WEBVTT 00:00:00.659 --> 00:00:03.259 Today's Veterans Radio is an encore presentation 00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:08.859 of Typhoon Cobra with Gary Lilley as the host. 00:00:09.619 --> 00:00:11.640 Veterans Radio is dedicated to all the men and 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:13.400 women who have served or are currently serving 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:15.699 in the armed forces of the United States of America. 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:18.440 Today's program is brought to you by U .S. Wings, 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:21.160 a U .S. manufacturer of the finest quality military 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:23.839 leather flight jackets and much, much more. For 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:26.579 more information... about U .S. Wings, go to 00:00:26.579 --> 00:00:29.460 uswings .com and the Marine Scholars Program 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:32.840 at Ave Maria University. Go to avemaria .edu 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:35.119 for more information about this great scholarship 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:57.079 program. Michigan and around the world. This 00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:59.899 is Veterans Radio and now here's today's host, 00:01:00.219 --> 00:01:05.040 former Navy's CB, July, Vietnam, 1966, Ken Do, 00:01:05.219 --> 00:01:09.739 Gary Lilly. And good morning, Dale. Thank you 00:01:09.739 --> 00:01:12.819 so much. That was Dale Throneberry, helicopter 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:14.900 pilot. Who are you with, Dale, over there in 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:17.780 country in Vietnam? 195th Assault Helicopter 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:22.319 Company, Sky Chiefs. And you guys did a pretty 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:24.659 good job of flying in and out of Cambodia and 00:01:24.659 --> 00:01:27.099 dropping off special forces teams. I was never 00:01:27.099 --> 00:01:34.079 there. I forgot. And Matt Durr, Jesus, get to 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.459 the point where you're no longer really an intern. 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:39.560 You're doing a great job in there. Bob always 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:44.260 says I'm the boss now. You are. A very good one 00:01:44.260 --> 00:01:47.109 at that. I want to say good morning to all our 00:01:47.109 --> 00:01:49.650 troops spread out around the world, keeping the 00:01:49.650 --> 00:01:53.370 world safe. The thin green and blue line that's 00:01:53.370 --> 00:01:57.189 doing such a magnificent job, thank you. And 00:01:57.189 --> 00:02:00.709 to my veteran brothers and sisters, welcome home. 00:02:01.469 --> 00:02:03.469 And all you folks in other countries, I know 00:02:03.469 --> 00:02:06.450 that you're down there in Tasmania and Scotland 00:02:06.450 --> 00:02:08.889 and Brazil and all over the place, you know, 00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:11.550 thanks for listening in. Good morning America. 00:02:11.710 --> 00:02:14.110 This is Veterans Radio. We've got a great program 00:02:14.110 --> 00:02:19.030 lined up for you. It's called Typhoon Cobra. 00:02:19.389 --> 00:02:22.310 Typhoon Cobra that took place December 18th and 00:02:22.310 --> 00:02:28.090 1944. We'll have the captain and a crew member 00:02:28.090 --> 00:02:32.150 of the USS Dewey. Now the USS Dewey is believed 00:02:32.150 --> 00:02:35.310 to have rolled over on its side more than any 00:02:35.310 --> 00:02:38.169 other ship in history and still came back up. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:42.560 and also recorded possibly the lowest barometric 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:46.740 pressure ever recorded in the world. Quite a 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:48.520 storm and we're going to be talking to a couple 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:51.479 of guys that were literally at times neck deep 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:56.360 in it. And of course that was Gary Lilly and 00:02:56.360 --> 00:03:00.639 we're very proud to play his encore program today 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.699 about the Typhoon Cobra, but also we have a little 00:03:03.699 --> 00:03:08.099 announcement. You're listening to an encore presentation 00:03:08.099 --> 00:03:11.740 of Veterans Radio, Surviving Typhoon Cobra 1944, 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:15.740 which was first broadcast on June 19, 2010. Now 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:19.060 we rejoin Gary Lilley and his guests. We're back 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:21.340 on Veterans Radio and it's really my pleasure 00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:25.300 to welcome Captain Raymond Calhoun and Reverend 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:28.120 Merrill Eastman, two members, well, the captain 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:32.120 and a crew member of the USS Dewey. I read a 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:34.927 book called Halsey's Typhoon, which has the... 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:37.840 some inaccuracies in it, I'm told, but it's just 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:42.699 a remarkable story. And also a book written by 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:44.939 Captain Calhoun that you might want to go out 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:47.639 and find. It's called Typhoon, The Other Enemy. 00:03:48.379 --> 00:03:51.039 I'll start off with Captain Calhoun. Welcome, 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:55.240 sir. Welcome. Thank you very much. Good to be 00:03:55.240 --> 00:04:00.870 here. Please describe that typhoon for us. This 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:04.330 one was we lost three Navy ships three destroyers 00:04:04.330 --> 00:04:07.889 and over 800 men and our aircraft carriers were 00:04:07.889 --> 00:04:11.349 burning and It was pretty pretty bad. Tell us 00:04:11.349 --> 00:04:14.629 about the typhoon if you would please Well, that's 00:04:14.629 --> 00:04:17.970 a big story to tell about then you got seconds 00:04:17.970 --> 00:04:23.149 Yeah, this particular storm Struck us beginning 00:04:23.149 --> 00:04:26.930 on the 17th of December at which time we were 00:04:26.930 --> 00:04:29.420 refueling the destroyers that were accompanying 00:04:29.420 --> 00:04:33.720 the carrier task force. And on the 17th, when 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:37.139 they were supposed to refuel, it was so rough 00:04:37.139 --> 00:04:41.899 that fueling from another ship was simply not 00:04:41.899 --> 00:04:44.980 feasible. We found that we couldn't maintain 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:48.920 station alongside of another ship close enough 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:53.579 to allow the fuel hoses to stretch into the tanks. 00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:56.879 So we were having great difficulty and we were 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:01.759 I was seriously concerned about the level of 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:05.439 fuel that was left in several of the destroyers 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:08.500 that had been accompanying the carrier force 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:12.019 a few days earlier. They were down to something 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:16.620 like 10 ,000 gallons in one case, and that was 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:21.259 on a ship whose normal capacity was about 240 00:05:21.259 --> 00:05:24.839 ,000 gallons, so he was practically out of gas. 