My father was abord the Mactan on its voyage from the Philippines to Australia in 1942.

Hello all,
My father Pvt. James E. Martin was stationed at Nichols Field arriving there mid 1941. He
was a radio operator/mechanic in the 2 Observation Squadron. He was wounded in the December attack on the field and evacuated to Manila aboard a train along with many other wounded.
He related to me his voyage aboard the Mactan and the ship catching fire mid ocean and
hiding out during the day from Japanese bombers who were looking to sink their ship.
After reaching Australia dad flew out of Port Morsby in B-17 bombers and took part in
the Battle of the Coral Sea where his bomber was part of a group tried to sink one of our own ships mistaking it for a Japanese vessel. They were not successful in attempt thank goodness. Later when the Japanese landed in New Guinea and attacked over the Owen Stanley Mountains towards Port Morsby he was part of the air base defense force formed
to protect the bases. He received a bayonet stab in the back when he walked by a DEAD Jap soldier who suddenly came to life. Dad was able to spin around and shoot him before he could stab or shoot him again. That wound bothered dad for the rest of his life. He also had nightmares remembering the face of that Japanese soldier he shot. He did not like killing anything.
Dad passed away in 2000 and he is survived by six children. We all miss him very much.
He was and always be our hero.

 

My father was the Red Cross Field Director who was assigned the task of prepping the ship and getting the wounded on board. There are a couple of books written about the voyage. 'Mactan Ship of Destiny' and 'At His Side-The Story of the American Red Cross'. Both are very inspiring reads but unfortuneately out of print. You can still find them on Amazon used.

Jan Williams

 

My uncle Eloy Gomez served as a radioman on the U.S.S. Hopkins which was perhaps a difficult job at times as the radiomen usually knew the secret information relayed to the officers of the ship and were made to keep those things secret while others may have pressured them to try to know their missions. He was radioman as the Hopkins was hit by Kamikaze that started a fire and damaged the vessel and he was transferred and also served on the U.S.S Lloyd Acree briefly while the Hopkins was repaired and eventually returned to duty. The Hopkins had many assignments while in the Pacific.

 

Hello there hogrider and welcome to the forum