>> Different battle. USS Heermann was part of Taffey 3 in the Battle off Samar. The “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.” <<
My Dad never spoke of the battle or anything else about WW2 other than the name of his ship. I only knew he was on the Heermann during some serious engagement off the Philippine coast where a lot of the crew and officers were killed. I didn’t find out details until 40 some years after he died when I came across another sailor who served on the Heermann who remembered him.
Well he took part in what’s been called the U.S. Navy’s finest hour. You should get the book “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” by James Hornfischer. The DDs Heermann, Hoel, Johnston and DE Samuel B. Roberts and aircraft off the small jeep carriers held off a huge Japanese fleet that included the Yamato.