KP, Lexington, OK

Dear reader, a Japanese sub slammed two torpedoes into our side chief. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn’t see the first shark for about half an hour, tiger, thirteen footer. We formed ourselves into tight groups like you see on a calendar…You know in that first down, lost a hundred men? I don’t know how many sharks, average about 6 an hour. A few days later a big fat PBY came down to pick us up, it was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. And that was the time I was most frightened, waiting for my turn…I’ll never put on a lifejacket again, so 1100 men went into the water, 316 came out, sharks took the rest, June 19, 1945. P.S. Today was an amazing day. I’m almost home. David Bowie would be proud.