Hello all,
This holiday season most of us celebrate a traditional Christmas.  There are folks who celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanza, the Solstice or any number of other religions, beliefs, or traditions.   To all of us, all of you I wish you all the best in however you and your families celebrate the season and the New Year. 

That being said, I thought I'd share something with you from Captain Wellings' collection from the Naval War College.  While searching his archives for items to copy, I found this - the menu for the Christmas dinner served to the crew on December 25th, 1942 while the men were docked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  This document and an attached note to his wife are on the Memories of Strong page as well.  I was really moved by this menu because I realized that this was the very last Christmas dinner for 46 of the men, including my Uncle Billy.  It's a typical meal with turkey and the trimmings, but atypical in that some of them would not see another holiday season. 

I have an excerpt to share from the letter Gus wrote home on December 26th, 1942.  He speaks of calling Dolly and hearing her voice, then of his activities on Christmas Eve and the next day:

"Fred and I called from the Towers in Brooklyn, then had two drinks and were back aboard by 1045 pm.  We listened to “Command Performance” from 1100 to midnight and then to bed with thoughts of my two little girls in Boston.  After a late breakfast I opened my presents and was happy to read your card and to receive the scarf from Anne.  I received a tie from Gladys and a pocketbook from Marg.  Then Donald and Jackie Fulham and yours truly went to 1000 mass in Brooklyn.  The service was really beautiful.  I thanked God for his many kindnesses and promised that I would be worthy of this trust.  I also asked him to take good care of my darlings.  However I could not help but being sad.  On the way out of church a lady dressed in deep black broke into tears when she saw the three of us leave the pew to leave the church.  It was easy to guess that she had lost a son in the Navy or perhaps another branch of the service.

Before lunch I spoke to the crew and read your telegram.  I really think I “put it across”.  I then tried to call home but the earliest I could get a call through was from 2 to 3 hours.  We had a fine dinner at 1230 and sailed immediately afterwards."

So not much time was spent in any kind of celebration, before they headed to sea with purpose.  They were together as a crew for this last Christmas, their family at sea.  While they missed the families at home, I feel that Wellings and his fellow officers did their best to give these guys a memorable holiday. 

We remember the men and women who serve us now, and allow us to feel safe in our homes, and safe to celebrate in whatever fashion we see fit. 
Thank you for your service, and much love and happiness to all for the New Year!

Tammi

  Hey all,
The anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor is just behind us, and I probably should have posted an update as a rememberance. I feel like I dropped that ball. After all, if Pearl Harbor had not been attacked, would our forces have been involved in WW2 as they were? How would history have played out if the Japanese had not gone on the offensive? That being said, there was an article in our local paper that stuck with me about a veteran and his monumental effort to serve the men who died that day. I believe this gentleman needs a few more kudos. His name is Ray Emory, a resident of Honolulu. Ray is 91 years old, a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This article stuck with me because in it I learned that there are over 2,400 Americans who died during the attack are buried in a volcanic crater called the Punchbowl. The dead who could be identified have markers, but evidently these markers did not list the name of the ships on which they served. Other graves bore generic markers, because the bodies could not be identified. Ray has been on a 20 year campaign to do a couple of things. One, is to see that these men get new markers identifying them with the ship on which they served and died, and two, to exhume the remains of those who, with modern technology and forensic techniques, can be identified and work to return them to their families. The article in our local paper was written by Audrey McAvoy with the Associated Press, and can be found here:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pearl-harbor-survivor-helps-identify-unknown-dead-17896709

Reading the article will tell you his story better than I can. I'm hoping Ray has many more years to continue his work, and that he has someone to pick up and continue when he cannot. CNN also posted an article, so here's that link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/06/us/pearl-harbor-anniversary/index.html

What an amazing man, among many amazing men and women who were witnesses to this horror.  Some of the men from Strong were also at Pearl that day, among them Stanley Hoder, father of Andy Hoder who has been so supportive of this project.   Stanley and others survived to fight another day, and for that we can be grateful. 

Tammi

      I thought it was time to put up a review of the book, Sunk in Kula Gulf by John J. Domagalski. Though I'm only through a third of the book, I've covered the portion of the book that discusses what happened to Strong on July 5th, the evening before Helena was sunk. Not only have I learned a bit more about what happened with Strong during this engagement of the Japanese and in this phase of the Solomons campaign, but I've learned more about other aspects of their time at sea.

     The book begins with Helena's story in January of 1943. Since Strong didn't pull into Guadalcanal until February 7th, they aren't part of the story at this point. It isn't until April of 1943 that these ships are brought together in port at Tulagi, into Task Force 36.1. Shortly after being brought together with the rest of the task force, they engage and help to sink Japanese submarines in the area. They were also together during mine laying operations in the Blackett Strait on the evenings of May 13th and 14th. Mr. Domagalski does a good job of detailing these operations and I can find corroborating documentation with what I have on Strong.

     Domagalski mentions the formation of the CIC, or command information center, as being an integral part of planning and strategy for operations in the Pacific theater. First used in early 1943, it was an area of the ship's superstructure designated for collecting radio reports, performing radar plots and analyzing and interpreting data. Since this was my great-uncle Billy's area on Strong, I enjoyed reading about the operations and learning more about his duties.

While reading Captain Wellings letters, he mentions stops in port, but in his letters could not be specific. One of his favorite things was to go to the beach early in the morning and get in a swim before breakfast. He also talks about playing softball with the enlisted men, officers verses and such, but I was never sure where they were. In the book, Domagalski talks about Paradise Beach on Espiritu Santo, just a short walk through the jungle from port. There was also space nearby for volleyball, horse shoes, baseball and softball. A small nearby island had a recreation center for the men to visit. They would get their two chits for beer and head off for a good time. There were also movies at night while in port at Espiritu Santo. Tulagi was also a port of call, but didn't have quite the same facilities.

And just like the sailors of Strong, the men of Helena were lonely, homesick and desperate for mail from home. Thankfully Captain Wellings wrote home often, and because of this I have some wonderful personal insights on his time away at sea.

The only other book I've seen that covers the ordeal of Strong is Into the Shadows Furious by Brian Altobello. Altobello mentions my great-uncle in his book and mentions the fact that he and his superior officer Lt. Jetton and the fact that they didn't make it off the ship.  He also details the 43 days Hugh Barr Miller, Jr. spent on Arundel Island.. These books are well worth your time and effort to read. The more new books come out with information on Strong, the better chance we have of seeing something truly happen to tell her story. Mr. Domagalski will be doing some book promotion next year, but currently only has three dates for events: January 26th, 2013 in Huntley, Illinois; March 13-14th, Washington, D.C. Details are here: http://www.amazon.com/John-J.-Domagalski/e/B003TSV8H4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1#/ref=la_B003TSV8H4_st?qid=1346204653&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_82%3AB003TSV8H4&sort=daterank

If you are in those areas or have the opportunity to go hear him speak, it would be a great experience. I've contacted him via email, and he was kind enough to share some of the documents he found pertaining to Strong. More data for my personal archives!

Off to finish the book and learn more about the men of Helena!

Tammi