HONORING THE FALLEN
73 years later, World War II sailor still honors lost shipmates
STILLWATER, N.Y. » For Armand Jolly, who turns 96 on Sunday, the memories are as real now as they were 73 years ago when his ship, the USS Emmons, was sunk by five Japanese kamikaze planes, claiming 60 American sailors’ lives.
Jolly, a gunner’s mate, suffered burns to his hands and face, and leaped overboard into the oily waters when the crew was ordered to abandon ship. He and family members of other shipmates gathered Friday for a memorial service at Saratoga National Cemetery, to honor those who paid the supreme sacrifice aboard ship at Okinawa on April 6, 1945, during World War II.
“I just want people to remember that they gave their lives for our freedom,” said Jolly, of Pomfret, Ct. “We fought wars on two fronts. It was hard, but we did it. We had to. We’re still here, I am anyway.”
The USS Emmons was a destroyer, later converted to a destroyer minesweeper, based out of Boston. Crew and family mem-
bers hold weekend-long reunions each year at different locations throughout the Northeast. This year they’re staying at Hyatt Place in Malta, where a Saturday night banquet is planned.
On Friday, they also toured Saratoga National Historical Park before going to the cemetery.
Jolly isn’t the only surviving USS Emmons shipmate, but he’s the only one able to attend this weekend’s gathering, joined by his son and daughter-in-law, Dennis and Donna Jolly; and granddaughter, Jessica Ciparelli, who works to preserve the ship’s heritage and that of its heroic crew members.
Launched by Bath Iron Works Corp., in Maine, the ship was commissioned on Dec. 5, 1941, two days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. However, most of her time during early stages of the war was spent up and down the East Coast, before heading to Europe in 1944 where she took part in the Invasion of Normandy by bombarding German positions above the beaches.
Later that year, after returning to Boston, the USS Emmons was converted to a high-speed destroyer minesweeper and sent to the Pacific for the Invasion of Okinawa, charged with clearing its waters so assault craft could reach land. In addition to the 60 sailors who perished, another 77 were injured.
Damaged and with raging uncontrolled fires, the USS Emmons was ordered sunk the morning after she was attacked.
During ceremonies the USS Saratoga (CV-3) ship’s bell, which hangs outside the cemetery office, was tolled six times – once for each of the four USS Emmons shipmates and two family members that have passed away in the past year.
Everyone who served on the USS Emmons at the time she was attacked received a Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon.
It says the ship’s guns fought “valiantly against a group of Japanese suicide planes striking in force on April 6, and downing six of the attackers before five others crashed her in rapid succession, killing or wounding many personnel and inflicting damage which necessitated her sinking. By her own aggressiveness and the courage and skill of her officers and men, the U.S.S. Emmons achieved a record of gallantry in combat reflecting the highest credit upon herself and the United States Naval Service.”
The USS Emmons also earned five battle stars.
“We must never forget the sacrifices made by these brave, courageous men,” said Tom Hoffman, whose father, Ed, was a quartermaster on the ship.
Jolly, who stayed afloat without a life vest, was rescued from the sea by another boat, and taken to a hospital ship. From there, he recuperated in Guam before coming home to the U.S.
Japan formally surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945, five months after the USS Emmons was lost.
“I was in Vallejo, Ca. when the war ended. Bread and cheese, that’s what we had to eat. Of course, we had a few beers, too,” he said smiling.