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:31.740 Anyway, on the 17th, on my destroyer that we 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:36.759 were on the fringes of a typhoon and by the evening 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:39.980 of that day we were convinced that we were running 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:43.860 into it because there were some classic signs 00:05:43.860 --> 00:05:49.660 including what was called a cross well and and 00:05:49.660 --> 00:05:59.750 we were convinced that the storm about the next 00:05:59.750 --> 00:06:02.430 day was that we were scheduled to try again to 00:06:02.430 --> 00:06:06.269 refuel. Among ourselves on the duty, we concluded 00:06:06.269 --> 00:06:09.829 that that was simply pie in the sky. Anyone who 00:06:09.829 --> 00:06:12.389 thought we were going to be able to refuel on 00:06:12.389 --> 00:06:15.610 the 18th when it was as rough as it was on the 00:06:15.610 --> 00:06:20.910 17th and getting rougher was just kidding himself 00:06:20.910 --> 00:06:27.290 about the real circumstances. So when we went 00:06:27.290 --> 00:06:32.759 to bed that night, at least on the Dewey, concluded 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:36.800 that we would not form up and try to fuel on 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.939 the next day. Well, of course, that turned out 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:45.420 to be untrue. We were scheduled to refuel again 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:47.699 at six o 'clock in the morning, and sure enough, 00:06:48.139 --> 00:06:53.459 at six o 'clock we were that time wide awake 00:06:53.459 --> 00:07:01.060 because of the turbulence of the sea. We couldn't 00:07:01.060 --> 00:07:03.639 believe it, but we were forming up to try to 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:08.480 refuel again. So we took a fueling course to 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:13.420 the northeast, which in our opinion was going 00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:16.199 to run us on a collision course with a storm. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.579 And we actually steamed on that collision course 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:25.819 for about an hour before it was determined that 00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:29.689 that course was not going to do it. that we would 00:07:29.689 --> 00:07:33.029 have to give up the idea of refueling that day, 00:07:33.569 --> 00:07:38.910 at which time we turned south, or tried to, because 00:07:38.910 --> 00:07:42.449 at that point, I would say at about four o 'clock 00:07:42.449 --> 00:07:48.069 in the morning, we began to get into the very 00:07:48.069 --> 00:07:54.389 guts of the storm, and sea conditions worsened 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:58.129 to the extent that I had never seen them before. 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:31.160 We were estimated that they were about 60 feet. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.240 That would be a six -story building. Yes, and 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:40.679 there were some carrier skippers who reported 00:08:40.679 --> 00:08:47.159 that they had encountered 70 feet. In fact, they 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:50.720 were getting green water over their flight deck. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.700 And that means that it's solid water. It's not 00:08:53.700 --> 00:08:58.539 spray. Absolutely. With the destroyer your job 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:03.460 was to screen for the carriers And it was kind 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:06.340 of hard for you to keep up with them, wasn't 00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:10.120 it? Yeah, it would be hard to keep up with them 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:15.179 on any day On that particular in that weather 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:20.799 it was very hard How much fuel would a destroyer 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:23.600 go through when it was screening for carriers 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:29.340 on a normal on a normal day? If they were conducting 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:33.279 flight operations, I think it would have stretched 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:39.379 it a bit to go four days without refueling. Because 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:44.740 they were constantly making 30 or 32 knots in 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:48.159 order to create enough wind, relative wind, over 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.120 the deck to enable the aircraft to take off. 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:57.139 importance other than running out of fuel for 00:09:57.139 --> 00:10:00.899 having a full load of fuel on a destroyer when 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:05.679 a major storm was hitting? Well destroyers are 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:10.759 designed in such a way that unless the fuel tanks 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:18.419 are considerably full, I mean unless you have 00:10:18.419 --> 00:10:23.539 a reasonable amount of fuel aboard like say 60 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:26.480 percent or something like that, you're going 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:28.740 to be uncomfortable from the standpoint of the 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:32.399 stability of the ship. The ship becomes top -heavy 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:36.379 when the fuel is exhausted and not replaced. 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:39.120 When you say uncomfortable, that sounds like 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:40.980 a doctor saying that you're going to be a little 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:45.480 uncomfortable during this procedure. When I say 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:48.000 uncomfortable, I mean hanging on to something 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:51.759 so that you don't fall over. Let me switch over 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:56.080 to Reverend Eastman who's sitting here in the 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:59.480 broadcast booth. Oh, those big words always throw 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:02.460 at me. Reverend, you were working down below, 00:11:02.740 --> 00:11:06.700 were you not? Yes, I was in the intercommunications 00:11:06.700 --> 00:11:11.100 room. What was your job on the destroyer, said 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:15.320 USS Dewey? I was an electrician's mate. Which 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:19.830 means that... Well, I do realize, but people 00:11:19.830 --> 00:11:23.669 don't realize how much electricity there is on 00:11:23.669 --> 00:11:28.029 a ship that can go wrong. Were you having some 00:11:28.029 --> 00:11:30.789 issues with electricity during that storm? Oh, 00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:35.230 at that