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I got this question from my brother. He's a fiction writer, so when he says he needs it, he needs it.

I remember that. But I can't remember the book....GP

Wasn't it from J Fahey's "Pacific War Diary"? He served on a 40mm mount aboard Montpelier.

Yep, I heard this one many years ago, probably in an American docu film about the WWII in the Pacific. It stuck with me all those years. I remember there was a color footgae, when those words were spoken (blue ocean and some Bofors AA guns). The surreal nature of the quote stuck.

One of the funny sayings from Leyte Gulf CVE's 40 mm AAA sergeant was (when those IJN heavy surface combatants were bearing on them) was:

"We are sucking them into 40 mm range!" [:D]

I don't remember which book it was in, though.

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

One of the funny sayings from Leyte Gulf CVE's 40 mm AAA sergeant was (when those IJN heavy surface combatants were bearing on them) was:

"We are sucking them into 40 mm range!" [:D]

I don't remember which book it was in, though.

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

It does ring a bell, but the bell is cracked these days, and I can't recall from where I heard it.

I vaguely recall I heard it on a history channel program about USN ships under kamikaze attack.

It may have been about a cruiser, or query something like the USS Franklin or Bunker Hill.

What I do remember was it was part of a veteran account.

ORIGINAL: Ian R

I vaguely recall I heard it on a history channel program about USN ships under kamikaze attack.

It may have been about a cruiser, or query something like the USS Franklin or Bunker Hill.

What I do remember was it was part of a veteran account.

Yes, it was a kamikaze episode on "world War two in color", or something like that....GP

Yes. It was as GP says. That sounds familiar.

I had heard the quote "somewhere" as well. The quote was in episode 23 of "The World at War" at about the 40 minute mark. The speaker was Frank Manson. The episode can be found on several video sites. edit: From other sites, it appears Manson had been an officer aboard the USS Laffey.

Yes, I definitely remember hearing that one before, years ago.

You guys talking about it reminded me a a story my Dad told me. He was an AO2 on the Randolph 1944-5. He said there was a guy who one day during combat ops just drove one of the tow trucks right off the flight deck before anybody could even think about trying to stop him. He was never found by the task force destroyers. Yeesh.

sergeant

No such thing in the US Navy. The Marines have them but I doubt CVEs had any Marines..IIRC it was a Chief Petty Officer on USS White Plains.

ORIGINAL: spence

sergeant

No such thing in the US Navy. The Marines have them but I doubt CVEs had any Marines..IIRC it was a Chief Petty Officer on USS White Plains.

Could be a position name rather than a rank? You can be a gun captain without being a captain.

There are neither positions nor ranks in the US Navy/US Coast Guard called "sergeant".

Could have been Marine gunner, but most likely Petty Officer indeed.

As I used to rile some US Navy POs: "You know, there are petty thieves and petty officers..."

[:D][;)][8D]

Nothing beats bit inter-service rivalry...

Like asking USN PO if the chevrons point to direction their service is going to...

(To those not knowing, US Army and USMC chevrons point upwards, Navy's and Air Force's downwards...)

My brother thanks you all.

Timons Esaias lives in Pittsburgh, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, with his wife who is a physician. He writes satire, speculative fiction, poetry, and the occasional essay. His work has appeared in over a dozen different countries, and fifteen languages. He has been a finalist for the British Science Fiction Award (1998) and the Rhysling Award (5 nominations, Third Place 1997), and he won the Asimov's Readers' Award for Poetry (2005). He is a member of the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange; a Member Demeritus of the Worldwrights; and a certified Rogue in Lair #1 of the Rascals, Rogues & Rapscallions. He is Adjunct Faculty at Seton Hill University, primarily in the Masters Program for Writing Popular Fiction.

Me again: He lives three blocks away from where the Synagogue attack occurred.




For a fuller, if more satirical, (and somewhat outdated) bio, go here. http://www.tvpress.com/idn/bio/bionots.html