, please consider liking and following
(12:12):
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(12:32):
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(12:56):
www dot New Heights Education dot org. Welcome back to
American servicemen and women tell their stories of survival with
me family at Clark, Okay. Next story, Fred W. Mitchell
(13:17):
remembers I was in the mess hall and it was
about zero seven hundred. I had just finished breakfast of
pancakes when GQ sounded. We all rushed to our battle stations.
My GQ station was lookout on Mount number forty three,
squad forty millimeters on the starboard side. After arriving at
(13:42):
my post, and with all the excitement, I forgot to
put on my life jacket. After putting on the phone,
still helmet and binoculars, it was lying at my feet
on the deck. I looked through my binoculars and saw
a twin In and Francis heading straight for us. I
(14:02):
yelled into my phones to the gun captain the approximate bearing, elevation,
angle and range of the incoming plane. Our gun crew
was already sided in on the plane and was firing
straight at it. I watched as a barrage of shells
(14:23):
and tracers went right into the ship. Oh no, I'm sorry,
and tracers went right and to him. We expected the
plane to explode at any moment. Before reaching the ship,
the plane, even though riddled with our gunfire, kept coming
(14:44):
towards us. Suddenly the plane was upon us. The wing
was about eighty feet wide. I could even see the windshield.
Everything happened so fast. I knew it was going to
crash into our gun. In an instant, I remembered what
(15:05):
one of the marines we transported from Pearl Harbor to
Guatemala tole me. He said that when you know that
an explosion is going to occur, hit the deck and
lay flat on your stomach. I did this, and it
saved my life. Just as I hit the deck, the
plane crashed into our gun. There was a tremendous explosion
(15:31):
and debris was falling all around me. After a few moments,
I looked up and I got up on my feet.
It was a horrible sight. The gun mount and all
the crew were gone. Everything was on fire. It appeared
that I was the only survivor, until I learned at
(15:51):
a reunion that George Payne also survived. When he was
blowing into the water. I was dazed and fell numb.
I felt my arms and legs to make sure they
were still there. I wiped my face and felt blood.
A mate rushed by and asked him, and I asked
(16:12):
him if my face was gone. He said it was cut,
but nothing serious. Then he hurried away. I knew the
AMMO from our gun and the port forty millimeter would explode.
I found my life jacket and monoculars on the deck
(16:34):
and picked them up. I went down the ladder to
the starboard deck. The PA system was dead. I started
to run towards the midship passageway. I ran into an
officer going in the opposite direction. I don't remember who
he was. He yelled at me and asked me where
(16:56):
my battle station was, and I told him. He ordered
me to go back to my battle station, and I
told him that it was blowing up and on fire,
but he still ordered me to go back. I started
climbing back up the ladder and a gun captain from
(17:16):
Mount number three was trying to climb down. He looked
at me in disbelief and asked me where I was going,
and I told him that I was ordered back to
Mount number forty three by an officer. He said the
mount was no longer there and the amma was going
to blow at any minute. He told me to get
back down the ladder, which I did. I again found
(17:39):
my way to the midship passageway without incident. The officer
I saw previously was not there, and I never saw
him again. Shortly thereafter, there was another tremendous explosion. As
(17:59):
this second plane hit, suddenly, the deck started to tilt
and the ship began to roll over. I knew that
I wouldn't have time to put on my life jacket,
which I was still holding. I dropped in on the
deck and grabbed the lifelines. I started sliding down the
side of the ship. The bottom of the ship was
(18:21):
lifting out of the water as it was rolling over.
I ended up in the water and I still had
my fowl, my foul weather jacket on, but no life jacket.
I tried to get my jacket off, but the zipper
(18:43):
was stuck. I knew that I had to get away
from the ship, so I started to swim. I swam
until I was nearly exhausted. I stopped to look back
and I saw the bow pointed to towards the sky,
and then it disappeared. My life jacket was water logged
(19:06):
and heavy. I could not get it off. The weight
of it was starting to make it very difficult to
stay afloat. All of a sudden a mate appeared and
asked me if he could help me. I told him
that I could not get out of my life jacket.
