Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 July 1943 — Page 7

THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1943

| SHIP'S SURVIVORS ~ TOO TIRED TO CARE

Sight of Rescued Crew of

Dramatic Moments in Flaming Hell That Was Battle of Kula Gulf.

By B. J.

ABOARD A U. S. CRUISER IN A SOLOMON ISLAND PORT, July 6 (Delayed).—The flaming hell of the battle of + Kula gulf had many dramatic moments, but none more ter-| ribly moving than the sight of the survivors of the United | States cruiser Helena as they arrived in this harbor, after: their ship had been shot from under them. I was on the cruiser that received them from the de-

stroyers which had picked them up after Jap shells had

blasted the Helena. I listened while the sailors from our other vessels gave a cheer for the heroic, exhausted horde, hundreds of them, all huddled topside in the rescuing & vessel. ¥ American fightIng men love to cheer and I have heard them do it

often.

Cruiser Helena Was One of

McQUAID

[for the survivors. Above everything jelse, they needed rest, baths, changes of clothing, all of which they would get in due course.

Reception Ready There were two destroyer loads of them and they came alongside the cruiser as we lay to in the stream. Our executive officer direct-! ed preparations to receive them. He was plump, white haired, apple

But this tribute, | almost but not | | guite a battle cry, : was the moving I have ever heard from the throats of our Mr. McQuaid boys. It was a spontaneous tribute to a battle-tested, valorous fellow crew, which could not respond in kind.

Smile Wanly

Jammed in tightly packed groups around the rescuing destroyer's superstructure, men of the U. S. S. Helena simply raised their eves to our main deck and smiled wanly. That was all they could do. They did not seem to care where they were or where they had been or what would happen next. Rimmed by black hollows, their gunken, sore and tired eyes were red from the salt sea and lack of gleep. Most were naked to the waist. Their bare feet were blackened and rust-stained from deckwalking. Some lay stretched out, too weak and tired to move. Some were leaning over the rail in paroxysms of vomiting from swallowing sea water and fuel oil. A few lay on stretchers, waiting to be carried over to the cruiser,

Recognize Old Shipmates As soon as the first destroyer

. | Monticello, Ind.,, Annapolis ‘22. He

most |

| terday's

made fast, we put over the gangplank and they began to shuffle and help each other across. As they felt under their bare feet the firm steel of their own dead] cruiser’'s sister, many seemed for | the first time to brighten up. There were backslappings, hand- « clasps and affectionate greetings as the men of the two cruisers recognized their old comrades and shipmates. There was little our lads could do

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cheeked, fiftyish, Chauncey Moore, !

looked like a prosperous small-town | merchant. What with this dawn’s battle, yes-| bombardment, and the: prowling mission this ship had made the night before that, none of her, people had had more than a couple of hours sleep in four days. | | I doubt if Moore had changed his clothes in that length of time. Yet,| we noticed, at breakfast, that he seemed the freshest and the least: fatigued of us all. | Now, as the small vessel broached up to port, Moore was briskly mov-| ing up and down the deck, seeing that all was in readiness. Our gun| crews and other topside people were; lining the port side to watch the scene. Our own lads were more than’ merely curious. Sympathy shone

in their faces which were a miracle of unconscious intensity. i

Cheers Resound

When the destroyer was no more than 100 feet off, Chauncey Moore | called for three cheers for the survivors. They came resounding over the water. | In the wardroom later, as I listened to their officers talking with ours, I began for the first time to get a comprehensive picture of the Helena's loss. ! She had been hit by torpedoes. Unquestionably the Helena avenged her own death by the destruction she wrought upon the enemy. She] had been in more actions than any! other cruiser down here, and was a | tough, hard-hitting, straight-shoot-ing ship.

Describes Experience

Lt. (j.g.) George N. Barker, 25, of Tacoma, Wash., whose station was sky aft, described how he clung to a raft loaded with others for four hours. The raft was so overloaded that it floated submerged. | “It was an effort to keep the head | above the water,” Barker said. “Oil| choked us. Huge waves were break- | ing over the raft. It seemed we had | been there for days. “Finally, I did not care any more. | I thought, ‘What the hell,” and was | trying to decide whether te fight any more. Then a boat came up and {someone lifted me up bodily, and hauled me in.

Rescue ‘Unmatched’

“Those, rescuing destroyers did a job probably unmatched in this: war,” he continued. “Three times, at half-hour intervals, they had to abandon their rescue work and, steam off to fight off attacks by Jap | warships. “They sank an old Jap four-| piper, a Jap destroyer or light cruiser, and damaged an enemy light cruiser so badly she was glad! to limp off and go back home. But all this meant cruel prolongation of | the agony and suspense endured by | the men in the water.” | Looking at the survivors, remembering the appearances below decks of people after battle, there came! with overwhelming force the appre- | ciation of how impossible a task it is to give the folks at home a full! picture of the hardships and sacri- | fices these frontline combatants of ours undergo and the boundless ex- | tent of their magnificent devotion | to duty and willingness to fulfill!

Moore Appears Fresh

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