I was assigned to the Morrison DD 560 in Treasure Island receiving station, but I caught cat fever and was hospitalized when the crew left to put the Morrison in commission. I reassigned to the Prichett Commissioning crew that was leaving to Seattle, WA in 1944 for commissioning of the USS Prichett. After commissioning, we did a shakedown cruise in the South Pacific coast ending in San Diego, CA, then back to Seattle for the final refitting. We then left for San Francisco, staying until we received orders to join the South Pacific fleet at Hawaii in late April of 1944.

Our first action was the landings on the island group including Tarawa. We were assigned to bombardment and fire support for the landings and later to screen against attacks. We were also involved with the fast carrier groups that were attacking Truk, the Central Pacific Japanese strong hold. After a few months of attacking Truk it was not considered a good target and was passed as neutralized, never being a threat again. The Prichett was then released to go back to Hawaii and Pearl Harbor to be refitted for Fighter Director Radar and Radio Gear.

After leaving Hawaii, we proceeded to join the fleet in the attack on Guam and the Marianas, Saipan & Tinion. Guam fell first and became a US base. The Battleship California and the Prichett took a Japanese 'zero' under fire, shooting it down off Saipan. A whaleboat located off the starboard side of the Prichett, on which I was the signalman, picked up the Japanese pilot. We were under orders to take no chances during the rescue and to shoot first if there was any sign he was going for his side arm. He gave us no trouble as we took him aboard the Prichett. We found out he was 19 years old. We had him aboard for a few days under constant guard until he left for interrogation. Most of our time around Saipan & Tinion was spent on air attacks, fire support, fighter directing, being at general quarters, which created lack of sleep because any extra time was spent with four hours on, four hours off radar picket duty. Saipan fell after Guam then Tinion. We were so close at Tinian we could see the Marines and Japanese trading mortar fire.

We joined Task Force 38.3 during 1st battle of the Phillipines. 2nd battle of the Philippines - attacks on Formosa (Taiwan). I was wounded on Oct 13, 1944 along with 10 others including Bill Dougherty QM 2/C who had transferred from the USS Washington. QM 2/c Dougherty died the next day from his wounds, and was given a burial at sea. We were hit by friendly fire from our own artillery. We were detached from Task Force 38 to return to Ulithi for needed repairs. Five more wounded were sent to a Navy Hospital Ship for further care and transfer for hospital care. My wound was considered light and I returned to active duty about two weeks after we were in port. I received shrapnel wounds in my left hip/rear girdle area. We left for Guam to go alongside a destroyer tender for further repairs.

We went back to Task Force 38 for more action with carriers in the China Sea and strikes against the Japanese home islands. We were then detached from Task Force 38 to proceed with a group of cruiser and ships from our squadron that included 558 USS Laws, 559 USS Longshaw, 560 USS Morrison, 561 USS Prichett, 792 USS Calaghan, 793 USS Preston, 794 USS Irwin and 795 USS Cassin Young to intercept a large number of coastal steamers and tankers trying to supply the Japanese troops on Luzon and other Philippine Islands. Planes from Task Force 38 had worked them over, sinking many. Our group finished off most of those remaining. Needless to say, attempts by the Japanese to supply their troops ended in terrible failure and a turkey shoot ensued for our group of cruisers and ships.

Before leaving Task Force 38, we went through three different typhoons. Any typhoon is bad enough to go through, but the last typhoon made the first two look like child's play. A tanker group and several destroyers rendezvoused with Task Force 38 for refueling at sea. We received word that a typhoon was approaching and all fueling would cease until the typhoon had past. All destroyers were low on fuel. The captain informed us to keep the use of fuel to a minimum, using little for light or the heating of water. All fuel was to be used only for engines and underway purposes only.

As the storm became stronger, we continually rolled forty degrees thru the night. We took green water over the bridge. The ship shuddered and seemed as if it would break in two while keeping us awake all night. No one was permitted topside unless the captain gave them permission in extreme emergencies. Through the night, we heard other destroyers in trouble, not being able to keep underway and wallowing in the mountainous swells and then rolling over. The tanker group lost three destroyers and all hands aboard, coming to over 1,000 officers and men lost at sea. We searched for three days for survivors, there were none. In my estimation, it was the greatest loss of men in a single non-combat operation of war. You will probably not see anything recorded about this catastrophe in Naval Records.

We left Task Force 38 to join bombardment and invasion of Iwo Jima. We shelled Mt. Surabashi numerous times and saw the raising of the United States flag on the summit. During the rest of the campaign, we did plenty of radar picket and anti-submarine patrol. On April 1, 1945, Easter Sunday, the invasion of Okinawa started. The Prichett and several other destroyers were being assigned to escort landing craft into the beach. That was a feint landing while the true landing was going on at the other side of the island. The Prichett were assigned a patrol area until the afternoon when we were then assigned to Radar Pickett Station One to replace a destroyer that had been sunk. We remained on our assigned patrol area all night with a converted LCI gun ship going thru many air attacks. We received a near miss bomb hit that damaged our fantail while finally exploding in a twenty mm clip room. Any time we slowed down below twenty-five knots, we ended up flooding the compartment. We were hit with one air raid after another. Two of our cruisers were badly damaged by torpedoes. The Prichett was damaged by her first bomb. Wounded, we returned to the trans station. We returned to the battleship Washington and received our first twin engine Betty and single engine Jack and it helped a great deal with putting a sense of cheerfulness back into the crew after the experiences of the day before. We weren't able to operate efficiently because of our damage so we were sent back on the long haul to Manus Island which was the admiralties for repairs. The next few months after repairs, we spent driving the Japanese out of the Philippines, from Spear four to Okinawa. We traveled all over the ocean: Indochina, South China coast, Hong Kong, Russia and the Manila area. We rode into a huge typhoon; we seemed to be with our fellow destroyers. We chased subs after one of our large fleet Ankers had been torpedoed. They carried mail and messages for the brass hats (officers). It was during these meanderings over the Pacific that we first came into contact with the Japanese Kamikazes or Bonsai Joe's as we referred to them. The planes seemed to rain right down at us which began our initiation of the kamikaze's destruction which lasted until August 13. When we were ordered from the battle area and went to the Ulithi, rearming in preparation for the Okinawa campaign.

