The Battle Under: The Allies Fight Back

[tocaff]

Cookie continued his business and friendship with Red until lung cancer took him in 1967. His passion in life was cooking and being invited to his home for a meal was always a special treat. Cookie often said that preparing meals at home was night and day to what he used to do aboard the ships he served on. He left behind a wife and 2 daughters.




CL-55 USS Cleveland

[tocaff]

Damon “Red” Gaffney became a rich man in business with Cookie. They were friends for life and Red served as a pallbearer at Cookie's funeral. He was so overcome with grief that those that knew him called the period immediately following Cookie's demise Red's dark days. He always had a Weimaraner as a friend until he was to old to care for a dog. To his dying day he always had a tale to tell about Lucky. Red kept a promise that he made to himself and once his time on the Palawan ended he never set foot on a ship again. Red never married, though he did have a few long term relationships. Before he died in 2012 he told a nephew that “Whoever said that these are the golden years didn't know what it was like to get old.” His passing was noted by few people as he had outlived almost all of his friends and relatives.




BB Pennsylvania

[tocaff]

Some men who crewed the AP Tasker H Bliss and TK Tulsagas continued to suffer psychologically from the fatal days of the IJN carrier raids into the convoy routes to Australia. Their not being allowed to discuss is wore on them. Finally 60 years later, to the day, a television station aired a program about the incident after the United States government declassified it and survivors could freely talk about what had transpired.





PB2Y

[tocaff]

Gil Edwards managed to catch a ride back to California on another Bomb Group's plane. They needed somebody who could type and from his Army training it was a skill that he had. Gil was the first man from his group to leave the base. He said his goodbyes and didn't see or hear from any of the Lucky 11 until one day a man called his son looking for Gil. The man walked into Gil's restaurant and you could've knocked Gil over with a feather. It was Gel, who happened to be in New York City and he told Gil about their Bomb Group holding a reunion. Gil immediately said yes and that night informed his wife that they were going to New Mexico for the event. She was all for it. They continued going every year until failing health prevented it. Gil never talked about the war until the '70s and he died in 2013 at the age of 90. He left his wife of 67 years, a son and 2 grandchildren. He was fondly remembered by people as a man who didn't have a temper and was always calm under pressure.




The Lucky 11, Gil 2nd from left in the rear row

[tocaff]

The time has come to put this AAR to bed. There were other characters in the AAR who had small roles and some who were major players in real life so I'll leave them alone. I never did manage to utilize all of the pictures that I amassed. Writing the AAR was more than I thought it would be in terms of time and effort. There were days when I suffered from writer's block, if I may call myself that. If there are any questions at all feel free to ask away in this thread or by PMing me.

I'd like to thank you who found this interesting enough to read along. I never dreamed of the number of hits going so high, especially in a “dead” forum as we've migrated to AE. That's what kept me motivated to continue writing to the end.

[turkey]

Thank you for your effort Tocaff. As a late come regular user of the forum I enjoyed reading along as this epic developed into the final days of the war and even picked up a few tactical and strategic pointers for my own game. Having said this, often it was just too easy to forget this was an AAR and simply to be carried off, into the story and over the vast oceans on the other side of the planet, well beyond any immediate reference to my game.