Wow! You must be very proud of your son and this wonderful project. And how amazing to hear that the subject is thriving at 100. When you communicate with your friend, Lt. Cmdr. Lou Conter, tell him some no-real-account out there on the internets is really glad to make his acquaintance and wants to thank him for his service!
Mark
THANK YOU for posting this.
Can we remember the men on the forgotten ship too?
The USS Utah
Requiscat in Pace.
Regards,
When the USS West Virginia was sunk, she settled upright in just 36 feet of water. Most of her superstructure was above the waterline and accessible but there still were crewmen onboard who had been trapped below the waterline by bomb damage.
She wasn’t refloated until May 17, 1942. Seventy bodies were inside. Three that bore no sign of injury were found together in a compartment that had remained airtight and dry, along with a calendar that had had the days scratched off up to the 23rd of December, 1941.
For most of those 16 days, sailors working day and night to rescue the living and clear the wreckage could hear a rhythmic hammering coming from the Wee-Vee’s hull, a reminder that there was at least one crewmember still alive, still awaiting rescue.
Sailors and Marines alike avoided going anywhere near that wreck site, especially at night, because they knew what that clanging meant. Nearby Marine guards would stand their post with their fingers in their ears.
A battleship’s hull is deliberately made as impenetrable as possible. The Wee-Vee’s belt armor was at least 8” thick, so even if they could have isolated the location of the trapped men and sent down hard hat divers to cut them out, it would have taken far too long from the time they first breached the hull until they could cut a hole big enough for a man to escape through to leave even the remotest chance of rescuing them rather than drowning them in the process.
There was no hope of rescue until she was raised, and no hope of that for some months.
The three men were:
Ronald Endicott, age 18, from Skykomish, Washington.
Clifford Olds, age 20, from Stanton, North Dakota.
Louis “Buddy” Costin, age 21, from southern Indiana.
Buddy had joined up when he was 17. They found a waterlogged ladies watch in his locker. Shipmates recalled that he’d bought it intending to give it to his mother for Christmas. When it eventually made its way to his mother, she had it repaired and wore it every day until she died in 1985 at age 92.
In time some leaned the truth through unofficial means but none of their families were told how they really died.
There were women who were killed in that dastardly attack, also. And don’t forget the harrowing experience of the Nurses at the hospital.
Do we remember the men of the USS Liberty on June 8th every year? It seems like they got forgotten.
Here we take it seriously.
My Uncle was on USS Vestal that day...…...
My late neighbor Cliff Davis was in Pearl Harbor on that day. It was very difficult for him to talk about...
My uncle is still MIA WWII. Bless all of those who fought, all of those who died...
Stuart, Florida.
Use to be an Albertsons here where the West Marine is.
I worked maintenance there.
I went by a gent with a lovely Older lady, noticed he had a navel cap on.
Said U.S.S. Ininapolis. I walked by him and said, “Thank you for your service., Sir.”
He broke down crying
I have been told that a cousin is interred in the USS Arizona, “MADDOX, Raymond Dudley”. Rest in peace.
Also, after a survivor passes many have been interred at the USS Arizona site with their fellow shipmates.
My Father in law was an Ensign stationed aboard the Arizona. He was off duty that weekend and home with his wife on the hills over the harbor. The attack woke him and he got into his uniform and drove down to the harbor. He worked for three days straight, learned how to dive on the spot and worked rescue and recovery.
My mother in law, five months pregnant with my brother in law, was evacuated to San Francisco and my father in law, who, in addition to English, spoke French, Italian, German and Spanish got re-assigned to the Atlantic. He later got to participate in D-Day