the+Battle+of+Coral+Sea+blk2

Name: John Klieser Birth date: 1920 Kids: 1 (boy, 2) Occupation: U.S. Soldier on aircraft carrier Status: married Hometown: Los Angelas, CA Age: 22 http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/coralsea/coralsea.htm Hello, I'm John and am presently on the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. I woke up at 5:30 am. about a month ago on the first of May. after breakfast that morning my commander and captain told us that Japan is trying to capture Port Moresby, located on New Guinea's southeastern coast (Naval, 1). We decoded the Japanese naval code and knew exacly where they were attacking. Admiral Chester Nimitz and Douglas MacArthur both ordered us to make haste and get there as soon as possable (Ask, 1). On May 3rd we got there to find that the Japs were there too. At that moment, when we saw those aircraft of the enemy, we mounted up the planes as fast as we could and flew them to destroy them. This aireal attack continued going baack and forth for 5 days. The Japs must have sent all or most of their carriers there. One after the other planes went down on both sides and some carriers fell. On May 7th early in the morning i decide to hop in a plane myself to help out. I mounted the bombs on myself and latched them on. After that i hopped in the pilot seat and strapped in then slid the window to close the cockpit. The propellers roared as i left the landing strip and headed into the air. A huge black object in the corner of my eye got my attention. I could easily see that it wasn't ours so i moved in for the kill. A bullet came from behind me and hit one of my propellors and i was headed down. (Text) By luck my plane drifted to the enemy ship. "Come on, a little closer." I told myself. Just as I was directly above the carrier I pushed the release button and sent the bombs home. As they fell i tried to steer the plane away from the ship so when it exploded the debris didn't hit me. My propellor was on fire when I hit the water. The glass cockpit I was in shattered on impact and some of the glass hit my face. Bloodied up i swam out and towards my carrier. To see the damage I did I looked behind me and saw the name of the ship, the //Shoho//, as it sunk below the waves in a heap of metal and flames(Navy, 1) On May 8th, after a long day of rest, I was awoken by an explosion. When I got on deck i saw that a torpedo blew up the front of the deck causeing an airplane to fall into the water. Asiren was sounded and our commander was heard over the loud speaker, "Abandon ship, abandon ship!" All the crew that was left on the ship jumpped into the water and swam over to the USS Hammann. After that day the Japs retreated and we won that battle (Navy, 1).

NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER, July 25, 2000, May 6, 2001. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_coral_sea.htm. American History text book.