Lonnie Eastham,  S1/c 

As we were heading out to picket duty I was thinking about the destroyers that were coming back from their picket duty. I knew it was now our turn and that we were going to die. I remember seeing ships limping back from battle blown up. This gave me an even stronger feeling that we were all going to die.

Around 0700 on the morning of the 16th of April 1945, 1 was in gun mount 52 upper handling room portside off of the main deck. I was assigned to take powder out of the hoist while Joseph Mele was assigned to remove powder from the rotary. He got his finger stuck in the rotary and lost the tip of his finger. He relieved me on the hoist while I relieved him on the rotary to send powder up to the mount. A plane hit off the portside with shrapnel going through the hatch and into Mele’s back. The shrapnel exited his stomach and left a six-inch open wound. It also knocked out all electrical power for the automatic controls for the gun.

With Mele injured, we looked for a stretcher to get him to Sick Bay. I couldn’t remember where it was but Mele pointed it out even though I thought he was already dead. We got him on the stretcher and went out the starboard hatch in an attempt to get him to Sick Bay. The Repair Party took him from us in order to allow us to return to our mount. As they got him in the Sick Bay to Dr. Darnell, we took another bomb hit, which killed everyone in Sick Bay.

The Japanese attack let up slightly and allowed us a break. This gave us a chance to throw the used shells over the side. I was then assigned to the Sick Bay to help bury approximately 10 crewmates. I happened to see one of the men’s dog tags and saw that it was Bernard Edwards, which was a good friend of mine I used to pull liberty with. We wrapped them all in fireproof mattress covers with 40mm ammunition cans tied to them for sinking weight.

After we got into the yards in Seattle, Washington, I had the all night barge watch. A Japanese suicide boat we had picked up off of Okinawa was tied up to the barge. I had the brilliant idea to borrow the suicide boat to go across the bay to get some liquor. On the way back, I hit a log or something in the bay and did not realize the boat was damaged until I got 30 to 50 yards from the barge. When I pushed the throttle back to reduce my speed, the boat took on water and sank to the bottom of the bay. I swam to the barge with one hand and the liquor in the other. After a deck court martial, they fined me $100, 20 days confined to the brig, and 100 hours of extra duty for destroying government property. The only government property was a battery used in that Jap suicide boat. The Deck Division Officer and Engineers made it into a gig for the Captain. It was Chief Keye’s pride and joy and of all things, I had to go sink it. Sorry Chief, but I needed to use that boat. I always intended on telling where I sank it, but what the hell; I paid for it.

Looking back, Admiral Becton did an outstanding job and I don’t think any other Skipper could have done any better. Those of us who survived, are a direct result of Admiral Becton’s leadership.

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