WW II artifact

[RonB]

My Dad served in the Pacific during WW II. His ship was hit by a Kamikaze but survived. At some point after the attack, the Kamikaze's propellers were sliced into ~ 1/2" pieces - like slicing steaks from a rib roast. These pieces were engraved and given to crew members. My Dad, Lt (jg) Arthur L Benson passed his down to me.

Our son was visiting this past weekend and I asked if he wanted it. He said yes, and took it with him when he flew back to Austin TX. I took a few photos of it before he packed it away:


This side sez:
USS St George
1 "Tony" Kamikaze
May 1945
Keito Reto, Okinawa Shina


This side sez:
Lt(jg)Arthur L Benson

[Mr. Bones]

Very Cool, literally a slice of a pivotal, momentous, an historical event!

My Pa served in th Pacific, also, but was Army SRI, very highly classified stuff, then; intercept, decrypt Japanese code, triangulate originatin locations via ADF...

My Da give my oldest brother a bracelet he fashioned out of aluminium skin, from a Zero that was shot down on Guam...

[Frozen Smoke]

Incredible! I would have had a hard time parting with that.

[Troutman]

The greatest generation

[Corvus]

What a good story, thanks for sharing. Awesome heirloom and so glad your son is interested in keeping it safe.

[Skip]

That's fantastic! Great that is stays in your Family too!

[Rfhd69]

What an incredible piece of history representing your Dad’s service to our great country! Awesome family heirloom. God bless our veterans!!

[Spinaker]

Wow!! This is amazing! I can't even imagine serving in the pacific during that time.

[Bighorn Dave]

A stark reminder of how we should respect and honor those that fought for our rights. This story is fantastic but the true meaning of it all for me is the bravery of those during that time that counts the most. My dad served in WWII but in the European theater, France and Germany mostly. He died at the young age of 37 and before I was old enough to understand, much less the desire to know more of his story. If only we could go back in time. You are so lucky to have had that information and the family heirloom to go with it.

[jfmorris]

Very very cool item to pass on to your son, and hopefully he will pass it on to his, with the story of his grandfather (and great grandfather for his son).

[CaptainMike]

Wonderful heirloom from a very challenging time. A friend recently showed me a gold watch his Dad carried. It was given to him by a family in Belgium near the end of WWII and there was a heroic/tragic story that went with it. Man, I have a hard time fathoming what you combat vets endured. God bless you all.