July 15^th, 1945 Washington, DC ~

I am sorry I don’t have information about "Baer". I went off the port side on the bow with the gun crew and some cooks, and as far as us I know no one else came off there, because she blew before we had gotten far. A number of men did leave from port side, mid-ships and aft. As you know that part of the ship received the worst of the explosion and I believe there were some men that got it there."

H.J. Lyon CGM

April 26^th, 1945 USS Pakana ATF-108 ~

" I am almost certain that your son abandoned ship by jumping over the port side when the word was passed. It could very possibly be that the suction of the ship sinking might have taken him under but that is not very likely for I was only 100 feet from the ship when the explosion occurred. Although there was a slight suction most of the flying metal was thrown further out from the ship. There is a good possibility that he may have swum to Savo Island or directly across from it, which was Japanese occupied territory. There was a current running in that direction and at daybreak I found myself and others exactly in that location. I have every reason to believe as you do that he may have possibly been taken prisoner by the Japanese." Ch. Mach G.R. Heffler

April 28^th, 1945 West Coast Sound School, San Diego, CA ~

"If you recall in my letter to you sometime in 1943, I told you that Frank and Ken Umbarger destroyed papers in the ships office together after the battle was over, yet Karam claims, according to the way his letter reads that Frank was killed during the battle, yet Ken Umbarger worked with him after the battle and I saw him after the battle myself. Frank I am speaking of. The vance that Karam speaks of is what I always knew as the shield that houses the vents around the base of number two stack or funnel. Frank was not lying under there. That I can remember for sure. I searched under those two vances myself and the only man anywhere near the vance was a fireman who was a 20mm gunner. I can’t recall his name, but he was dead. No one else was there! I believe his name was XXXX! As to your question of all the dead and wounded being accounted for before we abandoned ship, I can’t truthfully say is true, because everything was in a state of confusion and I don’t think anyone had time enough to look completely over the ship for dead and casualties."

J.M. Curtis SoM2/c

October 5^th, 1945 Madison, WI ~

"A few days ago I received a letter from you dated February 27^th of this year. From the looks of the envelope it has really traveled. However it finally found me at home where I have been since January at which time I was medically discharged from the Navy after being in and out of hospitals since the Laffey was sunk. Of course I knew Frank well, but am sorry to say that I cannot give you and Mrs Baer any information about him after he left the ship. I went over the port side just before the ship blew up and there were so many men in the water it was impossible to keep track of just who was around. Of course when the ship blew up there was such a turmoil as to be indescribable. I believe that most of those who survived the blast have been pretty well accounted for. I lived with Swanson on Guadalcanal and saw him off to the states. I stayed down in that area until July of the following year serving on signal towers and finally came back to the states myself because of malaria and internal injuries which called for surgery and hospitalization in the Newport Naval hospital. I am home recuperating from an attack of malaria. This makes 15 times. I sincerely hope that you have heard some word of your son by this time. If it is the worst may I say that those of us who were lucky enough to come out of it alive will never forget our shipmates who were heroes every one of them. Thank God the war is over and all men can come home again. But as they do, they are all remembering those whom they left behind all over the world." Sincerely Yours, J.A. Herman

August 25^th, 1945 Stockton, CA ~

"I am afraid I will not be able to give you very much information regarding your son. The day the Laffey went down, approximately fifteen or twenty minutes before, your son helped carry me down to sick-bay and the last I saw of him, he was returning to the upper deck to see if he could help some of the other men. What happened from then on, I cannot say as everything happened so fast. I was in the water for eight hours, and when I was picked up, I was taken to the hospital in New Zealand and lost touch with the men from the Laffey." Jack W. Faunce

September 30^th, 1945 NOB #230 Ship Service

"I am sorry to say that I was blinded for a day or so from the explosions, diesel oil and salt water, and was unable to see much. I was able to see a couple of Jap ships go sky high though. I know that your brave son helped to make those sights possible. Frank was a swell egg, but when things happen as they did that Friday the 13^th, choice is out of the question when it comes to who is going to survive. As you know we lost our swell captain too. I was slightly wounded and swam to Guadalcanal and stayed there for a week. I had malaria six times. During that time we looked for Frank, but never heard of him. I am so deeply hurt to see such a fine boy pass on at such a young age. I was just 17 when it all happened. I sure experienced alot in such a short period of time."

