Nov 1943, 60p c2c
One last book to honor our fighting forces this Memorial Day weekend. Real Life Comics #14 had a story on an American ship, the cruiser USS Boise, that my grandfather and two of his brothers were on in the early days of the war in the Pacific. During the Guadalcanal campaign the Boise was part of a small task force cruising the islands around Guadalcanal and ran into a Japanese naval force near midnight on the night of 11-12 Oct 1942. After the battle was over the US Navy thought the Boise had single-handedly sunk 6 Japanese ships. America was in dire need of its heroes early in the war and while after action reports would later drastically reduce the carnage the Boise dealt that night, America's military propaganda machine pushed the Boise to the front page of every major American newspaper as the "one ship fleet". Heavily damaged in the battle she was able to make her way back to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs and was greeted with the fanfare usually reserved for much greater events. |
