This is the first I've seen of this...it's no wonder your dad was awarded the silver star.
Hmm. I always check them on "preview" before I post, and both loaded fine for me. You can find photos easily with a search of "USS Franklin March 19, 1945."
> The crew of the USS Franklin were all heroes as they fought the fires and brought the ship to port.
Right you are about that! The two photos I posted were taken when the situation was pretty much under control. Nonessential personnel were being transferred to a different ship. But if you watched the movies soon after the bombing, you'd swear it was impossible for Big Ben to stay afloat. It was one big fireball, wreathed in black smoke.
In the mid-1960s, when the Franklin was scheduled to be decommissioned and scrapped, I stopped by the Brooklyn Navy Yard to pay my respects to a gallant ship and crew.