I was officer of the deck from 1600 until 1800. I was serving on board a CVE, a so-called "baby flattop" or "jeep carrier," whose assigned duty was to escort a fleet of Navy tankers in the waters not so very far this side of the Philippines. Our mission was to protect the oilers while they steamed up and down in a very limited area close enough to the scene of operations so that Admiral Halsey could retire with the greater part of his powerful units and fuel his fleet, aircraft carriers and all, while the carriers' planes were over...
