Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
7:34 | Sailor John Manning describes his duties and life aboard the destroyer USS Heerman. He remembers how the depth charges they dropped to combat enemy submarines caused the metal walls next to his bunk to visibly ripple with the power of the blasts.
John Manning preferred to join the Navy rather than the Army, but then found himself assigned to the magazine in the lowest levels of the USS Heerman, a destroyer. He gained a friend for life when he fried up some sausages from home.
Sailor John Manning recalls serving with a drafted musician, who turned out to be a morphine addict. When he could no longer find any to steal from medical kits, he made good on a threat to jump overboard.
Poised to invade Japan, sailor John Manning recalls the abrupt ending of the war after the atomic bombs were dropped. He still marvels at the acceptance and friendliness extended to him by the Japanese people.
