steve

AUGUST 1944

8-10-19 When the Boston left Pearl Harbor on January 19, 1944, she joined with hundreds of warships as a unit of newly-created Task Force 58.   She was part of the aggressive push against Japanese “defensive ring of islands”, which ultimately led to the Surrender of Japan (8-15-45).   First target: the

AUGUST

8-4-19 A busy month in 1945.   While the task force moved up the coast of Honshu (8-4 through 8-9) so the heavy ships could bombard the industrial city of Kamaishi, a couple of bombs went off that changed the world.   Little Boy (8-6) and Fat Man (8-9) were unleashed on

SECURITY THINGS, ETC.

Brother Bill and sister-in-law Lisa have been working diligently to mitigate recent attacks on the website.   What a pain in the ass!   Looks like I can now satisfy the log-in security requirements to be able to post to this site (and www.taskforce58.org) At the moment, I don’t

Lt. Grutzmacher, R.I.P.

Memorial Day, 2019 The Boston was a very lucky ship.   No man was lost on the receiving end of enemy fire while she was in the Pacific.   There were several deaths in the line of duty, however.   One such death befell pilot Lt. E.E. Grutzmacher. I remember the time

May 1945

5-12-19 OKINAWA, May 1945.   Two mothers’ sons.

Five bucks short of 100

4-20-19 About nine years ago I was blessed with a gift of serendipity.   A young man emailed me after finding and buying “A Bird’s Eye View” for his grandfather’s birthday.   Mike told me that his grandfather was the “ship’s tenor” and he was alive and well and

San Pedro

3-30-19 The Boston returned to San Pedro (CA) for repairs and upgrades in March 1945.   San Pedro, as referred to by the men, was a town and harbor adjacent to the growing Los Angeles Harbor and adjacent Terminal Island – the center point of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbor

There was a Time . . .

3-23-19 . . . when Americans pulled together and headed in the same general direction.   Let us not forget the contributions that women workers made to the war effort.   Pictures by Fenno Jacobs: steve

Goin' Home (for awhile)

3-16-19 Signalman George Pitts: HOMEWARD BOUND March 7, 1945:   The Boston got underway today with her Homeward Bound pennant flying 800 ft. in the air.   Six inches per man is what the pennant is supposed to represent.   While leaving Ulithi, all the carriers, cruisers, batts. and destroyers bid us a

Trade Embargoes Pushed Japan to the Brink

2-9-19 Some years ago, I was in a trade show in Dallas.   It was my first time in that city. My hotel room windows looked down across boulevards and an overpass and gave me a direct view of the Book Depository and the grassy knoll(s).   Naturally I walked there,

The 20's and 30's -- Presidents

2-15-19 (Almost President’s Day.) We take a peek at our Presidents between WWI and WWII. Why? Beacuse the tapestry of history is woven with many threads. 1916    Democrat Woodrow Wilson was narrowly elected to a second term.  He campaigned on keeping US out of the War, but by 1917

Japan enters WWI

2-9-19 Japan had allied itself with Great Britain in 1902 (to counteract the Russian push into Manchuria). In the early days of WWI, Japan resisted pleas from England for naval help in the Pacific and South China Seas. They offered to help if England agreed that Japan could take possession

Mad Dash for Conquest

2-2-19 I am tremendously over-simplifying all this: Commodore Perry arm-twisted Japan into signing it’s first-ever treaty (trade agreement) with any country in 1854.   The rest of the 19th century was a mad-dash of western expansion into the East.   Everyone wanted a piece of China, Japan, Korea and anyplace else

Japan Meets the U.S. Navy - Round 1

1-27-19 On July 8, 1853, a group of four American warships under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry (brother of the War of 1812 hero Oliver H. Perry), steamed into Edo (Tokyo) Harbor.   Perry had a letter signed by President Millard Fillmore demanding that Japan open up channels of trade

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor - Why?

1-19-19 As I have said before, history is a l-o-n-g,   s-l-o-w   b-u-r-n.   I’m quite certain that when news broke out on that Sunday morning in December, most Americans were shocked and stunned.   The news was presented as “a sneak attack,” an “unprovoked act” and the like.   Well, that is

South China Sea

1-12-19 After the devastating Typhoon Cobra shredded the Task Force in late December, the ships hunkered down in Ulithi.   On December 30, the ships left Ulithi to dust up Formosa again.   Their immediate path led them to enter the South China Sea north of the Philippines.   The remains of the

1957 Reunion

1-10-19 Diane Balsam, daughter of Joe Pulaski, mailed this to me.   It’s the Boston’s 1957 reunion, held in the Hotel Bradford in Boston.   The ship had been reclassified a guided-missile cruiser on Jan 4, 1952, and recommissioned on Nov 1, 1955.   I scanned the 4 pages and the

Walls

1-26-19 There’s an old adage: history is written by the winner(s). While that may be true of battles and warfare, it completely misses the mark about history itself. History (dictionary.com): noun 1. Branch of knowledge dealing with past events; 2. Continuous, systematic narrative of past events as

Pat

12/22/18 Yesterday I got a phone call from Pat Fedele.   We played phone tag for a couple of days, so when the call came through, I was expecting it.   He was sitting in his car, waiting for his beloved wife Sandi while she ran an errand.   There are

Dec. 19 & 20, 1944

December 19, 1944:   This morning we met with the tankers and refueled, a couple of DE’s are also missing.   After fueling we started looking for survivors.   The smaller ships are picking up survivors. December 20, 1944:   This morning we are back in the area where the ships were lost.

Dec. 18, 1944

12-17-18 On the 15th and 16th, the ships of TF38 were supporting the landing at Mindoro.   Planes continued to attack Luzon and Mindoro, bagging some 400 enemy planes over three days.   The 17th was a scheduled re-fuel day, so the ships traveled east to meet up with the tankers of

12/7, 12/8

12/8/2018 December 7, 1943:   Today is the second anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack and this is our second day in Pearl.   We are tied-up alongside the sunken Arizona.   Tomorrow we will have our first liberty.   We will be going out every week for three or four days

George H W Bush, R.I.P.

11-30-18 Between 1/1/53 and 1/1/89, six presidents were inaugurated into office after serving their country in active combat duty during WWII.   (Starting with Eisenhower and ending with Bush: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald Ford and last but not

Thanksgiving

11-17-18 While there may have been a small group of officers assigned to the being-built Boston in the latter days of 1942, the majority of men were assigned to the new ship in late winter / early spring of 1943.   The ship left Boston for the War on Nov. 14, 1943,

Another from "Steichen at War"

11-12-18 Today is, of course, the “legal holiday” following yesterday’s 11-11-11 Day of Remembrance.   What strikes me about this slice-of-life photo of men far away from home, lined up hoping to get mail from loved ones is just that:   the plight of most veterans, whether they served in times