is there anyone out there whos grandfather served in the navy in ww2 on the battle ship the Kitkun bay?

Question

my grandfather did i was looking and seeing if anyone else is still around who served on the boat cuz my grandfather doesnt have a lot of time left on the earth

Answer 1

follow the link Michael gave you above; also, just type"CVE-71" into your browser and you'll get a ton of links........

your grandfathers ship was part of the most heroic action in US Naval History.......and that's saying a lot! Escort carriers were about 1/3 the size of fleet carriers; a war time experiment, they had a flight deck slapped on a merchant ship hull and were sent off, mostly to hunt submarines. In the liberation of the Philippines Kitkun Bays task group was surprised by the main Japanese fleet, including the two biggest battleships ever built. On paper they had as much chance as Martin Lawrence going up against Mike Tyson.

Those ships that day got the Presidential Unit Citation, an award few ships and men earned. .

Your grandfather is a genuine hero.

Tell him thanks for me.

Here's the citation

" "For extraordinary heroism in action against powerful units of the Japanese Fleet during the Battle off Samar, Philippines, October 25, 1944. Silhouetted against the dawn as the Central Japanese Force steamed through San Bernardino Strait towards Leyte Gulf, Task Unit 77.4.3 was suddenly taken under attack by hostile cruisers on its port hand, destroyers on the starboard and battleships from the rear. Quickly laying down a heavy smoke screen, the gallant ships of the Task Unit waged battle fiercely against the superior speed and fire power of the advancing enemy, swiftly launching and rearming aircraft and violently zigzagging in protection of vessels stricken by hostile armor-piercing shells, anti-personnel projectiles and suicide bombers. With one carrier of the group sunk, others badly damaged and squadron aircraft courageously coordinating in the attacks by making dry runs over the enemy Fleet as the Japanese relentlessly closed in for the kill, two of the Unit's valiant destroyers and one destroyer escort charged the battleships point-blank and, expending their last torpedoes in desperate defense of the entire group, went down under the enemy's heavy shells as a climax to two and one half hours of sustained and furious combat. The courageous determination and the superb teamwork of the officers and men who fought the embarked planes and who manned the ships of Task Unit 77.4.3 were instrumental in effecting the retirement of a hostile force threatening our Leyte invasion operations and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

For the President,

JAMES FORRESTAL
Secretary of the Navy"

Answer 2

Your grandfather fought in service of his u . s ., a useless ringer for thousands of thousands of boys and youthful adult males in those terrible years. this does not make him or you a foul man or woman. besides the indisputable fact that, that is an section the position many human beings would have complications seperating the experience of the guy being written about from the more beneficial moral/political implications of the time in which he lived. that's why they are having an emotional reaction to an academic challenge. Your grandfather replaced right into a very youthful guy who did his duty at the same time as called upon with the help of his u . s .. Take Germany out of the equation and change say the U.S. or Britain or maybe the Stalin's Soviet Union and would those human beings have objected? would you've recieved a failing grade? The task desires to be judged on its benefits, not human beings's personal thoughts about the Nazi regime. that's the case you want to make. do exactly not anticipate to modify some thing. In as we talk's faculties you may not cutting-edge others with theory's that any one in any respect may locate provocative or scary. someone may get their thoughts damage and then it should be anarchy - cats and canines residing at the same time and each little thing. we are able to not have human beings wondering THAT independently!

Answer 3

The uss Kitkun Bay CVE-71 was a "Casablanca class" Escort Aircraft Carrier the 17th ship of this particular ship. It wasn't a Battleship.

for more information about this **** go to the link provided here and then you may wish to modify your question to say carrier rather than battleship

http://navysite.de/cve/cve71

complete stats of this ship can be viewed at this link. pic's and all. You may also go to military.com and see if they have a ships group by that name that will list surviving former crewmembers from WW2.