Donice was living in Arkadelphia Arkansas when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Hawaii on December 7, 1941. He didn’t exactly how he heard of the attack. He may have heard it from a friend, or on the radio. He may have been sitting in a movie theater as some have said. The film suddenly stopped, and the manager walked out on stage and announced that the movie was over, go home to your loved ones.
He enlisted in the US Navy on December 7, 1943. At the conclusion of boot camp, Donice attended radar school, eventually attaining the rank of Radioman Third Class.
Donice was assigned to three ships during his service during WWII. One was the USS Killen, DD-593 which was a Fletcher-class destroyer. The other was the USS Soubarissen, AO-93 which was a fleet oiler. Lastly there was the USS YMS313, which was a minesweeper.
One of his most memorable experiences happened on November 1, 1944. This was during the invasion of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Around 10AM his ship was attacked by seven Japanese kamikaze suicide planes. The ships gunners managed to shoot down four of the attacking planes and one other dropped a 500 pound bomb on the portside of the ship. The ships gunners got the rest of the attackers but the bomb did a lot of damage. The bomb killed fifteen sailors and well as massive damage to the ship.
At the Battle of Surigao Straight, which was body of water between the islands of Mindanao and Leyte, Donice’s ship put a torpedo into a Japanese battleship.
When asked how his military service affected his life, Donice said that “I grew up fast.”
He was discharged on July 26, 1946.
No comments:
Post a Comment