Fortunately he had a knife and he cut the jacket loose.
(19:32):
He asked me if I was okay, and since I
was no longer weighted down with the jacket, I thought
that I could stay afloat. He then took off. I
think he saved my life, and I don't know his name.
I swam, floated and treaded water for what seemed like
(19:54):
an eternity. My strength and energy were once again leaving me,
and I could hardily keep my head above water. I
saw an officer with a life jacket on and he
saw me. He helped me stay afloat, and together with
his help, we got to the raft. There must have
(20:15):
been thirty to thirty five men hanging on to it.
There was no more room to hang on. One of
the mates told me to hang onto his belt. His
name was Stephen Mair Mayr Nairy SCM three C. I
will never forget him either. The next crisis I encountered
(20:41):
was the burning oil. As it came close to the raft,
everyone started to yell and panic. The officer who had
helped me previously told us to stop and told us
how to paddle with our hands to get away from
the fire. It worked, and we managed to get clear
of the burning oil. We saw the LCS in the
(21:04):
distance and paddled towards it. When we got close to it,
we thought they would throw us a line, but they
did not. We started to drift away. One of the
men on our raft swam towards the LCS and yelled
at them to throw him a line, which they did.
(21:29):
He swam back and tied it to the raft and
they pulled us alongside. We finally climbed aboard. Thank God
for the solid deck under my feet. I am forever
grateful to all those shipmates who helped me that day. Yeah,
(22:05):
it's a moment on all.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
If I have another story, oh.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
I wanted to share with you. There was. It says
during the course of our adventure at sea, our ship newspapers,
when published was called the following The Drexler Herald Tribune,
the Drexler Tribune, gazette, the Drexler d lin a line Actor. Sorry,
(22:51):
I'm gonna I'm kind of butchering that one the Drexler
Chronic bol or Chronic clurk of clur, the Drexler Scavenger,
and it says we have printed some articles which were
taken directly from the ship's newspaper. Those articles may bring
(23:13):
back some memories. There was none. As I look through
this year, there's like these things that were There's like
(23:41):
a proclamation and this was in the Drexler Herald Cozette.
I guess says High Seas edition February twenty seventh, nineteen
forty five, says proclamation. The following is proulated under the Constitute,
and that's constitution. It's cut off. Sorry authority. I'm thinking
(24:07):
it's authority of the guaranteed rights of the fourth Estate,
unclassified membership and the benelovant. Then on how to say
it usually be elevant, I'm close on that order of
poly blog will be extended for a limited time to
(24:30):
all shellbacks and others who are eligible upon taking the
following Oath Number one, I do, of a free will,
and without reservation, renounce any and all allegiance to that
one eyed fugitive from a clam bake, upon whom no
self respecting shark would suffer his shadow to fall, namely
(24:55):
one Neptune rex Nor will I associate myself with that
crab infested purveyor known as Davy Jones, who was lower
than well er shall we say, amber grist, which is
(25:15):
the lowest thing known to man. I will consider any
punishment given me as well deserved by me for my
many misspent years as a follower of the above mentioned scoundrels.
I seriously embraced the benelevant order of polywog given my
(25:37):
hand under this date, the exauted Royal Frog polywog. This
is from the flash splash the Mighty Drexler distinguished herself
yesterday afternoon, and a thrilling air sea rescue before a
(25:59):
capacity crowd at all railings. Three crew members of the
ill fated craft, which comped out in mid air were
hauled safely aboard, somewhat the worst from shock. The pilot
sustained a hip injury which, according to sources unimpeachable, had
(26:22):
been diagnosed as not too serious. We are happy to
report the other two were up in about all three
we are sure are grateful, as we are proud of
ns Papus, who swam against a treacherously choppy see to
(26:43):
link the survivor's life wrap to our lines. En signed
Pappas we are also sure is equally grateful to and Ensfelts,
who jumped into the water to free him from some
lines which had apparently become entangled about his feet. At
(27:06):
about the same time, this spectacle was further highlighted, if
not somewhat confused, by the headlong plunge of somebody else
from the Drexler into the water to assist somebody else
who dove in to pull him out. Has not been revealed,
albeit the score came out about even for every man
(27:31):
we pulled out, we had one of our own in
from the Admiral to the Drexler. Well done. A follow
up on that, it says, oh my gosh, this can't wait. Who,
amid all the excitement yesterday exercise the extraordinary presence of
(27:52):
mind by first removing his wristwatch and placing it in
his pocket before diving overboard. This is called the Drexler obituary. Oddities, rarities, verities, absurdities.