point, yes. What was happening? I understand 00:11:35.230 --> 00:11:37.309 there was water getting on the control boards 00:11:37.309 --> 00:11:40.730 even though everything was battened down as tight 00:11:40.730 --> 00:11:44.129 as it could above you? Oh, yes, but the water 00:11:44.129 --> 00:11:49.570 still got in. And when we were rolling about 00:11:49.570 --> 00:11:56.490 70 degrees is when the captain called down and 00:11:56.490 --> 00:11:59.330 said everybody below deck prepare to abandon 00:11:59.330 --> 00:12:04.629 ship. And that's when I left the intercommunications 00:12:04.629 --> 00:12:09.870 room and went into the officer's mess hall and 00:12:09.870 --> 00:12:14.580 helped the doctor lash. tables and chairs down 00:12:14.580 --> 00:12:21.419 so that men wouldn't get hurt. From then on, 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:25.480 I thought I was secure. I grabbed a hold of the 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:30.639 voice tube that went to the bridge and sat on 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:34.820 a sterilizing instrument and both pulled off 00:12:34.820 --> 00:12:39.000 the bulkhead and I landed out in the middle of 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.350 the dining room. I didn't really get hurt at 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:46.990 that point. That's when I went into the little 00:12:46.990 --> 00:12:50.950 passageway and sat down, put my feet up against 00:12:50.950 --> 00:12:55.159 one bulkhead and my back against the other. The 00:12:55.159 --> 00:12:57.279 bulkheads for the civilians out there are those 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.360 who have not been in the Navy. That's the walls 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:01.700 too. That's right. Okay, and the deck is the 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:04.960 floor. Right. I was a CB, never set foot on a 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:07.139 ship, but I used to love to play with the wipers 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:10.919 by saying the floor and the wall and downstairs. 00:13:14.379 --> 00:13:17.340 What was your feeling during the height of the 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:22.320 storm, Reverend? Well, my feeling was... that 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:27.580 we were going to be lost at sea. And I actually 00:13:27.580 --> 00:13:31.500 prayed for my family back home that when they 00:13:31.500 --> 00:13:35.340 got the word that I was lost at sea, that they 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:40.200 would accept it and go on with their lives and 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:44.620 make the best of it. You went from being afraid 00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:47.820 to very calm, did you? Oh yes, oh yeah. When 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:50.639 you accept death, you become calm? Yeah, I realized 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:56.120 it. that it was all over, and I was ready for 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.039 it. Still and all, you're a Reverend today. Well, 00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:04.179 I am because of what happened that day, because 00:14:04.179 --> 00:14:09.799 when the ship was lying on its side, I heard 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:13.799 a voice, definitely, that said, if I got you 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:16.500 out of this, would you do anything I would ask 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:19.889 you to do? And I was in no position to do any 00:14:19.889 --> 00:14:23.970 bargaining, so I did answer quite quickly and 00:14:23.970 --> 00:14:28.250 said, yes, I would. And then the voice said again, 00:14:28.690 --> 00:14:33.490 would you preach? And that threw me, but I didn't 00:14:33.490 --> 00:14:38.110 wait too long. I said I'd even do that. My father 00:14:38.110 --> 00:14:42.330 was a pastor for years, very successful, and 00:14:42.330 --> 00:14:44.470 I had nothing against the ministry, but I just 00:14:44.470 --> 00:14:48.649 never felt. called until that day, and then I 00:14:48.649 --> 00:14:52.450 was really called. And that's when I decided 00:14:52.450 --> 00:14:57.830 I would be a minister. Captain, at any time during 00:14:57.830 --> 00:15:06.470 the storm, were you terrified? No. I was convinced 00:15:06.470 --> 00:15:10.649 that we were not going to capsize. Now you were 00:15:10.649 --> 00:15:14.370 only on your side. The ship was on its side. 00:15:14.669 --> 00:15:17.309 And you were still convinced that you weren't 00:15:17.309 --> 00:15:22.350 going to? That's right. Maybe I was a little 00:15:22.350 --> 00:15:26.889 crazy in those days. Well, that helps. But anyway, 00:15:27.350 --> 00:15:29.950 no, I never did believe we were going to go down. 00:15:30.230 --> 00:15:32.789 When the ship went over on its side, how long 00:15:32.789 --> 00:15:36.289 would it stay there? Well, it seemed as though 00:15:36.289 --> 00:15:38.830 it stayed there for a half an hour, but it probably 00:15:38.830 --> 00:15:41.669 was no more than about two or three minutes. 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:47.700 Those were agonizing minutes because we didn't 00:15:47.700 --> 00:15:50.340 know if they would write themselves. It would 00:15:50.340 --> 00:15:52.460 write itself. But I never believed that we would 00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:57.039 do that. And when I sent the word to the people 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.320 who were below decks that they should be prepared 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:07.240 to abandon ship, I was simply being ready in 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:09.879 the event that that happened. But I didn't believe 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:15.049 it was happening. When people hear that the secret 00:16:15.049 --> 00:16:18.230 is disclosed, that this country has plans to 00:16:18.230 --> 00:16:21.509 invade another country, it's not that they plan 00:16:21.509 --> 00:16:24.710 on doing it, it's just that in the military, 00:16:24.909 --> 00:16:26.850 especially, you have to be ready for any set 00:16:26.850 --> 00:16:29.950 of circumstances. That's what you're saying that 00:16:29.950 --> 00:16:33.610 you did. Yes. In the event that it came, you 00:16:33.610 --> 00:16:35.950 didn't want to catch anybody by surprise, right? 00:16:35.970 --> 00:16:45.490 Yes. Okay. by a warrant officer, who was much 00:16:45.490 --> 00:16:50.269 older than the average crewman, came to me during 00:16:50.269 --> 00:16:52.870 the storm and said, Captain, are we going to 00:16:52.870 --> 00:16:58.450 abandon ship? And I said, no, as long as the 00:16:58.450 --> 00:17:01.330 Dewey's going to hang in there, we're going to 00:17:01.330 --> 00:17:03.769 hang into the Dewey. And speaking of hanging, 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:06.759 I read an account, and I put in a flyer that 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:10.579 you were hanging by a stanchion. You or another 00:17:10.579 --> 00:17:15.299 officer was hanging? That was me, and I was frequently 00:17:15.299 --> 00:17:21.980 aware that my squadron commander, who was a passenger 00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:26.099 on our ship, we were his flagship. He and I would 00:17:26.099 --> 00:17:31.720 be both hanging vertically from the, in my case, 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:36.920 from a stanchion. vertical and he was hanging 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:41.720 from the base of his bridge chair and both were 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:46.519 facing each other probably three feet apart conducting 00:17:46.519 --> 00:17:52.220 conversations in one case he asked me if I thought 00:17:52.220 --> 00:17:55.039 that I would be able to manage in the event that 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:58.200 I got into the water and I said yeah I thought 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:02.420 so he said well I don't think I could he said 00:18:02.420 --> 00:18:07.029 of course you're younger than I am And then he 00:18:07.029 --> 00:18:10.009 said, but I'm not going to worry about it because 00:18:10.009 --> 00:18:15.769 my insurance is all paid up. Did you ever look 00:18:15.769 --> 00:18:18.250 down between your feet when you were hanging? 