Carmine,
    Send me an email, the address you gave me isn't working and I don't know why. Send to agcret@cox.net and I'll give you the info for the New Jackets....Tom Ferelli
>
< replied-to message removed by QT >

Carmine Giganti, thanks for the update on John. I will be sending out my ESSEX NEWSLETTER on Monday and have included your message listed below.

Thank you.

I am the brother of John Giganti, a very proud member of the Essex family. He attended all reunions but the last 7 or 8 because of ill health. He now resides at an assisted living retirement home. I know he would love to hear from old friends who remember him , or anyone who wants to chat with him. His address is John Giganti
218 Pocono Lutheran Village
329 East Brown St.
East Stroudsburg, PA 18301.

Marlene Paul. I tried to email you but the address must be incorrectly listed. Please send the address to froabo@comcast.net

Edited by author 10-20-2009 12:46 PM
Marlene Paul, I will put your message on my ESSEX NEWSLETTER in a week or so asking if anyone knows either of these two men please speak up.

On 9/11/66 I became a widow of George W. Brennan, BM 2nd class, while the Essex was stationed at Quonset Pt. Rhode Island. Because George's death came about quickly, I did not get to talk to a few of his friends. One was Leonard Jarvis of Illinois (lost track of him in the early 70's) and Ora Dale Todd (known as Dale). Both were friends and came to our apartment in East Providence, RI during 1965 and 1966. I would love to contact them OR they can email me at: stewmar@embarqmail.com. I am married and live in Florida. It would be great to connect. My son, George who is now 44, lives in Florida also. He was just a baby when Len and Dale knew him and was only 13 months old when his father died. It might be nice to know someone who knew his dad in 1965-66. IF ANYONE ELSE KNEW GEORGE DURING 1964-1966 IN RI, PLEASE EMAIL ME. THANK YOU. Marlene (Brennan) Paul

Deborah Caron, email me at froabo@comcast.net and I will give you the address where to get your father's military record.

Hi,

First, with Memorial Day just a day behind us, I would like to say thank you to all of you who served our country. You will never be forgotten. We owe what can never be repaid.

Secondly, it is a year since I posted last, and would like to again ask if anyone may have known my father, Murray Lee Jackson. He was also called by his nickname of "Jack" while on the Essex. He was from Meridian, Mississippi and was on the Essex at the time of the kamikaze attack. He was a Fireman Second Class. He was injured during the attack, and in a coma for six weeks on board a naval medical ship.

The following is additional information that may help someone remember him: He did NTS at San Diego, CA. Also served on the USS Raleigh, R/S Bremerton, Washington, and was discharged either in San Pedro, CA or New Orleans, LA.

I would just love to know if anyone remembers him and can tell me anything about him then. He could never talk about his WWII experience. He passed away in 1996 at the age of 75.

Thank you for any information no matter how small.

Deborah

Re your inquiry about John Hugh Spotts.

I am Charles E Hubenthal, was a pilot in Air Group 83 and in VF 83 squadron. Also boarded the Essex March 10, 1945. I tell you this because I was with John Spotts that day, March 19, 1945 on the carrier Wasp. The story that was related below is fairly accurate however some minor points are different. Here is the story as I remember it: (please note that dates used are ones in that area which would be different than ones used back in the states), March 18, 1945 was the first day of combat and flights were over Nittegahara, during the raid a pilots plane was damaged and he was spotted in the water. This was reported back to the ship and John Spotts and I were dispatched to try and find him and to try to drop him a raft. We did find him and dropped the raft. We stayed around for a short while then returned to what we thought was our group of ships but the Essex was in another group so we landed on the Wasp. The next morning we were preparing for our flight, I was in the ready room while Lt Spotts was going to the hangar deck to get his plotting board from his plane. About this time general quarters sounded and all the guns were shooting then silence for just a second. A Japanese plane had dropped a bomb which hit about midship, went through the flight deck and exploded below. There was fire on the hangar deck. I was concerned about Lt Spotts and inquired at sick bay and they told me that he had died. I later talked with a man who had been a few steps ahead of Lt Spotts, had his back to the hangar deck and his backpack was riddled but he only had a scratch. It was his opinion that the shrapnel and fire was what caused Lt Spotts death. Yes he was buried at sea. When I returned to the States I contacted his Mother and have kept in touch with his brother at Christmas.
Hope this information is what you are looking for.

Charles E Hubenthal

Are there any Essex veterans from WWII with any recollections of Lt. John Hugh Spotts, a Texas pilot in VF-83, who joined your ship's company March 10, 1945, best I can tell, and was killed March 19. He was an instructor with my father at Pensacola until around 1944, when he was assigned to an operational squadron. Here is the account of his death, written on the back of Hugh's photograph that his brother sent me:

"While returning from a raid on Kyushu, Japan Hugh ran out of fuel trying to help a sub rescue his very dear friend and room mate. He was also his college room mate. Hugh was forced to land on the U.S.S. Wasp. Later that day a Jap dive bomber made an attack on the Wasp killing John Hugh."

