This Military Service Page was created/owned by
CWO4 Lou Collazo
to remember
Mandrackie, Andrew (Andy), SCPO.
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Contact Info
Last Address New York
Date of Passing Sep 10, 2005
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Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
He served in the United States Navy for 37 years retiring in 1980 as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. He saw action in 13 Naval battles during World War II including Guadalcanal, Cape Esperance, Savo Island, Munda, Southern Solomons, New Georgia, Rondova, Stanmore Plantation, Enogia Inlet, Bairoko Harbor, Rice Anchorage. He served on the U.S.S. Helena, his favorite ship during his career, which was torpedoed and later sank during the attack on Pearl Harbor as well as on the USS Roche in the Kula Gulf, where again the ship sank after being torpedoed. For both of these incidents, he was awarded two purple hearts. While in the Naval Reserves, Mandrackie worked as a printer for the Strawberry Hill Press in New York City. He was placed in charge of overseeing the USS Intrepid?s transport to New York City Harbor where it is now docked as a Naval Museum. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, carpentry and cabinet making. He was an avid history buff and enjoyed telling stories and answering questions about his war service. He did extensive historical research at West Point in regard to recreating the Naval Revolutionary War Uniforms as well as the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was a member of St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, Milford. He was a member of the NRA, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and American Legion and the Pearl Harbor Survivors. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years Helen (Dobson) Mandrackie in 2002.
Other Comments:
Andy was my recruiter in North Bergen, NJ. A great Sailor and friend. We will truly miss him. Fair Winds and Follwing Seas, Shipmate.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Guadalcanal Campaign (1942-43)
From Month/Year
August / 1942
To Month/Year
February / 1943
Description The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
On 7 August 1942, Allied forces, predominantly American, landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands with the objective of denying their use by the Japanese to threaten the supply and communication routes between the US, Australia, and New Zealand. The Allies also intended to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases to support a campaign to eventually capture or neutralize the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. The Allies overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese defenders, who had occupied the islands since May 1942, and captured Tulagi and Florida, as well as an airfield (later named Henderson Field) that was under construction on Guadalcanal. Powerful US naval forces supported the landings.
Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts between August and November 1942 to retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, seven large naval battles (five nighttime surface actions and two carrier battles), and continual, almost daily aerial battles culminated in the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November 1942, in which the last Japanese attempt to bombard Henderson Field from the sea and land with enough troops to retake it was defeated. In December 1942, the Japanese abandoned further efforts to retake Guadalcanal and evacuated their remaining forces by 7 February 1943 in the face of an offensive by the US Army's XIV Corps, conceding the island to the Allies.
The Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms victory by Allied forces over the Japanese in the Pacific theatre. The Japanese had reached the high-water mark of their conquests in the Pacific, and Guadalcanal marked the transition by the Allies from defensive operations to the strategic offensive in that theatre and the beginning of offensive operations, including the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Central Pacific campaigns, that resulted in Japan's eventual surrender and the end of World War II.
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