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My name is Duke. I served in the US Navy aboard the USS Drexler DD-741. This was a "Sumpter Class" ship with a 48 ft beam, and 348 ft length over all.
I served as a Gunners mate on a quad 40mm station.
From stern to bow, armament was:
3 twin 5", torpedo tubes, 2-quad 40's, depth charges
6- twin 40's
12 20mm
There was no central magazine on our ship. Each mount had its own magazine. Shells were in clips of 5 rounds: 2 armor piercing, 2 exploding, and 1 tracer.
With heavy action, we changed barrels about every 3 weeks.
I was raised in Mississippi. While we had money, we couldn't go anywhere. After the War started, I joined the Navy. From that point on your life takes a 360: You have no control over where you go or why. Only after you left port would they tell you where you were going. Even then, they did not tell us why.
Joining the Navy was part patriotism, part wanderlust; a desire to see the world. I reported to Memphis, TN then rode a bus to boot camp in Perry, VA. You didn't ask questions, you just did what you were told.
I joined the Navy at 17 years old, and had my 18th birthday on ship. Some were older with families.
Our ship was built in Maine, and commissioned in Nov 1944. It was the newest model destroyer at that time. Larger than older Destroyers with different guns. We sailed to Bermuda on our shakedown. From there, we joined the aircraft carrier Bonhomme Richard and sailed to Trinidad. We went through the Panama Canal, then on to San Diego. Entered the Pacific campaign from Pearl Harbor, to Guadalcanal, to Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
We invaded Okinawa Easter Sunday, April 1, 45. We had a huge task force. As I walked out on the fantail, the ships were as far as you could see. We had ships for everything, even a ship that did nothing but make ice cream! Our first duty during invasion off Okinawa was carrier support. We provided protection with sonar and radar, but spent a lot of time retrieving pilots form water. This went on non-stop for about 2 weeks. Many converted ships became carriers, and were small and moved a lot.
On station at Okinawa they did "picket duty". We traveled in pairs of destroyers. While on picket duty, we had almost daily attacks by Kamikazes at dawn and dusk. The planes would come in waves of 20 to 50 in a group. The greatest pilots flew Corsairs. They attacked kamikazes and followed them straight toward ship, "right down my gunsights". They were crazy! They would follow a Kamikaze as far as they could and break off at the last second, as they passed they would wave and point at the insignia on the side of the plane, sort of like telling us they were Americans, and don't shoot. I think the Corsairs shot down more than we did, but we never really knew.
Picket duty was nerve wracking. We would pick up incoming on radar, then hear: "Bogeys at 50 miles". We went to General Quarters. (I often slept at my gun) Then they would call every 10 miles. "Bogeys at 40 miles", "Bogeys at 30 miles", etc. It was very tense waiting as you knew what was coming. When the planes came in range, we all opened up. There was so much firepower that you never knew what you shot down. We finally gave up trying to keep count. We used so much ammo we had to get re-supplied from a munitions ship every 3 days.
Combat was scary. When the heat was on and you were going into battle, you were scared. Then you would realize that s.o.b. is trying to kill me, and you 'd get mad. Then the adrenaline was flowing and you didn't think about it. After the action, you'd get scared again, and you'd throw up. You didn't want to talk to anyone, you just tried to find a quiet corner and sit there and shake. Then the first think you knew, you had to get up and do it again.
On May 17, 1945, 8 planes got through our fire screen. All but 2 were shot down. 1 hit our port gun mount, 1 hit beneath my gun mount. The ship broke in 2 pieces and sunk in 49 seconds! Of the 350-man crew, only about 140 survived. Just about everyone below decks died, as they had no time to get out. I believe I was saved because of the design of the gun mount. I sat on a metal seat much like a tractor seat. In front of me was a metal plate. When the plane hit beneath me, I think the seat and the plate protected me, as did the goggles. I was in water around 1 hour. I had to swim away from ship to avoid burning oil. I had no life jacket on, as they were too cumbersome to wear in battle. I was picked up by transports.
