O’Brien, Michael
“My name is Mike O’Brien and I remember….
The time spent at Norfolk was spent awaiting the day we would be sent to board the newly constructed Destroyer, USS FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754). I was aboard her 3 February 1945, the day she was commissioned. I remained aboard until I was
I remember the smell of her…the paper still on the decks…getting seasick the first night aboard, while she was still tied up at the dock. I remember the shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and a later return to Bermuda before leaving for the Pacific. I remember learning of the death of President Franklin Roosevelt as we made our way through the Panama Canal, I remember leaving Guam…bound for Okinawa. I remember the terrible typhoon at Okinawa. I remember the radar picket duty between Okinawa and Japan while dealing with the last of the Kamikazes. I remember the experience of being so scared I can still taste it. I remember how beautiful San Francisco was in that first early morning sunlight we sailed into port. I remember watching (through binoculars) the attempted escape from Alcatraz, and the Marine Major who was eventually sent there to quell the escape attempt. One of the non-participants of that attempt was the Bird Man of Alcatraz…originally from my home town of Metropolis, Illinois (Home of Superman).
I am proud to have served in the Navy; to have been aboard USS FRANK E. EVANS (DD 754). I am so grateful that we had a nation filled with young patriots who rushed to join the armed forces. I weep with regularity at the horrors that so many of our comrades in arms suffered, at the horrendous loss of the families of the critically injured and dead. It is still horrifying to imagine the terror many of those young men had to endure. My time aboard EVANS was a picnic compared to so many others.”
RM3 Michael Louis O’Brien – 3 February 1945 – 2 June 1946