00:18:18.930 --> 00:18:22.430 Indeed. Indeed we did. What would you see? In 00:18:22.430 --> 00:18:27.930 fact, I used that expression to describe the 00:18:27.930 --> 00:18:31.650 number of degrees we rolled when the representatives 00:18:31.650 --> 00:18:34.759 of the Bureau of Ships. came aboard the ship 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:38.160 in Ulythee when the storm was over and we returned 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:41.619 to port. The first thing that happened was that 00:18:41.619 --> 00:18:46.380 these do ships, technicians, all of them captains, 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.900 four strikers, the first thing they asked me 00:18:49.900 --> 00:18:54.420 was how far did you roll? And I knew from experience 00:18:54.420 --> 00:18:58.440 that if I told them it was X number of degrees, 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:01.859 they would proceed to tell me that I couldn't 00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:09.849 possibly have using a number of degrees, and 00:19:09.849 --> 00:19:12.250 I said, I don't know how many degrees we rolled, 00:19:12.950 --> 00:19:15.609 but I do know that I was hanging from a station 00:19:15.609 --> 00:19:20.289 with my hands, and the station was normally vertical, 00:19:20.650 --> 00:19:23.710 and I was looking down past my feet, which were 00:19:23.710 --> 00:19:27.849 clear of the deck, and past my feet, I was looking 00:19:27.849 --> 00:19:30.630 right through the starboard bridge window, so 00:19:30.630 --> 00:19:34.130 had I let go, I would have fallen directly into 00:19:34.130 --> 00:19:40.900 the sea. Well, then I didn't make a mistake on 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:43.960 the fly. No, no, you were absolutely right. Amazing. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.779 What about the helmsman? That guy, he couldn't 00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:53.559 let go of anything. No, and he had a terrible 00:19:53.559 --> 00:20:00.579 time because his footing was insecure and he 00:20:00.579 --> 00:20:03.980 would find himself at times hanging on to the 00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:11.680 wheel. Oh, it was his weight that was keeping 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:14.519 the wheel over. Well, no, he would then have 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:17.680 to grab something and pull himself back onto 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:20.420 the deck so that he could turn the wheel back. 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:27.559 Did he ever get water inside the bridge? No, 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:31.500 I read in one of the other books that we had 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:34.519 a considerable level of water. I don't recall 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:38.839 any appreciable collection of water in the pilot 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:44.799 house. You did write a book about it, what is 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.799 the title of it? Oh yeah, the book is called 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:49.839 Typhoon the Other Enemy. It's now out of print, 00:20:50.660 --> 00:20:54.400 although you'll find scads of copies on the internet. 00:20:54.839 --> 00:20:59.059 So just do a search. I read that book, the Reverend 00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:03.339 loaned me his copy, and I read Halsey's Typhoon, 00:21:03.500 --> 00:21:07.200 and despite the fact that it had some errors 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:13.319 in it, the story is so dramatic. and then very 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:21.160 full of drama. Drama, yes. What were our losses 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:24.519 in that storm, in that typhoon, Captain? Over 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:29.940 700 men, well over 100 aircraft, and three destroyers, 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:35.460 the Hall, Spence, and Monahan. How many survivors 00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:38.119 were there from the Hall, Spence, and Monahan? 00:21:56.300 --> 00:22:11.380 I did make a mistake in the flyer in that I thought 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:13.900 that the Dewey had picked up two or three but 00:22:13.900 --> 00:22:16.140 you're telling me that you weren't able to pick 00:22:16.140 --> 00:22:22.000 up survivors? No and I should make a specific 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.160 mention of that. I was on the bridge of course 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:28.279 throughout all of this and we had encountered 00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:32.160 the Taber earlier that evening. We both came 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.180 out of the center of the storm at about the same 00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:42.690 time and it was emerging from a bucket full of 00:22:42.690 --> 00:22:48.430 steam. One minute we were in the midst of this 00:22:48.430 --> 00:22:52.690 cauldron of spray and spume and flying water 00:22:52.690 --> 00:22:55.569 and the next minute we were out into the open 00:22:55.569 --> 00:23:01.089 still in very rough seas and high winds but without 00:23:01.089 --> 00:23:13.789 the limited visibility. And when he came out, 00:23:14.049 --> 00:23:18.269 he sent me a signal by light saying, I have just 00:23:18.269 --> 00:23:22.670 lost my mast. And I sent him a signal and said, 00:23:22.970 --> 00:23:27.750 cheer up, we've just lost our stack. So you lost 00:23:27.750 --> 00:23:30.789 one of your funnels. Yeah, one of our funnels. 00:23:31.509 --> 00:23:34.869 And you think that that may have helped you survive? 00:23:35.990 --> 00:23:38.369 Oh, absolutely. Yes, it did make a difference. 00:23:48.269 --> 00:23:55.109 The wind, the sail area of the stack, just ceased 00:23:55.109 --> 00:23:58.910 to exist, so the wind did not have the stack 00:23:58.910 --> 00:24:02.930 to blow against. And the upshot of all of that 00:24:02.930 --> 00:24:05.849 was that we were a little bit more comfortable 00:24:05.849 --> 00:24:08.210 the way we rode. I love that comfortable word. 00:24:11.009 --> 00:24:14.430 Anyway, he sent me a signal saying he would like 00:24:14.430 --> 00:24:22.750 to know... I reported that to him and from then 00:24:22.750 --> 00:24:27.569 on he continued to steer a course slightly to 00:24:27.569 --> 00:24:30.569 the left of our course. I didn't know why he 00:24:30.569 --> 00:24:33.829 was doing that but in any case by about 11 o 00:24:33.829 --> 00:24:37.210 'clock that night we had lost sight of him. But 00:24:37.210 --> 00:24:41.529 about 11 o 'clock I could see the loom of a searchlight 00:24:41.529 --> 00:24:46.150 and I assumed that that light was from him and 00:24:46.150 --> 00:24:52.250 that he may have been engaged. survivors. And 00:24:52.250 --> 00:24:55.130 we heard snatches of his conversation to some 00:24:55.130 --> 00:24:58.230 other ship. I don't know what ship he was talking 00:24:58.230 --> 00:25:03.369 to. But on the voice radio he used the word survivor. 