When we sited the Okinawa coast on the 24th of March, we felt sure this was going to be the end of the war, but by the 1st of April (D-day) the Japanese opposition had been mostly nonexistent, that would bring about a false sense of security for our troops. April 2nd, we were dive-bombed by a val. It missed us by twenty yards but it was close enough that we had no doubts as to the ruggedness of the campaign. When the attack occurred, we were proceeding to Radar Picket #1, a patrol station which lay north of Okinawa. This put us in a direct path of all approaching planes to the main island of Japan. We had patrolled our station for several hours without undo commotion, when at 0100 hours on April 3rd, the commander sounded General Quarters. Bogie enemy planes pulled in from the North. We opened fired on the first of eighteen planes which were to attack us that night. There were two twin-engine bombers a few minutes later at 0134 hours that attacked us, one on each side of the bow. One was diving so close that we could see him in the moonlight. He dropped a 500 lb bomb which blew a large portion of the fantail off, followed by fires and serious flooding aft. At 0150 hours, we shot another plane down. Two more dove on us, one passing over the mast and crashed close aboard to portside. With the port engine on fire we continued sporadic firing until about 0500 hours. Everything seemed to clear up and by 0535 hours, we secured from general quarters. We were all engaged and putting finishing touches on emergency repairs to the fantail and were followed by three days of air raids as we lay in Karama Retta, a little ray of islands while undergoing temporary repairs after which we left for Guam. There we had pieces of recreational facilities, ball fields and loads of fun. A far cry from the (coconut log) beer gardens of Ulithi and a Manus.

We saw our first white woman since leaving Pearl Harbor nearly a year before. By the time we left on April 30th, we lost most of the tenseness which had been built up by months of constant operations. We returned to a different Okinawa this time. The Japanese were concentrated at the airfields, ammo bunkers and destroyer Pickets that was a dangerous job. We fired on enemy planes several times in the next few weeks.

It was not until the 29th of May that we made another kill. Three Zekes (planes) attacked at dusk and we blew up two planes, and badly damaging the third. The third plane had a fierce tenacity, typical of the Japanese. He kept coming, while being hit again and again. The pilot seemed only to lose control in the last fifty yards of his suicide dive missing grand bomb #3 while crashing into the water on the starboard side of the ship. All this happened in approximately two minutes. The pilot made one the fastest and most fatal attacks so far against the Prichett. There wasn't a sailor aboard who could deny that he wasn't a thoroughly scared individual that evening.

The next two months were strictly wartime routine followed with numerous air raids. On June 22, it was officially announced that Okinawa was secured and we all breathed easier. On the 29th, our circuit duty continued and we were headed south of Okinawa. A slow flying bogie was picked up fifteen miles away. It was midnight with a brilliant moon overhead. The plane was very visible through binoculars. In spite of all our combined efforts, the plane maneuvered clear of our antiaircraft artillery and dove into U.S.S. Callahan's gun #3 causing a tremendous explosion in about fifteen minutes followed by another explosion as their ammunition magazines blew up. The Callahan stopped dead in the water, a helpless cripple. It was obvious that she was sinking even though the kamikaze had been an ancient wood biplane. We went alongside the Callahan, laying smoke to protect her and to render aid if required. She was abandoned, with the Prichard recovering about one hundred and fifty of her officers and men. We were being attacked by another plane of the same type. Although the pilot of the biplane was hit numerous times, he held his dive until brought down just portside of the ship. The ship was badly damaged by the explosion but no fire resulted. The two men by sticking with their guns and pouring lead into the plane until they were sure they had him were killed instantly by the explosions. It had been a tough night for all of us, but due to the excellent training and spirit of the crew along with the good condition of the ship, we had come out pretty much on top. We left Okinawa after the Atomic Bomb and Japan's declaration of surrender. We were on our way home and the war was over. What more could anyone ask. Seattle was finally sighted on the 31st of August. The mighty Prichett was home for good.

She and her crew had done their job well as evidenced by the thirteen enemy planes, five ships and three destroyer bombardments as she also had been recommended for a navy unit citation, while her officers and men received awards.

The following medals and commendations were awarded:
• Silver Star: 5
• Bronze Star: 12
• Purple Heart: 16
• Marine Corp Medal: 1
• Letter of Commendation: 4

A great deal of the ship's battle damage is still visible. Shrapnel holes still cover both stacks and numerous patches are visible throughout the ship.

I received the following awards:

• Purple Heart
• Pre Pearl Harbor
• American Theatre
• Philippines Liberation