In May, 1944 Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester Fortin of Falmouth received notification from the War Department that their son Corp. Walter E. Fortin, missing since November 26, 1943, was officially listed as dead. In just over a year they would receive notification from the Navy Department their second son, SF 3/c Sylvester A. Fortin Jr. died of his wounds. On Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1944 the HMT Rhona along with four other transports steamed from the port of Oran, Algeria to rendezvous with a convoy passing through the Mediterranean Sea. Rhona ,an 8600-ton British troop transport was loaded with about 2000 American troops destined for new duty stations in the Far east. Many would never reach their destination. By the afternoon of November …show more content…
Although, crews of the search ships worked through the night and rescued over 900 men from the cold, dark sea, it was less than half of the men on board prior to the attack. Over 1100 men were dead or missing, it was the largest loss of troops at sea in U.S. history. Many of the men originally considered missing, were months later officially listed as dead. Among them, Corporal Walter E. Fortin, a flight navigator with the Army Air Forces. Walter E. Fortin born in Portland September 15,1922, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester A. Fortin of Falmouth, Maine. He grew up in Falmouth and graduated from Falmouth High School in 1940. He enlisted in the Army in November, 1942 and assigned to the Army Air Corps, where he trained as a flight engineer.
At the time of his death Walter was married to the former Miss Francis Bean, of Steep Falls, He was 21. Walter’s younger brother, Sylvester joined the Navy in August 1943. After training, Sylvester served at a couple of duty stations before being transferred to the U.S.S. Marathon (APA-200) , arriving on board October 28,
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From April 1 -5 , Marathon’s assault craft delivered elements of the 1st Marine Division to the beaches of Okinawa. On April 5, Marathon began a return trip to San Francisco, making stops at Saipan and Pearl Harbor. After a re-supply in San Francisco, Marathon returned to Buckner Bay, Okinawa. On Sunday, July 22, 1945, at around 1:30 a.m. a one man, Japanese suicide submarine, “human torpedo”, slipped into Buckner Bay and slammed into the anchored Marathon…detonating on contact. The explosion ripped through a port side berthing compartment of the construction and repair gangs, killing and wounding many of the men while they slept. The repair crews fought hard and were able to save the ship, despite suffering heavy casualties in the explosion. One of the men lost to the repair crew was Shipfitter 3/c Sylvester A. Fortin Jr. Sylvester sustained multiple wounds in the initial explosion and died later that day.
Sylvester Fortin was born in Portland October 20, 1924, and with his brother Walter, grew up on the family farm in Falmouth. He was married to Corinne Adrianna Bartlett and was the father of two young sons, Walter and Sylvester. He was 21. Semper
After searching around the island, the body of a pilot was discovered. We have no further details at this
command. Although lives were lost in both tragedies, the incidents that occurred on the USS
results of that was the greatest death ratio on any ship that day, the igniting of the
Shortly after the seven enlisted crew members bailed out , Texas Longhorn exploded with Lt. Parker, Lt. Bilodeau and the navigator Lt. John Adams still at their controls.
The Japanese had lost 29 aircraft and 5 submarines in the attack. One of the Japanese soldiers was taken prisoner and 129 Japanese soldiers were killed.
Fertitta was born and raised in Galveston, Texas. At the age of 8, Fertitta, began to spend time after school working in his father's seafood restaurant on Galveston Island. After high school, Fertitta attended Texas Tech University and the University of Houston,
By the end of the chapter, all six men are transferred to a special unit of the Marines to begin a year of hard training. This is where they found out that they were going on a special mission to “Island X”, later revealed as Iwo Jima. This training camp was also where they all met because they were in the same company, Easy Company. The men tried to stay up-beat, but most of them knew that the battle of Iwo Jima was going to be there last.
His Family was contacted when Sergeant Perez never showed up for roll call, but he wasn't there either. A search began to locate the missing officer with a dive team called in to look through the high water, but the rescue had to be stopped because it was too dangerous.
In an attempt to find the lost flight, a Martin Mariner PBM-5 flying boat was sent to search for the mission squadron. The flying boat left Fort Lauderdale Airport at 7:27 p.m. (Cusack, 16). At 7:30 p.m. the plane's radio failed, and flight disappeared forever.
In October 2000, the United States Congress passed a resolution that Captain McVay's record should state that "he is exonerated for the loss of Indianapolis." President Bill Clinton signed the resolution. The resolution noted that, although several hundred ships of the U.S. Navy were lost in combat in World War II, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed for the sinking of his ship. In July 2001, the Secretary of the Navy ordered McVay's record cleared of all wrongdoing. On November sixth 1968, McVay committed suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol at his home in Litchfield, Connecticut. He was found just outside his back porch by his gardener. Although a note was not left, McVay was known by those close to him to have suffered from loneliness, particularly after losing his wife to cancer. McVay also struggled throughout his life from vicious letters and phone calls he periodically received from grief-stricken relatives of dead crewmen that were aboard the
Shortly before 7:55 a.m., Japanese fighter planes flew in closer and closer to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As they reached the naval base, the Japanese began their attack. They launched thousands of rounds to the ground below destroying everything in its path. Thousands of people were lost and millions of dollars of equipment was destroyed. Bombs fell from the sky, sinking the U.S.S Arizona and the men trapped inside of it. Torpedoes caused damage to other ships including U.S.S Oklahoma, U.S.S Utah, U.S.S West Virginia, and more. On land, there were close to three hundred planes destroyed. Out of all of these loses, the 3,500 men who died or were injured struck America the hardest.
The damages to the American military vessels were more severe: “four battleships sunk, three battleships damaged, one battleship grounded, two other ships sank, three cruisers damaged, three destroyers damaged, three other ships damaged, 188 aircraft destroyed, 159 aircraft damaged, 2,402 men killed and 1,247 were wounded”(Attack on Pearl Harbor) . Most of those who died are forever entombed on the ships. However, 1,177 men died on board the USS Arizona and only 299 bodies were recovered; the rest are forever entombed on this battleship.The battleship still lies where it sank
The ship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 men trapped inside” (Pearl Harbor). The japanese also destroyed airfields on the island so there planes would not have to worry about being attacked while doing their jobs.
That night on the Rainbow Warrior, there had been a birthday celebration, people on board the vessel for this celebration was several crew members and some locals. At around 11.30 at night, members had been asleep in their cabins, while the others had either left the ship or were up talking over strategies and plans. Underwater charges had been placed on her hull by French agents who dived underwater, blowing two holes in the ship. The Rainbow Warrior had sunk almost immediately. The crew all managed to escape, except a photographer named Fernando Pereira, who drowned with the boat.
Once the crew saw how critical Carl 's injuries were ,they sent the bomb back to the depths and airlifted Carl to an airbase in spain. From there he got sent to a hospital in the U.S.Doctors there did not think he would make it. Carl had proved them wrong. He had to have his leg removed and vowed that he would complete his dream of becoming a master diver. The doctor thought he was crazy and the navy sent medical discharge forms for Brasher to sign. But to Carl, if he signed the papers it meant giving up his dream. The navy thought he could no longer serve his country , he was about to prove them wrong.