After going through basic training at the U.S Naval Training at San Diego, California, I was assigned to the Electrician Mates School in Gulfport, Mississippi. It was a long five day trip across the southern states, in the middle of summer. We were on a troop train without air conditioning, that had to pull over on a siding every time a train with any priority would come through.
Electrical school was tough, as it was sixteen weeks of eight hour days of classes and two hours of home work every night. The competition for grades was fierce, as most of the class were young fellows just out of high school or college, and I had been out of school for years. We did get as far as New Orleans several times, but there wasn't' much else to do at that time.
After we graduated, one of my buddies, Lyal Burt, and myself were assigned to the U.S.S. Kearny, a destroyer, that we were to join in New York city. We were pleased with this assignment as we were the only ones in the class going to the Atlantic, the rest were going into amphibious duty in the Pacific, and that was not very good duty at that time.
We were soon to learn that the Navy was not as regulated as we thought. We spent nine days at Pier 92, which was the Naval receiving station for New York, and then another eight days at Norfork Virginia before our ship finally came in.
It was on February 1 1945 that we boarded the Kearny late in the evening, and were told by the officer of the day that there where no empty bunks on board, and we would have to find some place to sleep on our own, and to report to the electric shop the next morning. We did finally find a place where a pile of sea bags were stored and there we spent the night.
The next morning we reported for roll call with the electrical gang, and were told by the Electrician 1/C that they had a full crew and didn't know why they sent us. He took pity on us though,and told us he had a couple of young fellows in the crew that weren't doing too good and if we could talk them in to trading places with us he would be glad to have us. Burt and I shamelessly talked them into swapping, telling them what great shores leaves they giving on the base. We got their bunks and lockers and had a place to sleep that night. We later had reason to believe that it probably hadn't been that hard to convince them to swap. when we found out that a 300 foot long top heavy destroyer wasn't greatest way to cross the Atlantic in the cold stormy winter weather. We didn't know about about the times when the tilt gauge in the engine room would go past the point of no return, or when it would seem like we had run into a brick wall, but at last we were in the real Navy.
Gene Davis

The last time I visited the 432 was in Norfolk OpnBase, just after one of the scraps with the British sailors from the ships undergoing repairs across the river in the Summer l94l and the 'efforts' to locate American whitehats who had been involved.
When I came aboard, and saw my brother's black eye and asked him about it, he was pretty much abrupt and closed mouth about the source but I recalled someone on board told me the shiner came from a wave of 4 or 5 Brits swarming him under in a second floor bar (name forgotten), and that Capt Danis and other skippers were supposed to check the tin-can crews for signs of combat.
Also, that Capt Danis was very proud to find that None of his crew showed any such "honors-of-combat".
Sidney Bobe

Kurtz opted to remain in the navy after he lost his lower legs in the Kearny torpedo incedent.He became very profficient in walking with the new artificial legs and while in the New York area went over to Orange N.J. to the bar of boxer Tony Gallentos.
Kurtz was inclined to get a little noisy at times and while in that bar he was looking at the huge picture on the wall of Joe Louis layed out on the canvas with Tony standing over him. In his loud voice he began to berate Tony with remarks that it was an accident, and other remarks which caused Tony to punch him between the horns to the extent that he was knocked off the barstool and was laying out on the floor.
When Tony saw his artificial legs he ran out and picked Kurtz up and set him back on the stool- -He was so ashamed of hitting a guy with "wooden legs" that he was almost in tears.---He couldn't apologise enough, and I think old Kurtz probably had lifetime free beer there.
Tony Galento was perhaps not the greatest boxer ever, but he had a big heart.

Mt. Vesuvius erupted while we were anchord in Naples harbor. When the wind changed, our ship was coverd with vocanic ash !
We went to Palermo Sicily to hose down after the ( Texas ) dust storm hit us.
TM3 Guy Reed onboard 4/43-2/45

My dad passed away in August 1984. When I was growing up he told me about his time in the Navy. I never really fully grasped his involvement in the war until I recently received a letter that my cousin found that was sent to my aunt. The letter is dated 12/05/1944 . My dads name was Milton R. Breault he was from Kankakee Illinois.In his letter he writes how the Kearney left the States in Feb. of 1944 how they went to Oran Africa, went to Algiers and had many fist fights with the English sailors. He went to Bigerte then to Palermo. He told how they went looking for subs when a sub sunk a British cruiser and the Kearny sunk the sub. He wrote about the tough fights along the coast of Anzio and every half hour the Kearney would be shot at by German planes. He wrote that they would anchor in Naples find a nice tavern and the next night it would be blownup from air raids. He wrote about the close calls . He also said they were in Naples when Mt Versumius erupted and how much ash was on the ship. He wrote about the invasion of France on August 13 and how the ship was told it did not have a chance on making it out. He wrote that the Kearney was the first ship in, it went in about 2 miles and stopped then about 80 bombers flew over and bombed the hell out of the town. He said the Kearney laid smoke screen for the Nevada. He said he saw ten flashes from the beach he thought they were firing at the Nevada but they were firing at them. He saw one go between the stacks.He said they fired about 15 times at the Kearney hitting the ship once but not much damage. He said the ship started to head out when the skipper said that they cann't do that to the Kearney and went back shooting like mad and got it all. it said the fighting went on like that for about a month. He said liberty in Marseilla and Toulon were nice. I received this this letter the day i visited my dads gravesite and I am happy to share it with you..

As a Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict, I recall very vividly where I was on December 7, 1941. "My" ship, the U.S.S. Kearny (DD 432), had been torpedoed by a German submarine about 350 miles south of Iceland on October 17, 1941. The Kearny limped into Iceland under her own power and tied up alongside the U.S.S. Vulcan, a destroyer repair ship. It was late in the evening when news of the attack on Pearl reached Iceland. Many of the Kearny and Vulcan crew members, including myself, were attending the movie. The film was stopped and announcement of the attack was made on the ship's speakers. There was little sleep that night. Most of the Kearny crew simply wanted to get under way and head for Pearl. However, repairs to make the Kearny seaworthy were not completed until near the end of December. We left Iceland on Christmas day and reached Boston on January 1, 1942. The Kearny had suffered the first casualties (eleven dead and many more wounded) of American naval personnel of World War II. The torpedoing of the Kearny was front page headline news, world wide, on October 17, but was soon forgotten in the turmoil of the global conflict which followed. As a former crew member, I would hope more Americans remember Kearny and the superb American seamen who lost their lives in that lonely battle of the North Atlantic, both before and after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Written by John (Jack) G. Lemon, recalling the events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, on the 50 Anniversary of the attack. Published by a New Bern, North Carolina newspaper, December 1991.