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Samar was certainly one of the most courageous battles of the US Navy (there have been a number).

Think of the guys fighting the Java Sea battles though - bad command structure, bad communications, bad intelligence, bad torpedoes. The enemy had air superiority. The enemy had numerical superiority. The enemy had much much more battle experience and better training. The enemy's officers were much more battle aware. Some of our officers were still thinking in a peace time mode.

The crews of those ships, American, British, Dutch and Australian must have know how badly the odds were stacked against them, yet they did their duty as best they could with what they had.

It says a lot for free men.

My dad was on the U.S.S. Marblehead during that battle, the Houston and Marblehead were mentioned during one of Roosevelt's fireside chats.

"From 1938 on, the Marblehead was stationed in the Far East, a hotbed of confrontation with the Japanese. She helped protect American lives and property in this war-torn region. While the Japanese overran much of China and the Southwestern Pacific, the U.S. fielded only two cruisers (Houston and Marblehead), 13 over-age destroyers and mine sweepers, and fleet auxiliaries, based at Cavite in the Philippines.

In November 1941, Admiral Hart ordered the Asiatic Fleet dispersed. Hence, none of the important U.S. units were caught in surprise air raids on Manila, synchronized with the Pearl Harbor attack. The Marblehead was at Tarakan, Dutch Borneo, when news came of hostilities between the United States and Japan. Stripped for action, she sailed at dawn on December 8, 1941. Later that morning a flying fish sailed through one of her open portholes -- an omen of disaster in Oriental superstition. Soon after, the ship received a radio bulletin reporting itself sunk!

Finally, in February, 1942, the Allies gathered all their warships in the East Indies for a sortie against Japanese shipping. The force -- including the Marblehead , the heavy cruiser Houston, two Dutch cruisers under Admiral Doorman, and seven destroyers -- sailed for the Makassar Straits on February 3, 1942.

The crew's exploits were well-known because President Franklin D. Roosevelt had singled them out as the subject of one of his fireside chats. In holding up the Marblehead's men and those of the Houston (now sunk) as an inspiration to their countrymen, F.D.R. chose well. In that dark hour their determination, courage, and self-sacrifice shone with extra luster, providing genuine heroes for America."