Muster Rolls
Stories from Crew Members
- Charles Choules tells the story of the attack on April 6, and sent a photo of his piece of Japanese parachute.
- Lt. A. A. Johns kept some images and copies of orders, and you can see some of them here. Visit Lt. Johns page.
- W.F. Berry - Sat. June 16 1945 - I came back from liberty and saw that the truc lights were at a odd angle. PO 1c/c Liethe had the Qrtr. Dk. watch and was busy reading with his feet propped up to keep from falling over.
- WE STARTED TO CHECK OUT WHY THE SHIP WAS LISTING AND DISCOVERED that the yard birds had put a 200 LB test on the fire main and left the ship to go to lunch. READ MORE HERE
- W.F.Berry - This all happened on April 6, 1945, when we had 3 planes crash on us and shot 3 others down. We didn't get credit for the one that crashed on the USS NEWCOMB. We had 17 men wounded and none killed. When Admiral Kelly Turner heard we had gotten hit the last time he asked where we were stacking them. READ MORE HERE
- Ed Hamilton - On the 6th, one kamikaze came in maybe 10 feet off of the water right at them. They were firing furiously at it, and the gunnery officer was yelling "Knock ‘im down! Knock ‘im down! FOR GOD’S SAKE, KNOCK ‘IM DOWN!!" About 25 yards out, they blew him up, but the blast caused some damage and injuries. READ MORE HERE
- Harry Miller - Along with the mail they also picked up some Marines who had missed their ship and brought them back to Iwo. One of the Marines had a back that he would not turn loose of. Later, after they had settled in, he finally showed them what he had in the bag. In previous battles, every time he had killed an enemy, he would cut off one of the ears — and had all of them in this bag. Apparently the Captain didn’t get wind of it, so the bag left the DEFENSE with the soldier at Iwo. READ MORE HERE
- James Bowell, SM3c - James went over the side of the ship after the attacks on April 6 and rescued another sailor who had been blown into the water, then went back and took life preservers to two others.
- Read the article from and issue of the 1947 Boston Globe telling of Commander Abbott's Navy Cross commendation. It's a pretty big image, so be patient.
Some Photos of the Crew
- Cliff Crawford sent a couple of photos.
- Charles Choules was a MoMM2c, and sent some nice things.
- Richard Kirchhoff was aboard the USS DEFENSE in WW2, and these are a few of the photos he contributed to this site.
- This link shows a few images of Lt. Albert Johns, the communications officer aboard the USS DEFENSE.
- Follow this link for a gallery of images, mostly from Wilbert Berry and Karen Vicars Ostrand (Fred Vicars' daughter).
- This is a photo of Lt. Cmdr. Gordon Abbot, Captain of the USS DEFENSE. Quite a commander. Click on his name to see the photo.
- This is a photo of some crewmen, given to me by Harry Miller, Quartermaster. Their names are unknown at this time.
Click on this photo for a larger version of the commissioning picture
taken in 1944.