The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-12-02
NAVAL DOCTOR EXTOLS MEN OF
 SUNEEN CARRIER
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 Somewhere fn me south paclEsc, EDelaye0) - tupl Stories Of dauntless courage and personal sac. FiEice on the part ol survivors ot an American aircraft carrier aunk ln the Battle of tho SaA,a Ee9 ts~ lands on october % were VOs0 yOcs.S hy Q Navy doctor who was aboNrd her. Navy regulations do not per- init use Of his name, but here iS the story he told me:
 ~f have seen some remarkable ex~ amples of courage and personal sac. rlgice during my years Of practie. lne medicine as a civilian. But none Of these could match what I wit~ messed the afternoon Of October % during those hours before our air~ craft carrier went Go the bottom,
 ~r heard one sailor with a broken back tell me Co see that his pal had medical attention before I cared for him,
 ~T'm okay, doc,," he told me. "'But I think Mac Is hurt pretty bad. Better see about him first
 ~T saw another enlisted man make an effort to climb of a stretcher although one of his legs was Shat- tered and the other broken. He wanted to get another shot ct those Japs,
 Rush to Seize Bomb
 "when an incendiary bomb drop~ ped on our flight deck, I watched four sailors voluntarily rush out, seize the bomb and throw it over board into the water,
 These men never lost hope or courage, even after that last ene- my aerial attack forced us to abandon ship. Enemy planes were overhead and we were swimming away, from our ship when I heard the men shout to one another,
 They didn't shout for help, They shouted about the money they owed one another and about those pie lures of Betsy and Ruth they had to leave behind, They weren't really jesting--neither were they folding under pressure.
 T saw one sailor swimming along beside me pushing small case of canned tomato juice ahead of him. This was his explanation:
 TT figure maybe some of these rescue ships maybe short on pro- visions
 During all the attacks and there after I did not see one moment of panic. Not one man asked that be be treated first.
 Tn the emergency dressing sta- ton where we administered first aid, there was not single groan. not whimper from the victims. It was so silent it was almost reverent,
 Stuck To Guns To Last
 ''T did not see one man leave his station until he was told to leave. The officers had to order the men on the guns to abandon ship. They insisted on firing as long as enemy planes were in the air.
 T am proud to be in the United States Navy with men like these. To me, the American sailor repre- sents our finest type of American manhood.
 T played only a minor role In the battle that proved fatal to the car- rter. But it is battle never shah forget.
 T had reported for duty aboard the ship only 48 hours before we plunged into the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. knew we were in the vicinity of enemy naval units, so I was not surprised when the first wave of Japanese dive-bombers ap- peared over the carrier during mid morning.
 First we suffered a direct bomb hit on our flight deck. This bomb and the subsequent crash of an enemy plane on deck knocked out most of our power supply. That was our big difficulty.
 T was at my battle station in the sick bay when the first bomb ex- ploded just two compartments for- ward from me. The second hit just two compartments aft. One Jap- anese plane which crashed on our deck went right through my state- room. The engine of this plane was found later in the junior officers bunkroom.
 Got Control Of Fires
 '"The first two attacks lasted about 20 minutes. Then came near ly siX-hour lull during which the crew was able to bring the fires un- der control. We had given all the wounded men first aid and trans ferred them to other ships. We be- gan to bury our dead.
 There was some hope of getting up enough power to steam out of the battle area when the enemy ap- peared again - this time with tor pedo planes and horizontal bomb- CTS. At least two of the torpedoes struck home. Soon after, I heard the order to abandon ship.
 Not single doctor left the car- rier until every wounded man had been administered first aid. We abandoned ship orderly and with out unnecessary haste, considering the nearness of enemy planes.
 "It was 4:45 p. m. when I hit the water. That's when my wrist watch 1 stopped. Soon We were nearly blown out of the water when Japanese horizontal bombers scored several near misses.
 By this time it was apparent that the ship would sink. Her con- dition by now was critical.
 T was in the water two hours before destroyer came alongside and picked me up. From the de- stroyer's deck, We watched our ship