Thank you for any details you might know about this man, who seemed to impress everyone who knew him.

Robert Brewer Jr
Fort Worth, Texas

Edited by author 03-08-2009 09:00 PM
Debbie, I have posted your father, Walter J. Duptila (Drew) on the USS ESSEX Memorial Page as a Life USS Essex Association Member.

Hmmm.... I guess the attachments didn't work...or got blocked

Here's the list of Torpedo Squadron Niners I tried to attach:

Adams, Bob
Aiken, Thomas N. LT.
Anderson, Herbert (Andy) C.
Bates, Frank W. ARM3C
Berwick, Al
Braun, Marc
Bright, Roy D. ARM 3/C
Cassady, John (Jack)
Chalman, Charles A. AMM 2/C
Conlon, John E. AOM 1/C
Cooke, Byron E. LCDR
Deptula-Drew, Walter CPO RET
Donnelley, Gaylord LT
Emrick, Paul E. CDR (CAPT USN RET)
Fairtrace, Anson A. AMM2C
Fox, Fredrick H. LTJG
Fox, Myrton F. ARM 3/C
Gamel, John J. AOM 1/C
Garrison, Paul T. ARM 2/C
Garwood, Robert H. AMM 2/C
Goodrich, Hilton D. YN 1/C
Griffin, Charles D. CDR (ADM USN RET)
Gulick, Robert A. Jr.
Hamill, Dick A. ARM 2/C
Hebert, Paul L.
Henry, George C. LTJG
Hibbs, George A. AOM 1/C
Holland, William AOM 1/C
Hoover, Charles C. LTJG
Hord, David A.
Hoselton, Cordy Lee
Houck, Herbert CDR
Iiames, Guy R.
Ingram, Milton L.
Jacobs, Walter A. LTJG
Jaep, Charles H. III LT
Jenkins, Gordon K.
Kane, Donald C. LTJG
Karney, Joseph J. ARM 3/C
Kazulis, William P. ARM 3/C
Keller, Eugene L. AMM 1/C
Kemp, E. Duane
Kent, Don
Kettles, Archibald Y. ACMM
King, David A LTJG
Knight, Joseph E. ARM 2/C
Knowlton, Harry E. (Stumpy) ACOM
Krummeck, K. Kenneth
Lee, Charles Isaac ACMM
Lee, Clyde J.
Lock, Kenneth J. AMM 2/C
Lucas, George (Red) LTJG
Malikowski, Theodore S. AOM 1/C
Malone, Robert D. ARM 2/C
Martin, W.L. ARM 1/C
Marvil Jr., Frederick L.
Matthews, Robert T. AMM 1/C
Menard, Louis CDR USN Ret
Meredith, Phillip AMM 1/C
Miller, Stuart J.
Moore, Albert S. ARM 3/C
Quigley, Bertram ENS
Romagnolo, Frank (Romo)
Rossi, Charles B. ARM 1/C
Scherer, James P. LT.
Shelley, James W. LT.
Smith, A.J. CDR USN RET
Spencer, John "Link"
Stetson, Thomas H. LT
Taylor, James J. LT.
Tilghman, Lloyd E.
Wadelton, Frances B. LTJG
Weldon, Harry V.
Whelan, John
White, Donald M. LCDR (RADM USN RET)
Williams, Clark R. LTJG
Wogan, Richard ADM
Zentmeyer, Richard B. LTJG


------------------------------------------------------------ ----
Hello everyone...



I just wanted to announce that my dad, Walter J Deptula (Drew)
who served on Essex 1943-1944 passed away Saturday, Feb 28, 2009
from complications of Alzheimer's.
Some of you may remember him as a "regular" at many Essex
Reunions.


I have attached a roster of the men in his squadron...you might
recognize some of the names. Please let me know if you see any
errors or omissions.


Also ~ You can read about my dad's air strikes at
http://www.ussessexcv9.org/Bravepages/8strikes.html


These were written by him and posted on the website by the late
Bob Sourisseau some years ago.




Services for Wally will be held Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at:



Sunset Hills Memorial Park

1575 145th Place SE

Bellevue, WA 98007

Phone: (425) 746-1400



Chapel service at 1:30 PM

Internment at 2:30



Open to everyone.



If you wish, you may email me your thoughts or memories of Wally
you might have. They will be read at the service and included in
the memory book.


Thank you!



Debbie Shaw
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