(28:12):
In the News Doomsday edition March third, nineteen forty five,
Hol's yours. Yesterday at the mighty as the Mighty Drexler
entered the domain proper of Nepputunis rex He and his
bloodthirsty shellbacks held court of trial for the deviled polywogs,
(28:39):
and a vigorous session which, for the sheer lack of clemency,
has been unmatched and unsurpassed on these seas for well
high or well nine forty years. But we're shellbacks all
now we have our punishment quote, that's the word we
(29:04):
substitute for initiation, and have proved our worthiness to become
a member of the royal Order. Maybe when some of
the sting goes out of our where it stings, when
some of the okay, sorry, will try to remember it
(29:27):
all in the same attitude in which it was intended.
But there are plenty of hurt feelings aboard. The next
one is The following poem was in the March seventeen,
nineteen forty five edition The Phantom of the Seven Seas.
(29:49):
On a fine November evening in nineteen forty four, the
Direxer was commissioned to be settled never more a shakedown
and ten short days in Massachusetts Norwalk, Trinidad, Panama. They
never saw us pass Daego, Pearl and Purvis, a long
(30:15):
damn way from mass who was hit to the direxer
said come on, get off your ass. The contribution signed
the contribution. Here's another poem. Throughout the years, the life
of man has been plagued with many a mystery, as
(30:36):
testified in all the books of elementary history. But one
by one they came to light, or upon examination their
secrets were accounted for, and by some reasonable exclamation, we
know today where Trotsky went the day he said goodbye
(31:00):
when Greeley said, go west, young man. We know the
reason why. We know what happens to your lap when
you decide to stand. We know what happens to your
fist by opening your hand. And what became of Sally
(31:21):
we found out some time ago she bought herself an
ostrich fan and stopped the world fair show. Though earning
is a thirty, oh, sir, through earning a thirty five
(31:42):
a week, sent eighty home to mother. Yes, the world
is full of mysteries, but the greatest of them all
is what the hell became of all the spoons in
our mess hall. The next thing I have heard you.
(32:03):
It's under this is observation. Whenever dreams are really bad,
they never seem to break up. But whenever dreams are
really good, it's always time to wake up. Okay, my friends.
(32:24):
That brings us to the end of today's show. I
hope you've enjoyed it. I hope you've you feel more
thankful to be an American and thankful for our veterans.
And I want to remind you this show airs every
Wednesday at six pm. It's a pre recorded show, and
(32:49):
we hope to hear from you these follow share and
like our page, and consider donating to our calls. Help
us keep these to you until next time.
Welcome to the new Hights Show on Education. This is
your host Pamela Clark, and this is an episode of
American servicemen and women tell their stories of survival. The
first story I have for you today is from Henry V.
Fox and says remembers my GQ station was in the
(01:09):
main battery director located above the bridge. I was on
the JA circuit to the bridge.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Wait, sorry, yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I could hear the captain receiving reports from the first hit,
but I couldn't see what was really going on. In fact,
we were tracking the second plane after the first hit.
I can tell you one thing. When the second plane
came in, I had it in the director scoute and
(01:45):
made a B twenty nine look like a piper cub.
After the second hit, I received the message to abandoned ship.
I relayed the message but got two or but got
few answers. Everyone was told to get out of the director.
(02:06):
Daniels and Delado or Dalt. I'm sorry, del Uto dal Deluto.