Roy John Yesinkevich S1/c

May 24^th, 1945 USS ABSD-4 ~

"Previous to the nigh of Nov 13^th, and whenever we were in battle, Frank was in the vicinity of my general quarters station. This was on a 20mm gun on the port side of the after stack. The last time I remember seeing Frank was in the late afternoon when our task force was attacked by a large force of torpedo planes. We suffered no damage during this. During the surface battle that night I can’t remember seeing Frank in the vicinity. We were making a torpedo run on a battleship and a shell struck nearby and I was knocked unconscious. When I came to there was a fire around and I left my station. Before leaving I looked around but did not notice anyone around…we were dead in the water. I abandoned ship before it blew up and swam ahead. Between the time I got off and reached a life raft I did not see Frank in the water. Neither was he in the life raft with us. A fellow named Karam knew Frank quite well. I think I heard him remark after, that Frank had been one of those that was killed. I can’t remember if he ever saw him on the ship or not. During the engagement a torpedo struck the ship and a man was knocked over the side but was recovered."

John H. Jeukuis BM2/c

August 2, 1945 N.A.B. Navy 140 Stevedore Detachment ~

"I saw him in the water before the ship blew up. I never saw him after that. I couldn’t see very well. My face and eyes got burnt." Raymond E Mercer S2/c

At Sea July 23, 1945 USS LST#31

"The only time I saw your son was at the mess hall and that was the last time I saw him. There was someone in the water before abandon ship but I don’t think that was him because it was black out and we couldn’t see two feet in front of us. I also abandoned ship on the port side it was on the bow. There were seven others besides myself. After we got off the ship it was about 4 or 5 minutes then it blew up and we made two life rafts. Your son wasn’t on it. He may have swam to shore which was two miles or closer, and that was Savo Island and the Japs were on that island at the time the fight took place." Ralph Frank Boncoskey – Coxwain

9 February, 1945 US Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

"I regret sincerely that I am unable to provide any information regarding Frank. It so happened that I did not abandon the ship until approximately one minute before the explosion, and when doing so used the starboard side. I was picked up by Marines the following morning along with several other survivors, and taken ashore. While on the island it was part of my job to make lists of the ships personnel and catalogue them. The lists we made were those the Navy promulgated in a later version no doubt. I cannot factually say that I saw Frank during the battle, in the water or on land afterwards." John McLeod

(John also made reference to two other officers that might have information. They were LTjg John A. Kelly and LT Lars Wanggaard. Lloyd Sadler’s letter also mentions a Leo A Lorton (sp) S1/c on the Yorktown, a Robert K Parrish S1/c at D.C.G.O. 9^th ND St Louis, and a Ted Thomas on the Owens DD 536 as possibly having information.

June 27th 1945 USS Deliver ARS-23 ~

"I remember your son quite well, but I am very sorry I cannot give you the information you desire…In your letter you mentioned he went off the port side. I went off the starboard at the break of the focsle. We all had plenty of time to get off if we cared to. However, we tried to put out the fire which was in our #4 magazine. Orders were then given to cease fighting the fire and move forward. That is when we all started to leave the ship. I got 20 ft from the ship before she blew up. The explosion caused a sort of tidalwave, which sent me quite clear of the ship. The Gunnery Officer told me later he didn’t feel any suction from her sinking, nor did I. I was hit by shrapnel while in the water and didn’t stay on the canal but one night. They flew me off the next morning to a rear base hospital. So I was not unable to be around my shipmates long enough to see who got off. The greater part of our men seemed to have been injured in the water rather than on the ship. It was very dark that night and the water was covered with fuel oil which would make it very difficult to identify anyone. Lawrence F. Mitchell C.E.M.

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