00:25:04.349 --> 00:25:06.990 And that convinced me then that he was engaged 00:25:06.990 --> 00:25:11.289 in rescuing these people. And so I turned the 00:25:11.289 --> 00:25:15.529 Dewey in the direction of his light and proceeded. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:26.420 When we took that new course, it was directly 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:31.839 into the sea. And so we began to slam, if you 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:35.279 know what that means on a destroyer, the bow 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:40.759 goes up and points skyward at an angle of like 00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:46.480 30 degrees or more. And then it's as though someone 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:52.400 cut the rope to let it fall. And it slams down 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:59.700 into the sea. with a shattering sound and a shuddering 00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:02.200 movement. You feel as though you're going to 00:26:02.200 --> 00:26:06.039 lose your teeth. Captain, we're going into a 00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:10.099 break and Dale, there's a photograph in the collection 00:26:10.099 --> 00:26:14.799 of a cruiser that lost its bow in another typhoon. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:21.680 You're listening to Veterans Radio on WDEO 990 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:25.140 AM coming to you over the Ave Maria radio network. 00:26:25.619 --> 00:26:28.859 The story of the USS Dewey and Typhoon Cobra 00:26:28.859 --> 00:26:31.240 will be right back. Just a reminder that you 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:33.680 are listening to an encore program on Veterans 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:37.519 Radio on Typhoon Cobra and the USS Dewey with 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:39.960 host Gary Lilley. And now back to the program. 00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:54.420 We're back on Veterans Radio with Captain Raymond 00:26:54.420 --> 00:26:58.259 Calhoun, Captain of the USS Dewey, during the 00:26:58.259 --> 00:27:01.700 Typhoon Cobra in which the United States 3rd 00:27:01.700 --> 00:27:06.119 Fleet lost tremendous losses. And Reverend Merle 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:10.200 Eastman, who is down below deck. Reverend, we're 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:12.059 going to get back to finishing up that story, 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:16.000 Captain, but Reverend Merle Eastman, I'm just 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.700 going to say Merle, has a certificate called 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:21.279 the 80 Degree Rollers. Could you read that for 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:27.140 us? Yeah, I'd be happy to. I'm not sure who had 00:27:27.140 --> 00:27:29.680 the greatest hand in this. Maybe the captain 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:33.720 had some of it. But I do know that a man named 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:40.799 Pierce drew the picture and also gave the scroll 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:49.500 on it to all non -believers. Know ye that Eastman 00:27:49.500 --> 00:27:55.460 M .J. was a member of the USS Dewey, DD -349, 00:27:56.400 --> 00:28:01.720 a member of the Clear, when she was caught in 00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:05.160 the fury of a tropical typhoon on December year 00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:11.119 1944. On this date, His Royal Majesty, next to 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:15.299 Neptune's wreck, put the ship to the test before 00:28:15.299 --> 00:28:18.710 accepting her. into that group of truly great 00:28:18.710 --> 00:28:23.470 ships of the Navy. The barometer dropped at 2730, 00:28:24.089 --> 00:28:28.630 the wind rose to 125 knots, and mountainous waves 00:28:28.630 --> 00:28:32.670 towered over the tiny vessel, causing a roll 00:28:32.670 --> 00:28:37.869 to starboard many times. At the climax, the ship 00:28:37.869 --> 00:28:42.250 was subjected to a roll of 80 degrees plus, and 00:28:42.250 --> 00:28:45.920 the hatch of Davy Jones locker opened wide to 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:51.079 receive the sturdy ship into her gallant crew. 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:56.119 At this crucial moment, when Neptuneus was ready 00:28:56.119 --> 00:28:59.779 to take his new member before the raging sea, 00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:03.140 an angel of the Lord came forth, righted the 00:29:03.140 --> 00:29:06.980 ship, and watched over it through the remainder 00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:10.299 of the mightiest storm in naval history. All 00:29:10.299 --> 00:29:14.299 hands witnessed the evidence of their salvation 00:29:14.299 --> 00:29:17.799 for the Fort Yard Arm was bent where the hand 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:22.880 of God had touched the ship. Captain, did you 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:29.000 have any part of that writing? I'm very familiar 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:33.740 with that writing, yes. I signed that certificate 00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:37.599 when it was first made and I remained in contact 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:42.059 with Sam Pierce who designed it and wrote it. 00:29:43.789 --> 00:29:47.329 In fact, he's still alive in Atlanta and head 00:29:47.329 --> 00:29:51.130 of an engraving firm there. And I should continue. 00:29:52.410 --> 00:29:55.349 I'll get back to the story of the rescue in a 00:29:55.349 --> 00:29:57.670 minute. But I wanted to mention that the day 00:29:57.670 --> 00:30:01.910 after the storm, the 18th, no, this is now the 00:30:01.910 --> 00:30:05.730 morning of the 19th, I was standing on the bridge 00:30:05.730 --> 00:30:09.109 watching what was going on down on the main deck 00:30:09.109 --> 00:30:13.559 where people were clearing away wreckage. trying 00:30:13.559 --> 00:30:18.859 to repair some of the superficial damage. And 00:30:18.859 --> 00:30:24.079 one of our signalmen, whose nickname was Preacher, 00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:27.779 because at that time he was the lay preacher 00:30:27.779 --> 00:30:32.640 on the ship. In other words, he gave his best 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:38.339 to do the divine services every Sunday. And Preacher 00:30:38.339 --> 00:30:41.559 came over to me as I was standing near the flag 00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:44.609 bags on the starboard side of the bridge. and 00:30:44.609 --> 00:30:46.869 said, Captain, what do you think got us through 00:30:46.869 --> 00:30:51.750 the storm? And I said, oh, I think it was probably 00:30:51.750 --> 00:30:54.190 a number of factors. I said, in the first place, 00:30:54.609 --> 00:30:57.809 the engineers remained at their posts, and that 00:30:57.809 --> 00:31:00.710 was a big factor. Had they deserted their station, 00:31:01.470 --> 00:31:05.269 which happened on some other ships, we would 00:31:05.269 --> 00:31:08.869 undoubtedly have capsized. And I said, Brother, 00:31:09.009 --> 00:31:15.960 the ship was in good material condition. What 00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:19.680 did you think did it?" And he said, oh, there's 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:22.079 no question in my mind, Captain. He said, just 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:25.140 take a look up there at that port yard arm. So 00:31:25.140 --> 00:31:27.880 I turned my head and looked up, and certainly, 00:31:28.119 --> 00:31:32.920 sure enough, the port yard arm was bent up at 00:31:32.920 --> 00:31:36.259 an angle of 20 or 30 degrees. And I said, well, 00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:39.599 what in the world could have bent the yard arm 00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:44.119 in that direction? We were rolling to starboard. 