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John Black

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John Black remembers his older brother Joe, who was shot down by anti-aircraft while returning from a mission. (5:04)

John Bostian

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Born in China Grove NC, John Bostian graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne College in 1936. As WW2 approached and to avoid being drafted, John joined the Navy and was admitted into the Naval Academy in 1942 until May 1943. Upon graduation from the academy, John was assigned to the USS Arkansas where he crossed the North Atlantic as part of a convoy. After serving aboard the USS Arkansas, John returned to Norfolk Naval Yard where he was assigned to the USS Franklin. (4:03)

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After serving aboard the USS Arkansas, John Bostian returned to Norfolk Naval Yard where he was assigned to the USS Franklin. He trained on the operation of the ships engines and mechanical systems. This is the story of the first time the USS Franklin was attacked near the Philippines. (8:49)

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Following the first attack by Japanese planes near the Philippines, The USS Franklin was repaired and returned to service in the Pacific theater as part of Task Force 58. On the second day after joining up with the fleet, in March of 1945, the Franklin was attacked by Japanese planes. The ship was sent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repair. (8:10)

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While stationed near the Brooklyn Naval yard awaiting repairs of the USS Franklin, the war ended. (5:17)

John Brusa

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He knew growing up that he wanted to be either a police officer or in the military. John Brusa stayed out of trouble and played sports and, when the time came, he decided on the military. The only thing he knew was that the Navy was not an option. (8:19)

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Landing at Bagram looked like landing back home in Big Pine, CA. That's what John Brusa thought as his plane came in. His first mission was to occupy a new combat outpost in the mountainous region near the Pakistan border. (6:25)

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They were getting so many rockets fired at them that they decided to put a combat outpost at the top of the mountain to see where they were coming from. John Brusa was just a PFC at the time and was used chiefly as an ammo mule. They were very near the Pakistan border and had several white flag meetings with their counterparts from across the line. (6:34)

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The road between the two US bases took only twenty minutes to drive, at first, but it soon became the most heavily booby trapped road in Afghanistan. John Brusa recalls that the IED's may have been plentiful but that his combat outpost was never successfully attacked. The engineers had built a real fortress. (5:14)

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The forward operating base had one road in and out and when John Brusa's unit left the base, the convoy was miles long. At one point it stopped for three hours and most of the guys were thinking what he was thinking. We're gonna get hit. (9:34)