When I picked myself up, I was the only one alive out of our 11-man gun crew. I heard someone yell to jump overboard, so I walked down the side of the ship and jumped in. When I surfaced, I thought I was blind. My face stung and I thought my eyes were gone. I yelled I couldn't see, I think I got shrapnel in my eyes. Someone close to me said" You dumb sob, take your goggles off!" Then I could see! Truthfully, the goggles probably protected my eyes.
Our gun crew was 4 loaders in the magazine, 4 loaders on the mount, director, point, and gun captain.
Another reason I think I was not injured worse was the goggles we wore. We had goggles with a knob on the bridge so you could adjust to the sunlight. You could shoot directly into the sun, or turn to yellow for night shooting.
Inflatable belts did not work! All I had on were cut off jeans. While waiting to be picked up, we had no problems with sharks. I received minor wounds but did not tell anyone. I wanted to go home, not get sent to a hospital on Guam.
We lost 13 destroyers in the Okinawa campaign. Someone complained to Halsey about the losses, and he said "We got more destroyers than they got planes, so keep 'em out there." So they did, and honestly it was necessary. The Kamikazes dove on anything in sight so the protection we gave was essential.
After the ship sunk, I came home on survivors leave. I was assigned to the FD Roosevelt carrier. When the war ended and I came back to the states for good.
On the train ride home, one of my buddies went with me from San Francisco to Memphis. No food was served on train so we made restaurant stops. We didn't have ice so we were drinking hot beer. We stopped in New MX, and had lunch. By now, my buddy was pretty well boozed up. He saw an Indian sitting under a tree and he swapped his uniform for the clothes the Indian had on, including a big hat with a rounded top just like you imagined. He then wore those clothes all the way to Memphis. When I see him at our reunions, I start to remind him of this and he says, "Shut up. I know what you are going to say!"
When you are in war time and face death, it makes you realize how important life is. That is one reason so many W.W.II veterans are still married. You appreciate life and every minute of every day you are thinking of getting home. You really appreciate home and family. Do you remember the last scene in "Saving Private Ryan"? The background was the family: think about that. By one small mishap, the family wouldn't be here.
After the war I did not go back to MS. They had a 52/20 club; you got $20/week for 52 weeks, if you were turned down from a job interview. So Kinney Shoes interviewed me. I told them I did not want to work. But they hired me! And I was with them 47 years! I moved 21 times, around the country. Back then it was not like today. Most people stayed at one job their whole career. I loved it. Being raised in rural MS, I couldn't understand how you could make a living dressing up and being cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It was a good life. I had two kids, a boy and a girl.
Some things I think about from time to time are mind boggling, It is hard to imagine how many millions died in the war. Also, from the time war was declared in 1941, to 1944, we went from a peacetime economy to full time military production. Everybody was involved around the country. The mass of equipment was so tremendous that we had more than we could use. As an example, when we started, we had to save brass shell casings and turn them in when our ship was re-loaded with ammunition. Later, it stopped as we had more than enough. We usually loaded off munitions ships, about every 3 days.
To this day, we still have annual reunions on the anniversary of the sinking of our ship. We have 42 living survivors from our ship. About 100 attend the reunions which includes descendants of the crew. They are real family affairs that occur every May on the anniversary of the sinking. We still "pitch Liberty" at reunions.
One of the sad parts of the reunions is meeting the descendants of the KIA's. One time, I met the daughter of a man who was on a quad 40-gun crew. She wanted to know about her dad and asked if I knew him. I did as he was on my gun crew. When I told her she started crying which was sad.
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Here is a story unrelated to my service. I knew a man with a brother, both of whom were in the Navy. Their dad wanted to join, but he was 52 and they wouldn't take him into active duty. Finally, he joined the Seabees and helped to design the electrical system for a floating dry-dock that was shipped to Manila. Can you imagine how much this helped the war effort? Before this, heavily damaged ships were sent either to Pearl Harbor or to the West Coast.
Duke, thank you for your service and for your story. By the way, Duke is also a neighbor of mine. I did not know him until we ran an article in our neighborhood newsletter asking for stories from Veterans, and he called us. We had a great visit during which he showed us an exact scale model of the Drexler. Man it was beautiful! To see a photo of it, click on the link below.
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