Edward F. Willi
World War II
Operating out of Guadacanal, we took part in the landing at the island of Rendova and the following battle of Kula Gulf where we sank a Japanese cruiser and set two Japanese destroyers on fire. We rescued 456 men from the crusier, USS Helena, which had been torpedoed by the Japanese. One of the men we rescued that night, Bill Henderson, is a member of our own SIRS 35. He has written a book about the rescue.
During the war there was a popular radio show called "First Line" which was sponsord by Wrigley Gum. Each week it told of famous battles during WWII. If interested, I have a 28 minute audio tape of the landing and following Kula Gulf battle and rescue featured on the radio program.