Show a l THEY THEM WERE SERE E E A r 0 WHITE by 17 7 ES TilE THE TORY STORY SO FAR Th The Story of or their pall pad In lq the battle balUe for or tile the Philip Philip- li is toil tell by four our of ot the five live naval Dual stagers who oho are aU all U that 1 la left Ide leftt IdeC of t C J t Motor float Boat Squadron 3 1 They ir are Ife Bulkeley now ant and Commander squadron squad ron commander R It I n Kelly l command In-command In and ibiS i Anthony Anthany Alien Akers and I nd George E. E Cox Cos Jr Ir Aster After taking General Mac Mac- MacArthur Arthur and hi party parey safely lately to Cebu ebu In Inthe Inthe the to In Islands Island Squadron 3 pre prepared pared to participate In a treat great often often- live planned against the Japs lap Rut nut our planet planes and rid ships shape that were ere supposed to come corne didn't appear and Kellys Kellye boat and the one cne was wai as riding In ID were ere forced Into Inlo hiding biding CHAPTER XIII They didn't get us then said sold Kelly At midnight our escape be gan The destroyer lost me with lt Its light temporarily so I did a ninety degree degree turn so as liS to pass astern of her and lose her I con continued on that course five minutes heading directly away from her then to the left eft In In another ninety ninety- degree turn and I J started looking around the ship I found Reynolds my port gun gunn gunner ner he was also cook had been shot through the throat and der Ier I got him down below and had the chief and the radioman give him first aid ald aidI aldI aidI I found our mast had been shot oft a foot over my head so we couldn't use our radio for sending The port turret had been hit and Its guns were out of action Lieutenant Kelly continued Our objective now was to get Reynolds to a doctor We were go go- goIng Ing like a bat out of hell I couldn't tee see the 41 boat boat It It was so dark I couldn't even see the shore I Just bad had to look at the compass and make mental mr estimates as to how far we had gone in various direr since I 1 last had seen land I recognized and then guess where we now were I thought we were near the narrow channel between the islands would another Jap destroyer destroy er r be laying for me there Suddenly directly ahead a searchlight came on less than a g amile amile mile away away away-a a Jap Tap steaming fu full speed at me I barely had time to t t give rive a hard bard left and a hard right and we went scooting past each oth other other er at t a relative speed of sixty knots knot before he be had a chance to fire a shot He turned holding me do down wn with his tight light like a bug under underpin underpin a pin Pm and started stetted chasing blaz blazing lag ing away with big guns guns two two o splashes plashes four tour hundred feet teet away tw two more fifty city feet away I 1 started ilg- ilg ring gang to squirm out cut of that tight light lIght lIght- wouldn't let my gunners en fire a shot i it S would help belp him keep our position I J was wal getting away all aU right but he be h kept firing for ten minutes although h his accuracy was going to hell B By 1 I J could barely see his light which was waving around search search- searchIng ing fag the water back of usI us usI I J kept on open wide open wondering g bow how wed we'd ever get In since we had ha haas no as charts it ft was black as pitch and nd I 1 knew coral reefs must be all aU a ll around round us At four tour o'clock I 1 slowed d down and headed into where I hoped hope d the beach was taking soundings The water suddenly shoaled oft off an and d bump I we were aground aground-a a pinnacle cle de of coral under her belly Look Looking ing down with flashlights we could rout d see lee the water was twenty feet dee deep p with coral pinnacles all aU around us u e about every twenty feet like a petri petrified fied fled forest rising to within five feet fee t of the surface Studying the shore line I real realized zed we were about ten tea miles too fa faup far farup farup up the coast cout I sent cent Ensign Richard Richard- Richardson son lOll ashore In a rowboat to send an e earmy a army doctor and ambulance out ou from Cebu for Reynolds and also als alsa K a tug wr for tor us us For the next hour we sallied ship ship- rocking It trying to Jiggle it off olf th the e pinnacle backing with the engines engine a and and finally Anal managed to roll roU it oft of Reynolds Reynold was feeling fine now Id I'd suddenly remembered a little present Peggy had bad given riven me on the th e Rock went down to my locker and an d brought it up for him a him a couple o of t tablets and a sedative p pill W Now he be was sitting topside smoking g although he be couldn't drink because e the water would leak out the hole hol holis e in is his bIs throat They'd been short of o f drugs on the Rock but she sneaked d these out for me Just in case I got go t wounded outon out on patrol A hell of goI a I thoughtful present and much more mor e valuable and useful than a gold cold cig cli cigarette ci arette case I Dawn came with a low fog which shut out the coastal contours and an d because of all aU the coral we had to t o stand well oft off the coast The sun was waa well weD up but that didn't wor worry ry me with air superiority we didn't t need to stalk italic in the dark any more By 