00:31:46.299 --> 00:31:49.059 That would have meant that the that the port 00:31:49.059 --> 00:31:53.240 yard arm Couldn't have gone into the water And 00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:55.019 he said oh, there's no doubt about what goes 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:56.960 that that's where God reached down and grabbed 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.940 all of us and pulled us back up and Really as 00:32:00.940 --> 00:32:03.599 a result of that conversation when I first wrote 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:08.759 the manuscript for the book I titled it the miracle 00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:13.880 of the Dewey and for some reason or another the 00:32:13.880 --> 00:32:18.170 Naval Institute Press Decided that they would 00:32:18.170 --> 00:32:22.710 rather have the title typhoon the other enemy 00:32:22.710 --> 00:32:25.410 the other enemy of course being the Japanese 00:32:25.410 --> 00:32:32.630 so anyway, that's That's my story about the The 00:32:32.630 --> 00:32:36.970 hand of God reaching us I told preacher that 00:32:36.970 --> 00:32:41.190 that Solution as to how we survived was good 00:32:41.190 --> 00:32:45.390 enough for me You guys did seem to have a little 00:32:45.390 --> 00:32:49.900 bit of extra help there Yeah, sure did. You had 00:32:49.900 --> 00:32:52.720 tried to have, I read an account, I've done so 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:55.539 much reading about this, it's fascinating. The 00:32:55.539 --> 00:32:58.319 beauty of the internet, oh you just hit Google 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:00.500 and you type in a couple of keywords and you 00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:03.140 come up with stuff. I read an account in the 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:08.700 naval records of the man that you had told to 00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:14.259 cut off the yard arm. Oh yeah. And he said that 00:33:14.259 --> 00:33:17.420 it was a good thing that You didn't because he 00:33:17.420 --> 00:33:19.759 thought it would have come down and poked a hole 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:23.799 in the ship. Exactly. You had said that earlier 00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:27.720 in one of our conversations. You know, he was 00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:34.019 saying the same thing. Reverend, what has the 00:33:34.019 --> 00:33:38.279 after effect been in your life? Well, of course 00:33:38.279 --> 00:33:42.680 it changed my life entirely because I did go 00:33:42.680 --> 00:33:45.819 into the ministry as soon as I prepared for it. 00:33:46.109 --> 00:33:53.730 And I've had a great ministry. I retired three 00:33:53.730 --> 00:33:56.430 different times. Didn't have a day off. Went 00:33:56.430 --> 00:33:59.589 from one church to another. And then I took a 00:33:59.589 --> 00:34:02.869 couple of interim pastorates. And so at about 00:34:02.869 --> 00:34:09.449 83, I kind of hung it up. But I've been volunteering 00:34:09.449 --> 00:34:14.699 at the VA hospital for about 11 years now. I 00:34:14.699 --> 00:34:21.360 racked up about 5 ,000 hours and I enjoy that. 00:34:21.820 --> 00:34:25.940 Every day I go into the rooms of the new patients 00:34:25.940 --> 00:34:31.739 and visit with them and leave gifts that we have 00:34:31.739 --> 00:34:39.579 volunteered to us. So my ministry kind of keeps 00:34:39.579 --> 00:34:43.539 going on, although I don't go in as a chaplain. 00:34:43.869 --> 00:34:48.070 I used to because they had a program they called 00:34:48.070 --> 00:34:55.349 Assistant Chaplain, but I still do that type 00:34:55.349 --> 00:35:00.610 of work. What about after your attitude? You 00:35:00.610 --> 00:35:03.610 know, after Vietnam I find it very hard to listen 00:35:03.610 --> 00:35:06.690 to people complain about petty little things. 00:35:08.469 --> 00:35:11.730 How has that affected you from an attitude standpoint? 00:35:13.849 --> 00:35:18.909 I really don't appreciate that kind of talk. 00:35:20.210 --> 00:35:24.989 It's amazing that in the Veterans Hospital I 00:35:24.989 --> 00:35:28.789 find very little of that. Occasionally you'll 00:35:28.789 --> 00:35:32.150 find a person that's going to gripe no matter 00:35:32.150 --> 00:35:37.849 what. But basically our hospital does a great 00:35:37.849 --> 00:35:40.889 job and I appreciate the fact that they take 00:35:40.889 --> 00:35:44.889 care of me. so many times. I know I would have 00:35:44.889 --> 00:35:49.389 been bankrupt years ago had I not had your prepaid 00:35:49.389 --> 00:35:55.570 health insurance. I went to the VA hospital in 00:35:55.570 --> 00:36:00.170 Allen Park for six months, not long after the 00:36:00.170 --> 00:36:06.980 war. They took good care of me. We have an excellent 00:36:06.980 --> 00:36:10.039 VA hospital here in Ann Arbor. A lot of the doctors 00:36:10.039 --> 00:36:12.519 rotate in and out, most of them probably from 00:36:12.519 --> 00:36:14.599 the University of Michigan Medical Center, which 00:36:14.599 --> 00:36:18.719 is about a half a mile away. But the staff, I 00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:22.519 can't say enough for the staff. And you're right 00:36:22.519 --> 00:36:24.940 about veterans. Veterans don't complain about 00:36:24.940 --> 00:36:27.420 petty things because they've seen what's important 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:32.400 in life. With a lot of veterans, the dates of 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:36.679 important things happening during the war with 00:36:36.679 --> 00:36:39.460 grunts. It would be battles and all that. They 00:36:39.460 --> 00:36:44.039 kind of go into a bunker up, is what's said. 00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:48.000 Do you remember the typhoon and those particular 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:51.639 dates? December 18th and 19th? Very definitely. 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:59.380 The 19th I remember especially because we had 00:36:59.380 --> 00:37:03.519 pork and beans for breakfast. no way of preparing 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:09.380 breakfast. And so I, every year on the 19th, 00:37:09.420 --> 00:37:12.159 I have pork and beans for breakfast. And I tell 00:37:12.159 --> 00:37:14.940 people that that was the best breakfast I've 00:37:14.940 --> 00:37:17.960 ever had in my life. You have them cold, do you? 00:37:18.019 --> 00:37:20.980 Yeah, I never expected it. For a little while, 00:37:21.099 --> 00:37:25.539 my kids would participate with me. Finally, they 00:37:25.539 --> 00:37:29.420 said, Dad, is it okay if you celebrate by yourself? 