NEWS of the Boys in the Service.
Leonard Lyle Davis, seaman 2-c, is spending a furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Perry Davis, of Kingsley. He is stationed at Farragut, Idaho, and expects to be transferred upon his return.
Source: The LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel, August 10, 1943
WWII Registration
Presents Check in Memory of Husband’s Service
Lorraine Davis of Onawa, Iowa has given a generous gift to the local Veterans Museum in loving memory of her husband, Leonard Lyle Davis, who passed away in October, 1988.
Leonard served in the U.S. Navy aboard the air craft carrier USS Bunker Hill as a gunner during WWII.
Lorraine remembers that on May 11, 1945, on her 24th birthday, two kamikaze suicide planes hit the air craft carrier and many Navy men were instantly killed.
At the time of the attack, Leonard was drinking a cup of coffee and instantly dunked his wash cloth into the coffee, covered his face and immediately made it to the top of the carrier, saving his life until he could breathe again.
During his stay in the Navy, Lorraine worked at Douglas Aircraft at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as “Rosie the Riveter” until WWII ended.
Here is a little additional history of the USS Bunker Hill:
On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion, Bunker Hill was hit and severely damaged by two Kamikazes.
A Japanese Zero fighter appeared from a low cloud, dived onto the flight deck and dropped a 250-kilogram bomb, which went through the vessel and exploded in the sea. The Zero then crashed onto the flight deck, destroying parked planes full of fuel, causing a huge fire. The remains of the Zero went over the deck and dropped into the sea.
A scant 30 seconds later, a second Zero, piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, plunged into a suicide dive. The Zero went through the AA fire, dropped a 250-kilogram bomb, and crashed into the flight deck near the control tower as Kamikaze were trained to aim for near the island superstructure (as was the case with the USS Sangamon.) The penetrated Bunker Hill’s flight deck exploded. Gasoline fires flamed up and several explosions took place.
The ship suffered the loss of 346 men killed, 43 missing, and 264 wounded. This was the single most deadly Kamikaze attack on a US ship during WWII. Although badly crippled she managed to return to Bremerton via Pearl Harbor.
Bunker Hill received the Presidential Unit Citation for the period 11 November 1943 to 11 May 1945. In addition, she received 11 Battle Stars for her World War II service.
Source: The Onawa Democrat, Wednesday, May 6, 2020 (photos included - news copy provided by C. Swearingen)