7 1 SO 30 the sun tun had bad burned the to tog fog foga g away a wa and we started out on two tw o engines one engines one screw bad had banged u uon up upon upon p on the coral hut but that didn't matter matter- we were crippled now but Dad Da d' d Cleland would quickly fix us At A An t eight o'clock we spotted the e en entrance n trance to the long lon channel and an d turned in inSo InSo inSo So there we were fat tat dumb dun dunand and happy heading beading up the narrow narro channel at fifteen knots bots when til aU a U of a sudden sudden Wham Wham I It was a hun hut pound dred-pound dyed pound bomb which landed abo about ut ten feet oft of oj our bow Then I looked up and here a second plane was peeling off of corn com Con tog lag out of a cloud But Instead of at the big white start stars of the American America a air corps on her wings there were wereth we rc tat th flaming suns inns of at I 1 didn't have ha time even to won won- wonder der what In hell had become of our big American offensive and the air umbrella because I had to throttle back stopping the boat momentarily so that the next bomb would land enty feet fe-ct In front Instead of squarely on us Then 1 I gave gate nor her herthe the he gun and started trying to zigzag In n that narrow hundred four four hundred foot foot- wide channel meanwhile giving word to our machine guns ns to start firing They bombed us for thirty min minutes utes and the farthest bomb was thirty feet away a We lle would wait walt for tor the bomb release see it start falling then Id I'd give hard rudder and It would miss by a few feet Ceet All AU AUthe the while we had to to keep in this narrow channel so we couldn't be beached helplessly on a coral reef and work our way down It toward port where presently some of the newly arrived American planes would see what hat was going on and come to help We lYe didn't doubt of course that they'd arrived ed Four Jap seaplanes were after atler us work work- workIng Ing In rotation undoubtedly rotation undoubtedly those from the tie second cruiser the army bad had reported as 88 being around When ben their bombs were exhaust exhausted ed they began diving down do Just over our mast stub to strafe us With their first salvo they killed Harris He was wag my and also manning the starboard caliber 50 machine guns guns guns-a a fine tine kid he was was was- he slumped down do from his guns and rolled on the deck when a bullet ripped Into his throat So 1 put in e But Bat meanwhile Ross Rose had boa she ho t down one of the four planes Martino or started to but found torn d they the had also hit the gun and end pu put puit t it out of action But Hut meanwhile Ross Rose with the t hi starboard caliber 30 machine guns had teed shot down one of the tour four r planes The next plane got Ross in inthe Inthe 1 the leg Ie and also put out his hll gun run So Sowe Sowe S D we now had no guns only two en engines gines and end a boat full of holes boles with wl three ree planes panes diving down to less lea e than one ont hundred feet raking us UI 5 with ith fire fin which we couldn't return return- only try to dodge The engineer now reported th the C CI engine room was full of water and an I the boat was sinking so there Will was s nothing to do but beach her if 11 we w e were to save the wounded men I headed her over towards nearby y Island and there she beached beache d hard bard and fast There were about fib t twelve hundred yards of shallow shallo w surf sort four feet of water over an un url uneven even bottom of coral and sand and an d then the palms The planes kept up u p their strafing as we lay there b but ut there was nothing to do now but b ut dodge while we ve got the wounded wounds d ashore I 1 went down into the engine room roar m and there was Hunter my chief ma machinists machinist's a mate with his arm practically prat U cally rally blown blows a of-a a bullet had en cc entered his elbow and gone out a three thre e einch Inch hole in his forearm but he wa was S still manning meaning the engines I 1 gave gar e the order to abandon ship It turned tome d out that there were only three of ui us to so it was a Job getting the wounded out while the Japanese e dived to rake us We made the mistake of taking off of ot our shoes and an d the coral cut our feet to ribbons as we staggered carrying the menZ men menI I Z I found Loral Reynolds who had been bee in n wounded in o the throat during the th night now lying with his hand band over ova r his hil belly Mr her Kelly KenT be he said laid leave me gee here What happened I asked raked When Rhea fhe he e planes attacked he said there didn't seem nem to be any anything an thing for tor me to do so I 1 went below bolo w and lay la down on Mr Brantingham's s bunk They hit bit me in is the belly be while I was lying Jing there fm Tin done do p le leU for sir air Ill I'll ll be all right here bere Y You ou U get out the others Well the Ule hell bell beDith with ith that So 50 in I spite of Des bis protests Martino and I rattled carried term him ashore Then we At e went ack back b for a last lest trip Only Harris lards was Mas left lying bing where he hud h ld turn turn- bled led into the tank compartment But the radioman and I carried his body shore ashore because w we hoped to give him im a decent bural After reaching