Great story, Ed!

On the other hand, the Navy worked a minor miracle on my Dad's records. He was a member of the Air Group aboard the USS Bunker Hill when it was hit and set on fire by a kamikaze off Okinawa. The ship's company managed to nurse the severely damaged carrier back to the States, while the air crews were transferred to another carrier, USS Cowpens. Nearly a year later, after my dad had transitioned to PBYs, stationed at Alameda Naval Air Station, a yeoman handed him a package containing personal items from his old locker on the Bunker Hill. His service record book, letters, books, medals, etc., were all intact. Included was his Bluejackets Manual that he was issued in boot camp. He gave it to me shortly before his death in 2013. It's a treasured item of family history that I intend to pass on to my grandsons, along with a narrative I intend to write, documenting its surviving a kamikaze attack, and following my dad all over the Pacific for a year before finally being reunited with him.