Feb. 20, 2019

Osmond Kelly Ingram

Osmond Kelly Ingram was born in Oneonta, Alabama, a small town north of Birmingham, on Aug. 4, 1887. His father, Robert, and his mother, Naomi, were both born in Tennessee but moved to south to Alabama with their growing family. Robert Ingram was a local preacher at a Methodist and Episcopal church, as well as a sergeant in the U.S. Army. Growing

Feb. 20, 2019

Wasp Sailor Survives Sinking

Don Cruse of El Paso joined the Navy in July 1938, at the age of 17, wanting to see more of the world than the vast landscape of Texas, eventually experiencing the Navy life in the crew of a destroyer, sleeping in a hammock, and using one bucket of water a day to wash both his working uniform and himself. He recalled being mesmerized at the time by

Feb. 15, 2019

Lessons in Leadership: Stephen Decatur

Editor's note: "Why We Do What We Do" is an initiative CNO Richardson asked the Naval History and Heritage Command to help share with the fleet. Each month, our historians will dissect a seminal moment in our Navy's past and then highlight the lessons we learned. The purpose, is to ground today's Sailors in their history and heritage by explaining

Feb. 13, 2019

The End of Hornet - Part 3

As a 19-year-old seaman who had been in the Navy for about a year and a half, Richard Nowatzki's ship USS Hornet (CV 8) was mortally wounded in the intense World War II Battle of Santa Cruz Islands.In this first-hand account, from his book Memoirs of a Navy Major, Nowatzki shares his experiences in the extraordinarily brutal and dangerous

Feb. 13, 2019

The End of Hornet - Part 2

As a 19-year-old seaman who had been in the Navy for about a year and a half, Richard Nowatzki's ship USS Hornet (CV 8) was mortally wounded in the intense World War II Battle of Santa Cruz Islands.In this first-hand account, from his book Memoirs of a Navy Major, Nowatzki shares his experiences in the extraordinarily brutal and dangerous

Feb. 13, 2019

The End of Hornet - Part 1

As a 19-year-old seaman who had been in the Navy for about a year and a half, Richard Nowatzki's ship USS Hornet (CV 8) was mortally wounded in the intense World War II Battle of Santa Cruz Islands.In this first-hand account, from his book Memoirs of a Navy Major, Nowatzki shares his experiences in the extraordinarily brutal and dangerous

Feb. 8, 2019

An Artist's View of USS Hornet

During World War II war correspondents spanned the globe to cover its pivotal events. Their proximity to the action brought them up close and personal with the hazards faced by those in uniform. Some like Walter Cronkite flew on bombing missions, while Ernie Pyle's dispatches from the front-illuminated the experience of the American G.I. for those

Jan. 28, 2019

The First Test of an Independent Carrier Task Force

Editor's note: "Why We Do What We Do" is an initiative CNO Richardson asked the Naval History and Heritage Command to help share with the fleet. Each month, our historians will dissect a seminal moment in our Navy's past and then highlight the lessons we learned. The purpose, is to ground today's Sailors in their history and heritage by explaining

Jan. 23, 2019

5 Things to Know: The Shared Pacific Umbilical of USS Monsoor & USS Missouri

On Saturday, January 26th the Navy will commission its newest Zumwalt-class destroyer, the USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), at 10:00 a.m. at Naval Air Station North Island. A little further West in the Pacific, organizers are commemorating the 75th anniversary of the January 1944 launch of USS Missouri (BB 63) in the waters of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Jan. 22, 2019

A Portrait of HM2 Bobby Ray, Heroic "Doc" of Liberty Bridge

In the early morning of March 19, 1969, a Marine combat base at Phu Loc 6 near An Hoa, Vietnam, became the scene of a surprise enemy attack. As the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) infiltrated the camp's barbed wire perimeter, a 24-year old corpsman named Bobby Ray charged into the melee to render emergency aid to the mounting casualties. He would even