My mother is reading a book on the Franklin right now. My father would never talk about the war.
He finally told my brother many years ago(Tank Commander US Army) that he was a fireman down below and was on deck when the Franklin was struck and all his friends burned to death down below.
My brother-in-law’s dad just passed away and he was infantry in the Battle of the Bulge and the push into Germany. Never spoke about it. Too hard. At his funeral we had 4 kids from the U.S. Army at the cemetary with taps. Very moving.
Your poor dad must have very bad memories. Most of us have no idea. To go through that is bad enough but they were just kids.