Hutchins (DD 476) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 11 text:

I N MEMORIAM It is with the deepest sorrow and respect that the officers and men of the Hutchins pause to pay tribute to: Donald Van Valxenhurg, Sllc, U.S.N.R. William George Champion, MoMM1 c. lI.S.N.R. Paul Clifton Tucker, Jr., Sllc, U.S.IN.R. James Patrick McKenna, S2lc, U.S.N. Douglas Warren Waldron, Slfc, U.S.N. Francis Joseph Montclair, MoMM2!c, U.S.N. William Joseph St. Jean, S2lc, U.S.N. Frederick Thomas Vollrath, Sllc, U.S.N Julius Nutter, StM2fc, U.S.N.R. Bruce Almond Nettleton, S2lc, U.S.N. Robert Walter Luken, Fllc, U.S.N. William Robson, GM3!c, U.S.N.R. Gaylord Grant Hanley, S2lc, U.S.N.R. Joseph Lucious Anderson, Sllc, U.S.N.R ....5--

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' we - an I .fm .ape ,f . ' ' ' -l V il his .i our dreams were gettingbetter all the' time. It's -no wonder then, that we gOt the bi8'gGSt and Best 'Sl-11'P!'iSef'ofourW lives when we were' ordered back to the states for repairs and general overhaul. Z Thatgwas a Christmas that was a Christmas. ' ' A 3 t q' A ' ' f ' p l Our overhaul coinpleted, and with an eye on the job' over there that was,,still unfinished, we made atgshart trial run to Dago and then turned Westward - this time with another new skipper. I We wanted to make whim Ijfbud ofthe Hutch but he was to make us. even prouder. A L I xi I . A . I , V sg ar - -,fl ',a.5-my a m 4 A 4 A 1 On D-minus-3, we began patrolling off the coast of hIwo Jima. .,For. almost a month, we operated witht a carrier support group in the assault and occupation of the island. I A A April Fool's Day was no joke to us OR the laps: for that Lwas D-minus-nothing for the Okinawaw invgsion. If b an 'chance we had missed any phase of the Pacific war, we got an opportunity to catch up then, pThe,Japs Y , Y . 1 had raised their Kamikaze tactics to almost fanatic perfection. ,Suicidegbent hell came at our forces from 311 - ' H f h directions, and more that are even yet to be charted. The Japs fought long and hard, but we oug talonger and harder. It was as though they realized that this was to be the, beginning offthe end. y For the Hutch, this WAS the end. On the 27th of April, she was hit by an enemy suicide boat and her after engine room was knocked completely out. Up to then we had drawn heavily onour precioussupply of luck and it i 1 .fl had gotten too low to pull us through this last fight. But there was enough left that,.w1th the help of, our krepair, I parties, we were able to stay afloat and limp our way home. There are two kinds of limps in this -world: the broken, tail-between-the-legs limp of the beateng and the proud, satisfied limp of the wounded winner. Andftherg wasn't a frame in her that didn't deserve to be proud. Yes, this WAS a fighting ship. , A . - ' - We were back in the states when the news of the Japanese surrender came over America's radios. The Mighty 'H' would fight no more. ' W ' A A A Now that it's all over, she won't be needing usiqany more. We may leave her but she'll never leave us. The memory of her gallantry will be forever preserved in the hearts and minds of all who knew her.. And no one knew her as we did . . . Q K . l .4- fl if l. l l Y - . l

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LT. COMDR. A. R. OLSEN, U.S.N. SKIPPER CAPTAIN J. H. SCHMIDT, U.S.N. COMDES DIV. 90 THE BIG THREE -5.. LT. H. B. COWAN, U.S.N.R. EXECUTIVE