shore hore at Cebu Is h. island land and Lieutenant Kelly 1 turned hIS hISa attention a to his casualties I rounded up some native 8 sol soldiers diers deers who got stretchers and in these hese we carried the wounded to theother the theother other ither side of the island where they could be loaded into a launch put putt putting ting them In charge of Sheppard a first class machinists machinist's mate to get them to the hospital At this point a banca showed up and It was a native naU doctor the one we had sent Ensign Richardson ashore for before dawn for tor Hey ne who by now was en route to the hospital So I 1 loaded the ships ship's papers binoculars and stuff Into this banca and with them 1 l shoved ocr of for Cebu Halfway over the three planes came back and we tried to hide be he behind hind a fish trap trap trap-a a net with bamboo poles sticking up out of o the water But they weren't strafing now They Th y were looking for the fourth plane wed we'd shot down do They scoured the thear area ar a for twenty minutes s. s After they left we went on in and of course I went straight to army headquarters and met m t the colonel in the charge charge the No 2 officer of the island No he hadn't heard beard from Bulkeley but hed he'd send lend out a radio message me sale to hunt for him if it he was still alive And maybe Id I'd better Letter give my re reo report report port direct to the general generate I wanted to and also I wanted to find t out what had happened to our big American Offensive we had been asked to be part of and that air umbrella which should have pro protected us this morning The general had bad been having a conference at the bar of or the Amerl Ameri American can Club sitting with tome some other officers and some civilians who were now all aU having a drink Now a gen gen- general general eral is pretty important and you dont don't Just go barging into his con con- conferences not not If U 1 youre you're a mere na na- naval naval val lieutenant in command e of a lit little tle tie seventy foot boat boal So following the lead of this conducting colonel we stood oft of at a bit and waited until the general gave us the signal to come on in and tie up at t his table He sew saw us all aU right but h he be didn't give us the signal signal Just just went on talk talking ing InC to the other officers and civil civil- ians lans Now thinking back beck I realize f It t was a most Important conference But at the time Ume I was excited b be be- because because e cause I 1 had hid Just come from my boat boa boatin boan t in n which Id I'd fought all through the Ul th e war and with which wed we'd Just helped to sink link a Jap cruiser cruiser my my boat boa which was Will now lying beached across the bay ba with one man dead an another other dying and all the rest relt but three wounded I suppose I was un un- strung I wanted to have hove him make my report by radio about the cruis cruis- er And then although maybe it wasn't my business Id I'd have bave liked to find dad out about that American of of- offensive Pensive hed he'd invited us to Join the night before We kept standing there the two o of us while I got madder and mad mad- madder der I 1 see gee now it was Will unreason unreason- unreasonable unreasonable unreasonable able but I J couldn't help it then Finally it embarrassed even the th r colonel and he invited me to ia step over by b the bar and have a drink k with him I said gold no thanks I had bad d work to do but Id I'd have a Coca Cola I 1 stuck around ten more min min- minutes minutes utes ales drinking it and then sine the general gave rave us no signal I shoved shove Q oft off ot I arranged to have th the boat t guarded Because 1 I wouldn't yet J t admit that maybe both It and end w we r were expended now High tide Ud was waa wasat r at four fora Couldn't we maybe mayb e patch her up float Olt her over to Dad Cleland's get torpedoes and a crew ere w from somewhere and maybe fight t her Just once again I 1 went over there thereto to where Brant Brant- Brantingham BrantIngham ingham and the 35 95 boat bost were taking g the stuff Id I'd salvaged from the boat and they gave cave me some lome lunch as II I 1 talked about the fight and what whet had ha d happened to us UI and during it En En- Ensign Ensign sign Richardson telephoned He said sal d Reynolds had died and they wert e burying him and Harris Karris in tin the e American cemetery with a military r escort and end a r priest at four foUl o'clock I J said IBid of course I 1 would go o and ant I would meet Richardson at the bar ba barof barof t of the American Club from wife which b wed we'd go 10 over together bt I got there but Richardson didn't t show up I J stood around I J was wn i a tired and mad and lonesome as al hell beU Finally a r civilian came up up and end I 1 got cot to talking to him hero Ha H. was as a avery very vary nice sire guy vice guy vice president of the lii e club I J told him our story and end he h. D e said IBid how sorry he was and asked aske d if f he might go ao to the funeral H Ha Hi was the teat first sympathetic person Id I'd d met Presently a truck arrived driven dri y en ea by bJ a Filipino soldier with a r ames mes mn message sage for tor me that the Ule funeral had bad hr d been postponed until ten o'clock to to- morrow This |