Pearl Harbor Day...

[VADM JT Kerry]

In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, my wife thinks about her Dad, Lynn H. Davis.  His ship, the USS Astoria, was stationed there, before we entered WWII.  By a lucky twist of fate, the Astoria was ordered out to sea early that morning (pre-dawn), for patrol duty north of the islands and was over 100 miles out to sea when the attack started.

Below is a photo of the Astoria's survivors some time after the Guadalcanal campaign:

My father-in-law is in the back row, the sixth man from the left.  And, by the looks of it, they took this picture on another New Orleans Class Heavy Cruiser.  I can tell by the guns.  Three of the 7 New Orleans Class cruisers were lost at Savo Island. 

Update (12-9-13):  FYI, after much debate among the Davis family, it was determined that my father-in-law is actually the 4th from the left in the middle row.   

JT

 

[VADM pRett]

Seyla

[Capt. Vashaar]

I was stationed there 3 times for about 14 years total. We consider it home. we miss it terribly since I retired.

[Wupteedo]

Funny, stuff away in a box somewhere in my basement, I have a similar picture of my old "division" aboard the USS Oklahoma City back in 1978. 

Family histories are worth preserving.  Thank you for sharing. 

[xlxMAVERICxlx]

My great grandfather was stationed there back then. Fortunately for him, he was on a 3 month leave about six weeks before the attack. When we visited his home in Citrus Heights, CA we always saw a rather ironic picture hanging on his wall of a photograph taken by a Japanese kamikaze pilot that was recovered the day he went to assess the damage. My family still has that picture in tact as well as the blown up version. I'm wondering how much something like that would be worth.