Daluto maybe apparently had a fear of the water and
needed some encouragement. We helped them inflate their life belts
and both felt and both left the ship. Before I did,
(02:32):
I didn't see either one of them again. What a
loss after holding them. I'm sorry. After helping them, there
was a little short kid who was a twenty millimeter
operator by the bridge and he was standing looking straight up,
holding the lifeline with both hands. I tried to talk
(02:55):
to him with no results, and I tried to pull
him from the line without success. Shorty Horn came to
help me, and we pulled him free and tossed him overboard.
He took off like a fish. I left the ship
shortly afterwards and began swimming away from the ship. The
(03:18):
ship was listed to starboard, so I walked down the
port side. After I swam a short while, I looked
back and the ship had listed to port and looked
like it was going to roll over close to me.
I swam further, looking back just as the bow was
vertical as it slid under Carlson the water tender, and
(03:48):
I helped several mates inflating there and bringing powder cans
to them, I'm assuming inflating their belts. The words left off.
After what seemed like days instead of hours, this little
ship arrived to pick us up. Next story, William T.
(04:14):
Burrow's remembers. As I recall, the ship's crew was having
breakfast in sections so as not to jeopardize our readiness.
I had just finished eating and was standing outside the mount.
Number one g Q sounded and I climbed into my
battle station as a site setter between the twin five
(04:39):
inch guns. Being in this position, I had no idea
as to the direction we were firing. All at once
we heard Cooper, our gun captain, holler that we were
going to be hit. There was this tremendous shutter of
the ship and a loud roar of an engine. At
(05:03):
this moment we lost all power and also the sound
power phones went dead. Cooper struck his head or stuck
his head out of the lookout and said that there
was a fire or tire track, excuse me, skid mark
across the top of our mount. The second plane had
(05:25):
come in at us too high. We then started to
train and there with me to train and sight by
hand so we couldn't so we could continue to fire
at the enemy. We could not turn the mount around
(05:49):
fast enough. Again, there was another tremendous shutter and the
ship started to listen to starboard. At this point Cooper
came down from his position and told everyone to get
out of the mount. With everyone trying to to go
(06:10):
out of the hatches, I dove through the shell scuttle
hole and started to slide to starboard. Up all right,
and climbed let's see two starboard. I got to my
(06:35):
feet and climbed to the port side. Sorry me, stepped
over the rail and caught my foot in some netting.
I remember fighting to get free and going underwater. I
(06:59):
find I shook loose and found myself tumbling and turning
over and over so much that I didn't know where
the surface was. Just when my lungs were giving out,
I popped to the service surface. I found myself about
half a mile away from where the ship went down.
I knew this because I could see the oil fire
(07:21):
and sea boiling from the air escaping from within the ship.
I didn't know how I ended up so far away
from the ship. I found out later that when the
ship sank, it caused a huge whirlpool. This must have
caused me to toss and turned me around and carried
(07:44):
a few others and myself away from the ship. Now
I was floating around without a life jacket and looking
for something to hang on to. I spotted one of
our life wraps and swam to it. Climbed aboard and
discovered two others covered with oil and unrecognizable. At this point,
(08:08):
I heard planes and saw two of them diving at us.
Now this really scared me because I had heard that
some times the Japs came back and machine gunned the survivors.
I told the others to dive over and go deep,
which we did. When I came up, I looked for
the planes and noticed that they were course the air fighters,
(08:33):
pointing us out to our rescuers in our location. I
climbed back on the raft and found out that the
other two were badly injured. I saw the LC's picking
up survivors while I was in the Gunneries school at Newport,
(08:53):
Rhode Island. I became interested in the some of for
since they also trained signalman there, so I learned this
for my own pleasure. I never thought that I would
someday use this knowledge to signal for help. I realized
(09:14):
that since we were on a raft, we would probably
be some of the last to get picked up. Knowing
how bad in need of medical help the other two were,
I stood on the corner of the raft and signaled
the LCS and advised them of our needs. Well, this
(09:35):
turned into a story in itself. They saw and read
my signals and almost immediately headed for us at a
high rate of speed. As they approached us, they turned
to port and out and cut their speed down too late.
This caused the ship to glide sideways and bump the raft.
