Evening star., 1944-02-10
Burns
Continued From First Page.

burg, Miss, had completed a skip
bombing morning attack on an en-
emy transport in Kwajalein lagoon.
Just then a Jap shell burst directly
below his Avenger.
1t. Brown knew it was a serious
hit. His oil pressure dropped to zero.
His bomb-bay doors failed to close
and his plane nosed close to the
water.
Prepare for a water landing" he
notified the turret gunner, George
Sandberg, Camden, N. j., and the
radio man. Francis T. Nugent,
Northheld, N. j.
He radioed other members of his
squadron and they carried back
word of his location to this carrier
task force.
Rear Admiral Frederick 8. Sher-
man Immediately delegated the de-
stroyer Burns for the rescue mission
While the Burns was on the way,
1t. Paul E. Dickson, Springfield
Ohio, member of 1t. Browns tor
pedo squadron, saw a plane hit the
water and three men emerge, one
OF whom appeared injured
The Burns picked up the stranded
aviators before nightfall, trans
ferred the injured radio man, Nu-
gent. to battleship in the vicinity
and headed back for this task force
1t. Brown was welcomed aboard
the Burns by Comdr. Eller.
You fellows nave all the fun"
the skipper complained.
I'D give anything in the world
TO have some Of it, All we do is
patrol and screen the big ones"
Less than six hours later Skipper
Eller had his chance. His DESTROYER
encountered four surface objects
which proved to be a Jap medium
tanker of 5000 to 5000 tons, a me-
dium sized transport of 1000 to 5000
tons and two smaller craft armed
with machine guns.
Comdr. Eller was on the bridge,
rubbing his hands in anticipation.
Then he shouted:
I've been looking for this mo-
ment for 20 years-close range to
10000 yards and open fire"
The second salvo caught the
tanker in q vital spot and it blew
up. Burning oil covered the water
and deck of the doomed ship and
Illuminated all the others.
The skipper rubbed his hands
some more and gave the order to
close the range to 1000 yards" 1t.
Brown said.
We steamed in and cut loose
with every gun on that one little
destroyer blazing"
AT one time we passed within
100 yards Of those Jap ships and
let go with all the fire power we pos
sessed," 1t. Brown continued.
The Japs threw some sort of
bullets at us. I could see tracers.
but they were shooting every which
way. They didn't know where we
were coming from next, we were
moving SO fast.
one OF our task forces was only
q short distance away by now. A
battleship saw the fire and sent
word to stand by, As 1t was coming
Battleship Told to Stay Away.
When Comdr Eller heard that
he told the communication to send
a message to the battleship:
Keep out. This Is our party.
ut was all over in half an hour .
Toward the end. 1t. Brown saw
three japanese clinging to a line
over the blazing bow, of the tanker
There were flames above them and
flames below them, covering the
water.
The skipper looked them over
for moment and said:
We'll, there isn't much future
for those boys now. Let them
alone"
After the last enemy vessel sank,
the destroyer resumed her course
and rejoined this task force. The
Burns sent brief resume Of the
nights activity to The flagship with
the terse comment. Enjoyed pic
mic"
Admiral Sherman sent congratu-
lations on . Job well done.
1t. Brown and Gunner Sandberg
returned to the carrier today
When the little Burns came along
side, the big hattop crew gave the