The Japanese being badly wounded needed to assess and repair the damage we had inflicted upon them. These islands, Saigon, Hong Kong and Canton, were close enough to their homelands to do so. Here the Japanese had ruled the sea and were safe.

     We received word that the Japanese could be found off of these islands. We were part of the task force sent to crumble the rock of safety the Japanese stood upon. We decided to go shopping; shopping for a Japanese fleet.

     The first thing we spotted was a Chinese junk. It was several hundred miles off shore. We thought it may be a look out. The little boat did not even have a radio on board, so we let him go.

     All the big aircraft carriers were launching their airplanes to look for targets. Their contacts were so few that they were overjoyed to even find a cargo ship to shoot. It began to look like we had made a trip for nothing.

     Nature decided to show us who owned the ocean. We were caught in the worst typhoon I ever saw. It was the largest natural disaster to strike a navy combat group in history. The waves were so high that they looked like the Rocky Mountains. We took a fifty four degree roll which might have been a record. Several of our much larger ships were badly damaged. Three destroyers were sunk. We picked up a couple of men from one of them. The only reason they has gotten off was because they were on the flying bridge, and when their ship capsized they were thrown clear.

     We returned to our home base of Ulithi on Christmas Eve. Even this place looked good compared to where we had been. When we returned we had Christmas mail awaiting us. I think the only thing that kept us going was the wonderful letters from family and friends. Of course all of our outgoing mail was censored. I don't know why. Tokyo Rose seemed to always know where we were. This was the second birthday I had spent out here in combat. My Christmas birthday must have had some meaning. I guess I am being spared for something. Many of my comrades had died and I was still alive. Thank you Lord.