(09:58):
The ship continued forward, and now we were faced with
the ship's props coming at us. I screamed as loud
as I could, and somebody must have heard me as
they shut down the props and we slid under the
(10:19):
prop guard and bounced off the prop. At this time
I had a few choice words I wanted to say
to whoever was in charge, that LC's left us or LCS. Sorry.
I think the skipper thought we had been picked up.
(10:40):
Another LCS came right behind them and did pick us up.
All I can say is that God must have been
with me twice within an hour. I almost lost it
after we were picked up. I don't remember anything until
we were on a troop ship headed for Hawaii. They
(11:05):
told us that if GQ sounded, all of us were
to go below and stay until it was all over. Well,
let me tell you that when over the words cut
off like a lead or lead ballooon, excuse me, lead bloom.
(11:28):
Knowing what happened to our fellow mates below decks, there
was one false GQ and there were more people top
side than you could count. I sincerely wish that all
of us could have been lucky and decommissioned this ship together. Okay,
(11:51):
that's the end of that story. We're gonna take a
quick commercial break, and I'm gonna come right back with
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(12:12):
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www dot New Heights Education dot org. Welcome back to
American servicemen and women tell their stories of survival with
me family at Clark, Okay. Next story, Fred W. Mitchell
(13:17):
remembers I was in the mess hall and it was
about zero seven hundred. I had just finished breakfast of
pancakes when GQ sounded. We all rushed to our battle stations.
My GQ station was lookout on Mount number forty three,
squad forty millimeters on the starboard side. After arriving at
(13:42):
my post, and with all the excitement, I forgot to
put on my life jacket. After putting on the phone,
still helmet and binoculars, it was lying at my feet
on the deck. I looked through my binoculars and saw
a twin In and Francis heading straight for us. I
(14:02):
yelled into my phones to the gun captain the approximate bearing, elevation,
angle and range of the incoming plane. Our gun crew
was already sided in on the plane and was firing
straight at it. I watched as a barrage of shells
(14:23):
and tracers went right into the ship. Oh no, I'm sorry,
and tracers went right and to him. We expected the
plane to explode at any moment. Before reaching the ship,
the plane, even though riddled with our gunfire, kept coming
(14:44):
towards us. Suddenly the plane was upon us. The wing
was about eighty feet wide. I could even see the windshield.
Everything happened so fast. I knew it was going to
crash into our gun. In an instant, I remembered what
(15:05):
one of the marines we transported from Pearl Harbor to
Guatemala tole me. He said that when you know that
an explosion is going to occur, hit the deck and
lay flat on your stomach. I did this, and it
saved my life. Just as I hit the deck, the
plane crashed into our gun. There was a tremendous explosion
(15:31):
and debris was falling all around me. After a few moments,
I looked up and I got up on my feet.
It was a horrible sight. The gun mount and all
the crew were gone. Everything was on fire. It appeared
that I was the only survivor, until I learned at
(15:51):
a reunion that George Payne also survived. When he was
blowing into the water. I was dazed and fell numb.
I felt my arms and legs to make sure they
were still there. I wiped my face and felt blood.
A mate rushed by and asked him, and I asked
(16:12):
him if my face was gone. He said it was cut,
but nothing serious. Then he hurried away. I knew the
AMMO from our gun and the port forty millimeter would explode.
I found my life jacket and monoculars on the deck
(16:34):
and picked them up. I went down the ladder to
the starboard deck. The PA system was dead. I started
to run towards the midship passageway. I ran into an
officer going in the opposite direction. I don't remember who
he was. He yelled at me and asked me where
(16:56):
my battle station was, and I told him. He ordered
me to go back to my battle station, and I
told him that it was blowing up and on fire,
but he still ordered me to go back. I started
climbing back up the ladder and a gun captain from
(17:16):
Mount number three was trying to climb down. He looked
at me in disbelief and asked me where I was going,
and I told him that I was ordered back to
Mount number forty three by an officer. He said the
mount was no longer there and the amma was going
to blow at any minute. He told me to get
back down the ladder, which I did. I again found
(17:39):
my way to the midship passageway without incident. The officer
I saw previously was not there, and I never saw
him again. Shortly thereafter, there was another tremendous explosion. As
(17:59):
this second plane hit, suddenly, the deck started to tilt
and the ship began to roll over. I knew that
I wouldn't have time to put on my life jacket,
which I was still holding. I dropped in on the
deck and grabbed the lifelines. I started sliding down the
side of the ship. The bottom of the ship was
(18:21):
lifting out of the water as it was rolling over.