00:37:30.539 --> 00:37:33.119 They didn't care for the cold beans, but I still 00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:38.500 like them. Captain, we're going to have not enough 00:37:38.500 --> 00:37:41.360 time for you to finish up that story until after 00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:44.099 the next break. The final segment will have you 00:37:44.099 --> 00:37:47.280 finish that up. Right now, what about you on 00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:50.400 the anniversaries of the typhoon? Well, that's 00:37:50.400 --> 00:37:55.360 interesting. You mentioned someone who apparently 00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:59.699 wrote an account about the storm and one of our 00:37:59.699 --> 00:38:04.349 shipmates. His name was Steve Jordan. He was 00:38:04.349 --> 00:38:10.869 the ship fitter. And Steve had indicated that 00:38:10.869 --> 00:38:15.570 he thought that we should cut off the gun director. 00:38:16.969 --> 00:38:20.769 And I had nixed that, telling him I didn't think 00:38:20.769 --> 00:38:24.449 we should do it. And anyway, as a result of his 00:38:24.449 --> 00:38:28.150 involvement in the storm, he used to call me 00:38:28.150 --> 00:38:32.659 every... 18 December and say, Captain, this is 00:38:32.659 --> 00:38:41.360 Steve Yarden. You know what day this is? I was 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:44.420 always well aware of where we had been on the 00:38:44.420 --> 00:38:48.519 18th of December, 1944. Anyway, Steve used to 00:38:48.519 --> 00:38:53.420 call me every year and later in his life, he 00:38:53.420 --> 00:38:58.869 used to come visit me. in touch with Steve Yordan 00:38:58.869 --> 00:39:04.150 until he died about two years ago. Again, I'm 00:39:04.150 --> 00:39:06.590 going to refer back to a friend of mine that 00:39:06.590 --> 00:39:11.670 was a grunt in the 101st Airborne, the Asha Valley, 00:39:12.630 --> 00:39:14.590 their battalion, or I'm sorry, their company 00:39:14.590 --> 00:39:17.969 commander. Nobody made a decision without consulting 00:39:17.969 --> 00:39:19.989 with him first. You're listening to Veterans 00:39:19.989 --> 00:39:22.849 Radio, coming to you on the Ave Maria Radio Network. 00:39:23.010 --> 00:39:42.070 We'll be right back. Captain, tell us, uh, pick 00:39:42.070 --> 00:39:44.550 up again where you were, uh, trying to get involved 00:39:44.550 --> 00:39:47.849 in the rescue. Yeah, uh, we, we proceeded in 00:39:47.849 --> 00:39:50.449 the direction of the light, thinking that that's 00:39:50.449 --> 00:39:53.829 where the rescue effort was going on. And I was 00:39:53.829 --> 00:39:58.789 called, uh, from the, uh, Commodore's state room 00:39:58.789 --> 00:40:01.829 with a question from him as to what in the hell 00:40:01.829 --> 00:40:05.690 are we doing? And I said, well, we're on our 00:40:05.690 --> 00:40:11.989 way to, uh, assist the... And he said, well, 00:40:12.030 --> 00:40:13.969 you're the skipper. You do what you think is 00:40:13.969 --> 00:40:17.090 correct. But I would remind you that we took 00:40:17.090 --> 00:40:20.369 some terrible beatings this morning and this 00:40:20.369 --> 00:40:23.889 afternoon. We don't know what kind of damage 00:40:23.889 --> 00:40:26.750 we have done to the keel and the structure of 00:40:26.750 --> 00:40:29.690 the ship. We can see other damage, which leads 00:40:29.690 --> 00:40:31.909 me to believe that there is more serious damage 00:40:31.909 --> 00:40:35.309 that we haven't yet uncovered. So give some thought 00:40:35.309 --> 00:40:38.630 to that and then make up your mind as to what 00:40:38.630 --> 00:40:44.019 you do. It didn't take me long to come to the 00:40:44.019 --> 00:40:46.579 conclusion that he had much more experience than 00:40:46.579 --> 00:40:50.880 I did and that he was undoubtedly correct in 00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:54.099 estimating that we had probably done some damage 00:40:54.099 --> 00:40:58.219 to the structure of the ship. And that to continue 00:40:58.219 --> 00:41:02.599 on that course, repeatedly beating down on the 00:41:02.599 --> 00:41:06.559 bow, ran the risk that the ship would break in 00:41:06.559 --> 00:41:11.170 half, which had happened to another ship. not 00:41:11.170 --> 00:41:16.050 long before that. And so I turned around and 00:41:16.050 --> 00:41:20.469 decided not to go in the direction of the Tiber 00:41:20.469 --> 00:41:24.650 because we had probably done damage to our own 00:41:24.650 --> 00:41:29.369 ship that was greatly in danger. And later when 00:41:29.369 --> 00:41:35.150 we went to Iwo Jima and became engaged in gunfire 00:41:35.150 --> 00:41:40.110 support of the Marines, the ship's skin opened 00:41:40.110 --> 00:41:44.960 up. And we had cracks in the skin of the ship. 00:41:45.840 --> 00:41:50.420 And we also had broken transverse frames. These 00:41:50.420 --> 00:41:55.380 were the ribs of the ship. And on each side of 00:41:55.380 --> 00:41:58.199 the ship, both Port and Starboard, there were 00:41:58.199 --> 00:42:02.460 four or five transverse web frames that were 00:42:02.460 --> 00:42:08.000 broken at the weld right at the turn of the bilge. 00:42:08.159 --> 00:42:12.639 And so it... It was absolutely true that had 00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:15.219 we continued on that course, banging ourselves 00:42:15.219 --> 00:42:20.260 into the trough, every time we came down from 00:42:20.260 --> 00:42:23.619 the crest, we would have probably broken the 00:42:23.619 --> 00:42:27.559 ship in half. Some photographs have come up of 00:42:27.559 --> 00:42:30.699 some of the ships and they look pretty ready 00:42:30.699 --> 00:42:36.320 to use a phrase. They look pretty bedraggled. 00:42:37.820 --> 00:42:41.469 The force of the wind was so hard that it was 00:42:41.469 --> 00:42:44.730 taking some of the paint off, is what I read. 00:42:45.309 --> 00:42:50.750 True. Like sandblasting. Yes, and if you exposed 00:42:50.750 --> 00:42:56.889 your face above the bridge bulwark, it would 00:42:56.889 --> 00:43:00.690 cause capillary bleeding. So your face would 00:43:00.690 --> 00:43:04.690 come away with these little pinpoints of blood, 00:43:05.710 --> 00:43:09.289 just as though you had been stopped. with a pin. 00:43:10.349 --> 00:43:12.849 We're seeing a photograph right now of the USS 00:43:12.849 --> 00:43:16.849 Tabber which is minus its mast and it's looking 00:43:16.849 --> 00:43:20.949 in that pretty rough shaped tube. That was really 00:43:20.949 --> 00:43:23.530 heroic what they did in picking up the rifle. 00:43:24.309 --> 00:43:26.369 Absolutely. You know I always believe that if 00:43:26.369 --> 00:43:28.309 you're in the water and have typhoon at least 00:43:28.309 --> 00:43:30.969 you're free of the sharks but from what I understand 00:43:30.969 --> 00:43:33.869 in the reading the sharks were still up there. 00:43:34.230 --> 00:43:38.269 Oh they were, yeah. several of the people who 00:43:38.269 --> 00:43:42.030 would have otherwise survived would have succumbed 00:43:42.030 --> 00:43:47.190 to the shark bite. My gosh. Merrill, is there 00:43:47.190 --> 00:43:49.190 something that we haven't talked about that you 00:43:49.190 --> 00:43:52.309 would like to bring up about that storm? I thought 00:43:52.309 --> 00:43:58.670 you might be surprised. Not really, but I had 00:43:58.670 --> 00:44:02.449 an awful lot of confidence in the captain, and 00:44:02.449 --> 00:44:05.829 I knew that he was going to do the best he could. 