The Chaplain’s Corner
by Dan Doyle
Meet The Man Who Survived The Kamikaze Attacks Below Deck On The USS Bunker Hill. They were the greatest generation, indeed.
Francois Joseph Richer was a regular guy, a teenager from New Bedford, MA when the WWII broke out. Like so many of his peers he entered the Navy to join the cause. He went through boot camp at Newport, RI and was trained to be a Water Tender, producing the steam to drive the huge turbine engines of the ships of that era. After training he was assigned to the aircraft carrier, USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) and he served aboard that mighty ship for his entire enlistment. I had the chance to interview him personally at his home in Carson City, NV recently, and this is his story, and the story of the Bunker Hill, which was hit by two kamikaze fighter while she was supporting the battle for Okinawa.
Read the entire account of Richer’s experience on The Veterans Site.com at: http://blog.theveteranssite.com/frank-richer/
This is the first of what will be an ongoing series from Chaplain Dan Doyle’s Veterans Blog.