I ended up in the water and I still had
my fowl, my foul weather jacket on, but no life jacket.
I tried to get my jacket off, but the zipper
(18:43):
was stuck. I knew that I had to get away
from the ship, so I started to swim. I swam
until I was nearly exhausted. I stopped to look back
and I saw the bow pointed to towards the sky,
and then it disappeared. My life jacket was water logged
(19:06):
and heavy. I could not get it off. The weight
of it was starting to make it very difficult to
stay afloat. All of a sudden a mate appeared and
asked me if he could help me. I told him
that I could not get out of my life jacket.
Fortunately he had a knife and he cut the jacket loose.
(19:32):
He asked me if I was okay, and since I
was no longer weighted down with the jacket, I thought
that I could stay afloat. He then took off. I
think he saved my life, and I don't know his name.
I swam, floated and treaded water for what seemed like
(19:54):
an eternity. My strength and energy were once again leaving me,
and I could hardily keep my head above water. I
saw an officer with a life jacket on and he
saw me. He helped me stay afloat, and together with
his help, we got to the raft. There must have
(20:15):
been thirty to thirty five men hanging on to it.
There was no more room to hang on. One of
the mates told me to hang onto his belt. His
name was Stephen Mair Mayr Nairy SCM three C. I
will never forget him either. The next crisis I encountered
(20:41):
was the burning oil. As it came close to the raft,
everyone started to yell and panic. The officer who had
helped me previously told us to stop and told us
how to paddle with our hands to get away from
the fire. It worked, and we managed to get clear
of the burning oil. We saw the LCS in the
(21:04):
distance and paddled towards it. When we got close to it,
we thought they would throw us a line, but they
did not. We started to drift away. One of the
men on our raft swam towards the LCS and yelled
at them to throw him a line, which they did.
(21:29):
He swam back and tied it to the raft and
they pulled us alongside. We finally climbed aboard. Thank God
for the solid deck under my feet. I am forever
grateful to all those shipmates who helped me that day. Yeah,
(22:05):
it's a moment on all.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
If I have another story, oh.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
I wanted to share with you. There was. It says
during the course of our adventure at sea, our ship newspapers,
when published was called the following The Drexler Herald Tribune,
the Drexler Tribune, gazette, the Drexler d lin a line Actor. Sorry,
(22:51):
I'm gonna I'm kind of butchering that one the Drexler
Chronic bol or Chronic clurk of clur, the Drexler Scavenger,
and it says we have printed some articles which were
taken directly from the ship's newspaper. Those articles may bring
(23:13):
back some memories. There was none. As I look through
this year, there's like these things that were There's like
(23:41):
a proclamation and this was in the Drexler Herald Cozette.
I guess says High Seas edition February twenty seventh, nineteen
forty five, says proclamation. The following is proulated under the Constitute,
and that's constitution. It's cut off. Sorry authority. I'm thinking
(24:07):
it's authority of the guaranteed rights of the fourth Estate,
unclassified membership and the benelovant. Then on how to say
it usually be elevant, I'm close on that order of
poly blog will be extended for a limited time to
(24:30):
all shellbacks and others who are eligible upon taking the
following Oath Number one, I do, of a free will,
and without reservation, renounce any and all allegiance to that
one eyed fugitive from a clam bake, upon whom no
self respecting shark would suffer his shadow to fall, namely
(24:55):
one Neptune rex Nor will I associate myself with that
crab infested purveyor known as Davy Jones, who was lower
than well er shall we say, amber grist, which is
(25:15):
the lowest thing known to man. I will consider any
punishment given me as well deserved by me for my
many misspent years as a follower of the above mentioned scoundrels.
