my Grandpa Chester Honnold was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy during WWII, serving as Chief Navigator on the escort carrier USS Saginaw Bay.
There are not many photos easily accessible of the Saginaw Bay, but here are a few I've found:
the floating home of around 900 sailors, including 1 Honnold.
every time I see pictures of the Saginaw, I marvel at how big it is. How it was a huge floating target out there in the middle of the Pacific. How it maneuvered thru all sorts of aircraft fire and survived to the end of the war.
And, as I look at these pictures, I think about Papa......
roaming the corridors.
eating in the mess deck.
meeting with his commanding officer.
walking out amongst the planes.
hanging out in the rec room, chatting it up with his shipmates.
working on the bridge, using the stars to navigate thru the dark waters of moonless nights.
He likely knew all the in's, out's, up's and down's of that ship.
The USS Saginaw Bay was sent to scrap in 1959. Papa Honnold passed away 40 years beyond that.
2 pieces of WWII history, and the stories they carried.... gone but not forgotten.
Out for now.....
Matt