I servved aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) in the Pacific war. Big Ben was a favorite target for the Japanese pilots and we were frequently hit by bombs or kamikazes. The third time our ship was bombed we had 740 dead - all young men that never had a chance to reach their best human potential - and 280 wounded many of whom will suffer for the rest of their lives. War is such a terrible waste of life. And whether you live or die depends more on luck than it does on skill. I was on  more...

I servved aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) in the Pacific war. Big Ben was a favorite target for the Japanese pilots and we were frequently hit by bombs or kamikazes. The third time our ship was bombed we had 740 dead - all young men that never had a chance to reach their best human potential - and 280 wounded many of whom will suffer for the rest of their lives. War is such a terrible waste of life. And whether you live or die depends more on luck than it does on skill. I was one of the lucky survivors on a ship that normally had a crew of 3000. When we returned to Pearl Harbor in April 1945 there only 704 of us left aboard. less...