I seriously embraced the benelevant order of polywog given my
(25:37):
hand under this date, the exauted Royal Frog polywog. This
is from the flash splash the Mighty Drexler distinguished herself
yesterday afternoon, and a thrilling air sea rescue before a
(25:59):
capacity crowd at all railings. Three crew members of the
ill fated craft, which comped out in mid air were
hauled safely aboard, somewhat the worst from shock. The pilot
sustained a hip injury which, according to sources unimpeachable, had
(26:22):
been diagnosed as not too serious. We are happy to
report the other two were up in about all three
we are sure are grateful, as we are proud of
ns Papus, who swam against a treacherously choppy see to
(26:43):
link the survivor's life wrap to our lines. En signed
Pappas we are also sure is equally grateful to and Ensfelts,
who jumped into the water to free him from some
lines which had apparently become entangled about his feet. At
(27:06):
about the same time, this spectacle was further highlighted, if
not somewhat confused, by the headlong plunge of somebody else
from the Drexler into the water to assist somebody else
who dove in to pull him out. Has not been revealed,
albeit the score came out about even for every man
(27:31):
we pulled out, we had one of our own in
from the Admiral to the Drexler. Well done. A follow
up on that, it says, oh my gosh, this can't wait. Who,
amid all the excitement yesterday exercise the extraordinary presence of
(27:52):
mind by first removing his wristwatch and placing it in
his pocket before diving overboard. This is called the Drexler obituary. Oddities, rarities, verities, absurdities.
(28:12):
In the News Doomsday edition March third, nineteen forty five,
Hol's yours. Yesterday at the mighty as the Mighty Drexler
entered the domain proper of Nepputunis rex He and his
bloodthirsty shellbacks held court of trial for the deviled polywogs,
(28:39):
and a vigorous session which, for the sheer lack of clemency,
has been unmatched and unsurpassed on these seas for well
high or well nine forty years. But we're shellbacks all
now we have our punishment quote, that's the word we
(29:04):
substitute for initiation, and have proved our worthiness to become
a member of the royal Order. Maybe when some of
the sting goes out of our where it stings, when
some of the okay, sorry, will try to remember it
(29:27):
all in the same attitude in which it was intended.
But there are plenty of hurt feelings aboard. The next
one is The following poem was in the March seventeen,
nineteen forty five edition The Phantom of the Seven Seas.
(29:49):
On a fine November evening in nineteen forty four, the
Direxer was commissioned to be settled never more a shakedown
and ten short days in Massachusetts Norwalk, Trinidad, Panama. They
never saw us pass Daego, Pearl and Purvis, a long
(30:15):
damn way from mass who was hit to the direxer
said come on, get off your ass. The contribution signed
the contribution. Here's another poem. Throughout the years, the life
of man has been plagued with many a mystery, as
(30:36):
testified in all the books of elementary history. But one
by one they came to light, or upon examination their
secrets were accounted for, and by some reasonable exclamation, we
know today where Trotsky went the day he said goodbye
(31:00):
when Greeley said, go west, young man. We know the
reason why. We know what happens to your lap when
you decide to stand. We know what happens to your
fist by opening your hand. And what became of Sally
(31:21):
we found out some time ago she bought herself an
ostrich fan and stopped the world fair show. Though earning
is a thirty, oh, sir, through earning a thirty five
(31:42):
a week, sent eighty home to mother. Yes, the world
is full of mysteries, but the greatest of them all
is what the hell became of all the spoons in
our mess hall. The next thing I have heard you.
(32:03):
It's under this is observation. Whenever dreams are really bad,
they never seem to break up. But whenever dreams are
really good, it's always time to wake up. Okay, my friends.
(32:24):
That brings us to the end of today's show. I
hope you've enjoyed it. I hope you've you feel more
thankful to be an American and thankful for our veterans.
And I want to remind you this show airs every
Wednesday at six pm. It's a pre recorded show, and
(32:49):
we hope to hear from you these follow share and
like our page, and consider donating to our calls. Help
us keep these to you until next time.
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