Vanderhoof, after a 50-year silence between the two, reminded Kernan of that horrible day, with fire around them, the ship listing and running in circles, while the Japanese continued to pound her with artillery.
Vanderhoof recalled Kernan and himself on the hangar deck of the sinking Hornet waiting to climb down the cargo net. For some reason, Kernan asked Vanderhoof if there was anything he wanted from his locker. He remembers saying to Kernan that he wouldn't go back to his locker for anything. But Kernan insisted on going back...and came back later with a pillow cover loaded with Vanderhoof's gear, including some personal memorabilia that Vanderhoof still cherishes today. And Kernan, to this day, does not remember why he thought it so important to rush back, below deck, on a sinking carrier to retrieve his friend's gear. An act of courage, honor, and commitment to a teammate that was pure instinct at the risk of his life, and yet he had forgotten about it.
The Heroism and Loss of Butch O'Hare
Kernan witnessed the death of Butch O'Hare, the Medal of Honor winner, after whom O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, is named. As a matter of fact, it was Kernan, flying as the...
carriers at sea when low-flying Japanese torpedo bombers, called Betty's, attacked at night. The Hellcats chased them off, but as they turned back toward the carriers, Kernan, in the Avenger, noticed an unknown aircraft slip in behind O'Hare's Hellcat.
Kernan fired. But the Japanese aircraft fired first, right down into the cockpit of O'Hare's aircraft. His Hellcat descended "gently" as it was later described and Kernan saw a grayish splash in the ocean below.
At first it was thought that perhaps Kernan had mistakenly shot this war hero down by accident. But it was later determined that he had not, and Kernan, for his efforts to save O'Hare, was awarded the Navy Cross.
"It greatly relieved the guilt that I carried about the possibility that I had hit the group commander (O'Hare) while firing at the Japanese intruder" (Kernan, 2007, p. xvi).
Bibliography
Kernan, a. (2007). Crossing the line: A bluejacket's oddyssey in World War II. New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press.
