I think of my late buddy Carl, who shared with me a love of Darne guns. Not at Pearl Harbor, but, was onboard the USS Gambier Bay at the battle off Samaar, the day the Japanese managed to get the 18” guns on the Yamato trained on her. He said it looked like a Buick Roadmaster went through both sides of the ship.
He had to tread water for four days, and ended up on another jeep carrier that ferried troops back from Japan.
He lived a long life, never married, and had no kids. He didn’t talk much about the war.
He did say he figured the “CVE” classification of the Casablanca class carriers stood for “Combustable, vulnerable, and expendable”.
Best,
Ted
