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Presentation of Naval
Historical Society of Australia Plaque on behalf of the Victorian
Chapter to the USS Missouri Memorial Association.
On the morning of Tuesday the 6th.
of September 2005, Denise and I took
The Bus,
from downtown Honolulu to the Bowfin Memorial, transferred
to the Missouri trolley for the ride across the bridge to
Ford Island. Here we met in the office of Lee Collins Sr, the Vice
President of Marketing and Sales for the Association, he had a piece
of the Battleship's decking mounted on his office wall. He took it
down and presented it to me, what a wonderful souvenir to mark this
memorable visit, on our return home I will need to declare it to the
Australian Customs, as we are very chary of importing timber into
our country, but would hope that it does not pose any problems, I
would hate to lose my prize. We went on board, and on the Surrender
Deck, close to the Brass Deck Plate marking the place of the
surrender signing in 1945, I handed over the plaque for the
Victorian Chapter of the NHSA. Lee had his photographer record the
hand over, and has promised to mail a copy to me at home in
Australia.
Captain's Cabin
Lee now produced a bunch of keys,
and unlocked the Captain's cabin so we might have a look inside. It
was spacious and well fitted out, a large polished table for about
12 dominated, used for Corporate Lunches and Dinners in the cause of
Fundraising for the costly upkeep of the ship. In cabinets were any
number of precious artefacts, including a lovely silver model of
Missouri,
and a pristine cap that had belonged to
Admiral Halsey. We asked how the Association had come by such a
treasure, and Lee explained he found it advertised for sale on
E-Bay, put up by the Admiral's son, who wanted US$ 5,000 for it. Lee
had a well heeled Missouri supporter who was approached, and
he opened up his cheque book and wrote a cheque for the required
amount.
Tour of the Missouri
Lee arranged for the only
guide who had served in the ship to take us on a guided tour, and
Tony, a Philippino, who had served as the steward to three of
Missouri's Captains, gave us, with a few other people, a tour of
this ship, who had been fitted with missiles and went off to the
Gulf War. One Kamikaze had crashed on board, having been cut in half
on its inwards flight, its dead pilot was buried by the orders of
the Captain with Military Honours. The Wardroom has a large model of
the ship on display, and we saw plans in the near future wherby
children can arrange a sleep over in some of the old Officer's
territory. We finalised our visit by joining The Truman's Chow
Line in one of the Sailor's Mess rooms, to have a light lunch
and coffee. Once more we had been treated royally on this, our
second visit to Missouri, and we would want to record our
sincere thanks to all involved from this ship's Memorial Association
who have facilitated our two visits on board this historic
Battleship.
Presentation of
a plaque, by Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie Gregory RAN. R'td. on
behalf of the Victorian Chapter of the Naval Historical Society of
Australia, to the USS Missouri Memorial Association.
Mr President and members of the USS
Missouri Memorial Association, Denise and I are delighted to be
with you today in this historic ship. I went to war as a 17 year old
Cadet Midshipman in the Royal Australian Navy in September of 1939,
spending the most part of the next two years at sea in the North
Atlantic. Coming home to Australia via the Atlantic, the Panama
Canal, and the Pacific, to arrive in Melbourne on that
Day of Infamy, the 7th. of December 1941,
with the cowardly attack by the Japanese on
this very site at Pearl Harbor.
Your President, Franklin Roosevelt declared
war on Japan, and I knew then, that at last we were on the path to
eventual victory, we would win this war in time. It was later
reported that Winston Churchill had his first good sleep for a long
time that night. 1942 brought dark days to Australia, Singapore
fell, Darwin was bombed, RAN ships Perth and Yarra
were sunk, at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese were stopped
from invading Port Moresby, and then at Midway the USN gained a
resounding victory.
The Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin
turned both his eyes and voice to the east, across the vast Pacific
Ocean to the United States with his plea for help, and the Alliance
between both our Countries and our Navies was forged. Ships of the
Royal Australian Navy fought with their US counterparts in Naval
Task Forces from Guadalcanal to Tokyo Bay. At the Battle of Savo
Island on the 8th. of August 1942, my heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra
was sunk to lose 84 shipmates, but your navy suffered grievous
losses in the sinking of US heavy cruisers Quincy, Astoria,
and Vincennes,
and 1,000 of your sailors died that night.
Guadalcanal just had to be held by US Marines, and over August/
November that year some of the bloodiest battles at sea in WW2, were
fought in that arena. But, Major General AA Vandergrift and his
Marines held fast, and to quote Admiral Bull Halsey
" The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and
Guadalcanal saved the Pacific."
Together we marched across the Pacific to finally be in Tokyo on
that wonderful day on Sunday the 2nd. of September 1945, when, on
the deck of this great battleship, General Douglas MacArthur
orchestrated the Surrender of Japan.
My wife and I were privileged to witness the
60th. anniversary of that historic day here last Thursday, an event
we will always recall with affection. Today, on behalf of the
Victorian Chapter of the Naval Historical Society of Australia I am
delighted to present this plaque to the USS Missouri Memorial
Association, in a spirit of friendship, remembering that the bond
between both our Nations and our Navies has never been stronger than
it is today in 2005.
Thank you for your kind attention
by Mackenzie Gregory
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