Late March 1941, a day or two remained on my first Navy leave. I graduated as a Navy Ensign on the 14th with orders to USS Lexington CV2 in Pearl Harbor. Since ten years old in 1927, I had followed the exploits of that ship from launching, through its knocking down the light poles along the Panama canal to the search for Amelia Earhart. I asked for a carrier. The Navy just happened to assign me to my favorite ship.
My friends in Midshipman School asked why I wanted a carrier? "You will never see action." Until a few months before I enlisted, 7 August 1940, the Navy policy called for the Saratoga CV3 and Lexington CV2 sending off their planes into battle, then with their 8" popguns, join…
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