The following story is based on the actual experiences of Charles Prescott. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve in November of 1942, while living in Randolph, Vermont, and was put on active duty in 1943. After Midshipman School, he received his Ensign commission, and was assigned to the USS Alaska (CB-1), which was part of Task Force 58. He served on the Alaska as part of the Naval Gun Fire Liaison from April to July of 1945. After the war, Charles Prescott served on the USS Indiana (BB-58) and the LCI 1074. In July of 1946, he was released from active duty and returned to Notre Dame to graduate in 1948. He received the American Theater Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Medal (1 star), Philippine Liberation Medal, Victory World War II Medal. Mr. Prescott is now retired and lives in Canton with his wife Peggy.

Remember the Franklin

As on any other day, Ensign Charles Prescott was perched atop the first mast of the USS Alaska. His headsets were on and he was armed with his hand computer, ready to aim the ship’s guns at anything that posed a threat to Task Force 58, which the Alaska had been assigned to protect. Ensign Prescott’s task was simple in that, on each of his four-hour shifts, he had to merely aim the guns at the desired targets and fire.

The Alaska had been escorting the USS Franklin to a base, for desperately needed repairs. The Franklin had been hit by so many bombs and kamikaze planes, it was a wonder the ship was afloat. Sitting eleven stories above the ship, Ensign Prescott could see all of the Franklin’s battle wounds. “Boy, am I glad I wasn’t on that ship!” he thought to himself, as they helped the Franklin to port.

A week later, the Alaska’s relatively safe position changed when it was reassigned to carry out a shore bombardment against Minami Daito Shima, a tiny island 160 miles east of Okinawa. Ensign Prescott directed the guns of the Alaska, en route to a fueling area, to fire a few rounds at the island. No fire was returned from the island, so Task Force 58 continued on their refueling mission.

Then, to the surprise of every sailor on the Alaska, swarms of Japanese planes appeared on the horizon. Ensign Prescott knew it was in the best interest of the Alaska to shoot the planes, known as kamikazes, down as soon as possible before they dove into the ship and caused serious damage. An image of a ship that had been turned into Swiss cheese by kamikazes appeared in his head, and he whispered to himself, “Remember the Franklin, Charlie.”

Using his hand computer, Ensign Prescott switched back and forth between guns destroying one plane after another. Every time he shot down a plane, it seemed like 10 more would appear. They were relentless. The sky above the Alaska was filled with swarming planes, waiting for the right moment to dive into the ship. He couldn’t believe how some of the planes could make it through the ammunition the Alaska was shooting into the air.

He slipped into another zone; it was just him and the enemy planes. The sky around the Alaska was black with ammunition shells; the constant roar of the guns drowned out all other sounds. One after another, the kamikazes fell from the sky, away from the Alaska and the rest of Task Force 58.

Finally, the buzzing sound of the planes trailed off. Ensign Prescott relaxed and stared out past the Alaska. The smoke and ammunition shells cleared to reveal a blue sky, free of Japanese planes. By some miracle, they had been able to destroy what had seemed like thousands of planes. The Alaska, unlike many other ships, was very lucky to be able to sail home without any casualties or damage to the ship.