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Casualty Info
Home Town Botetourt County, VA
Last Address 803 10th St Radford, VA
Casualty Date Apr 16, 1945
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Buried at Sea, Pacific Ocean
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
On 1 April 1944, USS Bryant (DD-665) started two weeks of radar picket duty. Her relatively quiet patrols contrasted with the grim experiences of destroyers on station elsewhere. On 16 April, however, her luck changed. That morning, the Japanese launched a 165-plane kamikaze mission, the third of 10 kikusui or "floating chrysanthemum" attacks launched during the Okinawa campaign. Laffey suffered the first and most intense attack of the day, being struck by no less than six kamikazes, four bombs, and numerous near misses. Bryant received word that Laffey required assistance and rushed to aid her. After turning back sporadic attacks, she found herself the target of a coordinated attack by six enemy planes. First, three "Zeke" fighters closed the warship in a shallow glide. Her port batteries dispatched one, and the CAP splashed another; but the third attacker, though hit repeatedly and trailing smoke, made it through and crashed into Bryant just below the bridge near the main radio room. A bomb from the kamikaze then exploded, engulfing the entire bridge in flames and doing major damage to communication, fire-control and radar equipment. Damage control teams, standing by to assist Laffey, extinguished the major fires within a couple of minutes and soon the wounded destroyer was making 23 knots (43 km/h). Still, despite the prompt response, the attack exacted a heavy toll. Of her crew, 34 men died and 33 were wounded.
S1c Baber was among those killed. He was buried at sea.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 8358740
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
Description The Battle of Surigao Strait took place here on October 25, 1944, when the "cross the T" incident took place as American battleships fire their guns over Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura's Southern Force; nearly all of which, including the battleships Yamashiro and Fusi and others were sunk. Admiral Nishimura was killed in action when his flagship Yamashiro sank following actions against Jesse B. Oldendorf's battleships, all but one of which had been at Pearl Harbor.