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USS TiconderogaCarrier covers lot ofground, now in TokyoLeonard Hartman aboard shipWt Ktisifc from Tokyo Bay abomd the USS Ticondeiogn, aircraft cai-rior is Leonard Hartmann of Palatine.“In writing this letter I want tosay it's very good to be leceivlng the Palatine Enterprise. 1 hope now that the war is over you still carry ‘With Uncle Sam*. It's always good to see wheic all the boys are and to find out what they uic doing. Keep up the good work.“1 know a lot of friends of mine back home have probably been wondering where we’ve been and just what we^e been doing, Now that censorship Is over we can write nil those things.“In the beginning wo wore at Leyte before coming to try to wipe out Japnn. Here we fueled up and took on supplies. Then back out to sou with destination Tokyo.WeM boon in these watots foi sometime hitting Japan in scveial places.lucky for us. He hit our flight deck and started a fire.A Job ‘well done'“Our Tnsk Force 38.3 under tho direction of Admiral 'Bull' Halsey on the battleship Missouri fiist hit a place called Kuic Shikoku, Japonese naval yuid. Each ship had a special job. Our cnnici'sSob wan to hit and sink the Jap nttlenhip. Tyuga, on which we did a good Job.Next we hit Mnloelop, and down thcto our planes did nnothei ‘well done' job. After this laid we inn into o little trouble, Uo, as wc wcic under attack. Out of 15 attacking planes, only 2 got thiough. We •'didn’t sec them tint.l they weic I [right over us, but it was too late I then.This one Kamikaze saw* our elevator down and came right in on us. Ho wont down on the ship andwas that a mess. The othei tncilto hit our islund whole out -udni is but wav veiy unfoi lunate, andMl casualties“Our casualty list was 144 and we had to leave the fleet and pullinto Guam for repair. Whllo at Guam a short time many of u* were sent to gunnery school. School lasted just in the morning and our nftci noons were ftee.Rations on Guam included two cans of beer Mondays, Wednesdays and Fiidnys. Tuesdays, Thursduys and Saturdays you con got Cocu-Cola. Sunday is the only day you tan get ice cream.“Most of my time was spent trying to locuto another fellow from Palatine, Haivcy Oltemlorf. However, I ncvci had much luck in finding him. We left before 1 could see him. Wo were on the water *14 days this time, with the Task Fence going to Okinawa, wheie wc hit Kyushu, the Japanese homeland. We didn’t run into much trouble. We stayed just a few dns, making 3 runs on Japan.We land at TokyThen noith to Honshu, Japan, whotc our stnkes ran to 14, 16 on Tokyo, and 3 on Daite Shoto. Just bcfoie the cm! of tho war we sank 3 merchant ships on their way to meet the Nip fleet.So thcic is a little bit of what wc have been doing. We Imvc just ai lived in Tokyo bay, just a short distance ftom Tokyo. This is the fust laud we have seen in 44 days It diK'sn't seem real to be heic Just 2 months ago wc woio fighting the Japs far away, and now wc’io puikcd right in theii own bay. It’s just like othci poits like Guam, Leyte, etc. Main thing is that the wai is ovei and wo'ie all waiting to get home”His address is Sit* William Hartmann, USS Ticondcioga, lt;CV-11), 4th Div., r,0 FPO, San Fiancisco, Cnhf.istoalltc:
Newspaper Details
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Fri, Sep 28, 1945
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Mary D.
IL, USA 08 May 2019
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