C n A P T K K ELEVEN ... I ' m sure he heard us, that gray Sunday morning, as we knelt on the deck and prayed for the buddies who wouldn ' t he coming home . . . they were very close to us that ilay . . . they always will be close ... BIG BEN COMES HOME Saddened but undal ' mted, icierinined to fight again, the torn, fire-blackened flattop anchored at Ulithi. Sunday, March 25th. 1945, mass of Thanksgiving on the flight deck was led by Father Joseph O ' Callahan; Protestant service of Thanksgiving was led by Charles G. Weldon Gatlin. Most men attended both services; some wept openly durino- the humble, sincere prayers. And since it is of Thy mercy, gracious Father, that another week is added to our lives; wa heie dedicate attain our soul and our bodies to Thee and Thy service, in a sober, righteous, and godly life; during the week we made new resolutions and in these, do Thou, merciful God, confirm and strengthen us; that, as we grow in age we may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray . . . The services closed with the Navy ' s hymn, Eternal Father. l lrrnal h ' alln-r, sUoni; lu save. Whose arm doth bind the restless wave. If ho bid ' sl the mighty ocean deep. Its own appointed limits keep; hear us tvlien ive cry to Thee For those in peril on tlie sea . ■ . The Thanksgiving services were followed by Memorial Services for the dead. On the flight deck, in the fitfully falling rain moving across the harbor in sheets, the men of the Franklin, led by Father O ' Callahan, assembled to the mournful strains of a dirge softly played by the surviving bandsmen. In a beautiful, heart-touching talk, the priest re- called to the men that their comrades had died on Saint Joseph ' s Day — Saint Joseph, the patron saint of a merciful death — that their death, though tragic, had been in merci- ful circumstances, with every man having a brief moment for a last prayer. Protestant Memorial Services on Franklin ' s hangar deck . . . Chaplain G. Ifeldon Gatlin conducting
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