I was assigned to the heavy cruiser Chicago.
We made air attacks on the Japanese anchorage, sinking and damaging several vessels. However, the Japanese were alerted to the fact that American carriers were nearby.
We began intercepting Japanese radio transmissions, which indicated the two forces were very close to each other. We found out later that we were moving in opposite directions and passed each other by 32 miles.
The Japanese invaded Tulagi, in the Solomon Islands, on May 4.
The good news was that Enterprise and the newly arrived Yorktown had attacked the Marshall and Gilbert islands. Those attacks had a great effect on morale.
Our task force put to sea in early January 1942, to attack the Japanese in the Marshall and Gilbert islands, but the mission was called off on the eve of the attack.
On December 5, 1941, Chicago led a task force built around the carrier Lexington to Midway Island, at the western end of the Hawaiian Islands, about 1,000 miles from Pearl Harbor.
My observations of Japanese naval fighting men, their abilities and equipment led me to believe that they gave a better account of themselves than we did.
My assignment was in the communications office, where I typed out dispatches.
Lexington did launch its air group when a Japanese carrier was reported.
If it’s free, it’s advice; if you pay for it, it’s counseling; if you can use either one, it’s a miracle.
I received my parents’ permission and went into the Navy on June 3, 1941.
Everybody knew that I could type pretty well.
Another nice thing was that I would type out letters home for the admiral’s stewards. They would then feed me the same food the admiral ate.
After the Battle of Midway there was a week in a rest camp at Pearl Harbor.
A chief petty officer taught me shorthand, which got me promoted to yeoman first class.
I passed a typing test and became a member of the staff of Rear Adm. Newton.
You could tell that America was gearing up for war.
In basic training we had been told to watch out for Japanese spies.
Chicago’s buoy was a couple of hundred yards astern of Arizona, and I was saddened to look at her.
