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Lieut. Archie R. Fields Tells of Daring Battle
The following article appeared in the
Mountain Eagle newspaper on March 18, 1943
The stories of men in action and the horrors or modern
warfare are never brought home so closely to us as when heard from the
lips of one of our own acquaintance.
This story comes from Lt. Archie Reid Fields who was on
the Destroyer USS DeHaven DD-469. "We were underway on a sunny afternoon
in the Solomons area when air raid alert was sounded; crews immediately
went to battle stations. Jap planes appeared a formation of dive bombers
at low level and two-motored bombers at high level. The dive bombers at
high level plunged at the DeHaven and attacked in succession, in spite of
heavy defensive fire. Meanwhile, defending Marine Corps fighters were
engaging the larger formations at high altitude. In about 10 minutes of
furious fighting, all the attacking Jap planes were shot down, but not
before several direct hits by large bombs were made on the ship.
The ship sank rapidly trapping a number of officers and
men below decks.
Lt. Fields slipped into the water and swam through the
oily waters 100 feet to a raft. Through wounded in the foot and in great
danger Lt. Fields was conscious of the loss of his academy ring which
slipped from his fingers as he swam through the oily waters. Both Japs and
American men were drowning side by side. Lt. Fields talked to a survivor
who saw a Jap flyer going under water and as his life slipped away he
shook his fist in bitter hatred of the Americans.
Lt. Fields observed that the Japs are fearless of death,
daring, and will take a chance from which they have no hope of escape in
order to destroy the enemy.
After a two weeks leave, Lt. Fields will go to Dallas.,
Texas for two months primary pilot training. Later he will report for duty
a Pensacola, Florida, to receive training in the Naval Air Corps. Lt.
Fields says he hopes in his next engagement to repay the Jap, with bombs,
for the loss of his ship and shipmates.
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