00:44:06.119 --> 00:44:09.320 and we'd leave it all, the rest of it, in the 00:44:09.320 --> 00:44:13.579 Lord's hands. But I was just thinking a little 00:44:13.579 --> 00:44:18.480 bit about the times that I heard the captain 00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:22.400 talk. I'll never forget the day that he came 00:44:22.400 --> 00:44:26.260 on the fantail and talked to all of the fellows 00:44:26.260 --> 00:44:30.460 that weren't on watch, that he said the next 00:44:30.460 --> 00:44:34.619 day... We were going to drop a bomb on Japan 00:44:34.619 --> 00:44:37.619 that was going to end the war. There wasn't a 00:44:37.619 --> 00:44:42.320 man standing there that believed it, and we wondered 00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:46.500 if he even believed it. But sure enough, it was 00:44:46.500 --> 00:44:48.519 the next day that they dropped the first bomb, 00:44:49.099 --> 00:44:52.820 and that probably would have finished it, but 00:44:52.820 --> 00:44:55.619 they dropped the other one. Captain Calhoun, 00:44:55.659 --> 00:44:57.500 how did you know that? This is the first I'm 00:44:57.500 --> 00:45:01.989 hearing about it. That was so secret. To be honest 00:45:01.989 --> 00:45:07.190 with you, I don't even remember that. My 96 year 00:45:07.190 --> 00:45:11.929 old brain seems to have lost that particular 00:45:11.929 --> 00:45:16.869 fact. 96 years old. You sound like you're 60. 00:45:18.489 --> 00:45:22.389 Do you look as good as you sound? I'm not going 00:45:22.389 --> 00:45:25.630 to answer that question. I might incriminate 00:45:25.630 --> 00:45:31.690 you. I want to say that I admired Murrow. He 00:45:31.690 --> 00:45:35.590 made a commitment at that time and he kept it. 00:45:36.090 --> 00:45:39.130 And he kept in touch with me for many, many years. 00:45:39.369 --> 00:45:41.989 In fact, I went to see him when I was still living 00:45:41.989 --> 00:45:44.730 in Minnesota and he was in Michigan somewhere. 00:45:45.250 --> 00:45:48.769 I don't remember where we met, Murrow, but it 00:45:48.769 --> 00:45:50.929 was good to see you and always good to hear from 00:45:50.929 --> 00:45:54.849 you. Well, that goes both ways. Captain, what 00:45:54.849 --> 00:45:59.210 he said about you was not... just said about 00:45:59.210 --> 00:46:02.710 for the air, he and I have talked in private. 00:46:03.090 --> 00:46:05.909 We're in the same VFW post and we also talked 00:46:05.909 --> 00:46:08.489 while preparing for this program and he said 00:46:08.489 --> 00:46:11.730 the same words to me when they didn't go out 00:46:11.730 --> 00:46:13.909 over the air. Is there anything that you would 00:46:13.909 --> 00:46:16.769 like to talk about, Captain? We've got a little 00:46:16.769 --> 00:46:19.269 under three minutes, I should say a little over 00:46:19.269 --> 00:46:21.530 two. Is there anything you would like to talk 00:46:21.530 --> 00:46:26.170 about? Well, yeah, I'm just saying that the Dewey's 00:46:26.170 --> 00:46:30.289 survival, of course, was due to God's grace. 00:46:31.030 --> 00:46:35.010 There's no question about it. And the title, 00:46:36.210 --> 00:46:39.230 the Dewey's Miracle would have been, I think, 00:46:39.909 --> 00:46:44.690 much more appropriate. In any case, I wanted 00:46:44.690 --> 00:46:50.010 to acknowledge the wonderful dedication and service 00:46:50.010 --> 00:46:58.019 of the crew. They all did what they were supposed 00:46:58.019 --> 00:47:05.280 to do. None of them panicked. It was great to 00:47:05.280 --> 00:47:11.139 be the skipper of a ship whose crew was as dependable 00:47:11.139 --> 00:47:16.440 as that crew was. Merle said that you were an 00:47:16.440 --> 00:47:19.380 easy guy to get along with, but everybody always 00:47:19.380 --> 00:47:22.000 knew that you were the skipper. I had a battalion 00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:24.880 commander that was that way. And I've got to 00:47:24.880 --> 00:47:27.300 tell you that some of the things he did, I'd 00:47:27.300 --> 00:47:29.860 have walked through fire for that man. So I think 00:47:29.860 --> 00:47:32.480 it comes from the top on down. And I'm not just 00:47:32.480 --> 00:47:37.400 saying that because we're on the air also. I 00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:40.480 put you on the spot by compliment. Well, just 00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:44.559 let me say before we close, you're opening a 00:47:44.559 --> 00:47:46.719 new vista to me. I was not aware that you were 00:47:46.719 --> 00:47:50.760 on the air. And I congratulate you for the way 00:47:50.760 --> 00:47:53.739 you handle this program. And I think it's wonderful 00:47:53.739 --> 00:47:58.420 that you're dedicating it to veterans. It's important 00:47:58.420 --> 00:48:03.000 that the kids of today know more than they do 00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:07.980 now about World War II. My final statement would 00:48:07.980 --> 00:48:10.960 be that the kids of today in the meantime are 00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:13.380 proving themselves to be every bit as great as 00:48:13.380 --> 00:48:17.159 the great generation. We have some wonderful 00:48:17.630 --> 00:48:20.369 kids in the military right now. I've interviewed 00:48:20.369 --> 00:48:22.730 a number of them. There's some in the VFW post 00:48:22.730 --> 00:48:25.349 and they're the best I've ever seen, as good 00:48:25.349 --> 00:48:28.230 as I've ever seen. Captain Raymond Calhoun, thank 00:48:28.230 --> 00:48:31.650 you so much. Skipper of the USS Dewey in World 00:48:31.650 --> 00:48:34.250 War II. The Skipper, at least during the time 00:48:34.250 --> 00:48:37.630 that was most critical, the Typhoon Cobra. Thank 00:48:37.630 --> 00:48:40.320 you for being on Veterans Radio. Reverend Merle 00:48:40.320 --> 00:48:43.460 Eastman, thank you also for coming on board. 00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:48.199 Can't get the old Navy slang out. Until then, 00:48:48.579 --> 00:48:51.739 you are dismissed. And you've just finished listening 00:48:51.739 --> 00:48:55.500 to an encore program of Veterans Radio, Typhoon 00:48:55.500 --> 00:48:57.760 Cobra. And joining me on the light and right 00:48:57.760 --> 00:49:00.719 now is Gary Lilly's brother, Ben. Ben, welcome 00:49:00.719 --> 00:49:03.300 back to Veterans Radio. Yeah, thank you, Dale. 00:49:04.179 --> 00:49:07.960 I can't tell you how great it was to hear my 00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:11.639 brother's voice. and the great job that you guys 00:49:11.639 --> 00:49:15.860 continue to do. And God bless you and Bob Gould 00:49:15.860 --> 00:49:18.199 and the new gentleman coming on board, to use 00:49:18.199 --> 00:49:21.780 Gary's words. And it was just so great to hear 00:49:21.780 --> 00:49:23.780 my brother's voice again. Well, thank you, Ben, 00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:25.800 so much. It was such a pleasure to share his 00:49:25.800 --> 00:49:29.420 life with you. All right. You have a good day. 00:49:29.599 --> 00:49:32.079 I will. I will. Thank you very much. Thank you. 00:49:32.239 --> 00:49:35.139 All right, Ben. Bye bye. And also joining me 00:49:35.139 --> 00:49:37.360 on the line right now, I believe, is Bob Ski 00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:40.400 from the VVA 310. And Bob, I think we've got 00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:44.480 about a minute to go. Welcome back to Veterans 00:49:44.480 --> 00:49:47.480 Radio. I got another message from someone. Joe 00:49:47.480 --> 00:49:49.940 from Big Boy wants to thank the EMS guy for helping 00:49:49.940 --> 00:49:52.039 him out in an accident last week. And next week, 00:49:52.420 --> 00:49:54.360 we've got a program called Soldier Dogs. We're 00:49:54.360 --> 00:49:56.340 going to be talking about military dogs and their 00:49:56.340 --> 00:50:26.110 training. Until then, you are dismissed. All 00:50:26.110 --> 00:50:28.010 views and opinions expressed on this program 00:50:28.010 --> 00:50:31.030 are not necessarily of this program or this station. 00:50:31.429 --> 00:50:33.590 Veterans Radio is a production of Veterans Radio 00:50:33.590 --> 00:50:34.170 LLC.