World War II Honoree

John Francis Jeff Edwards

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Vinita, Oklahoma

Honored By

Robert S. Cox

SERVED WITH THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC), A U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM TO PROVIDE TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT, BEFORE THE WAR. HE WORKED, ALONG WITH 3 BROTHERS BUILDING BRIDGES, PARKS, AND ROADS BEFORE JOINING THE U.S. NAVY. AFTER ENTERING MILITARY SERVICE, SERVED INITIALLY IN THE AMERICAN THEATER AND THEN OVERSEAS IN THE ASIATIC-PACIFIC THEATER ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS HORNET (CV-8), NICKNAMED THE ‘FIGHTING LADY.’ HIS BATTLE STATION WAS AS A CREW MEMBER ON ANTIAIRCRAFT GUNS. USS HORNET DEPARTED NORFOLK, VIRGINIA ON FEBRUARY 2, 1942, AND ONCE AT SEA, CONDUCTED EXPERIMENTAL LAUNCHES OF ARMY AIR FORCES (AAF) B-25 ‘MITCHELL’ MEDIUM BOMBER AIRCRAFT. ON MARCH 4, 1942, THE CARRIER SAILED FROM NORFOLK FOR THE WEST COAST VIA THE PANAMA CANAL, ARRIVING AT THE NAVAL AIR STATION ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA ON MARCH 20, 1942. ON APRIL 1, 1942, THE CARRIER LOADED ABOARD THE FLIGHT DECK, 16 AAF B-25 AIRCRAFT, AND OFFICER AND ENLISTED CREW. THE CARRIER DEPARTED ALAMEDA ON APRIL 2, 1942, FOR WHAT BECAME FAMOUSLY KNOWN AS THE ‘DOOLITTLE BOMBING RAID’ ON JAPAN. THIS WAS THE FIRST BOMBING RAID ON JAPAN, LED BY AAF LIEUTENANT COLONEL JIMMIE DOOLITTLE ON APRIL 18, 1942, FROM THE DECK OF USS HORNET. HIS SHIP PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PACIFIC. CARRIER AIRCRAFT ATTACKED AND HEAVILY DAMAGED A JAPANESE HEAVY CRUISER ON JUNE 6, 1942, TO END ONE OF THE MOST DECISIVE NAVAL BATTLES IN HISTORY. CV-8 TOOK PART IN THE CAPTURE AND DEFENSE OF GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS FROM AUGUST TO OCTOBER 24, 1942. CARRIER AIRCRAFT PROVIDED AIR COVER OVER THE SOLOMON ISLANDS TO PROTECT SEA APPROACHES TO GUADALCANAL. HIS CARRIER NEXT SAILED TO INTERCEPT A JAPANESE NAVAL FORCE ADVANCING TOWARD GUADALCANAL. ON OCTOBER 26, 1942, USS HORNET WAS OPERATING JUST NORTH OF THE SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS, IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS, WHEN JAPANESE SEARCH AIRCRAFT FOUND THE AMERICAN MAIN FLEET. WITHIN TEN MINUTES, HIS WARSHIP WAS HIT BY SOME 5 BOMBS AND TWO TORPEDOES, AND SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE FROM TWO JAPANESE ‘VAL’ DIVE BOMBERS THAT CRASHED INTO HER. HORNET LOST PROPULSION POWER AND WAS DEAD IN THE WATER. AFTER HE AND MOST OF THE CREW WAS TRANSFERRED FROM THE SHIP AND TAKEN ABOARD NEARBY DESTROYERS, A DAMAGE CONTROL PARTY PUT OUT THE FIRES AND REPAIRED SOME OF THE DAMAGE. LATER THAT AFTERNOON, THE SHIP WAS ATTACKED AGAIN BY JAPANESE TORPEDO PLANES AND FATALLY HIT BY ANOTHER TORPEDO AND TWO BOMBS. THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER WAS ABANDONED AND U.S. NAVY DESTROYERS TRIED IN VAIN TO SCUTTLE THE VESSEL. JAPANESE DESTROYERS APPROACHED AS U.S. NAVY FORCES RETIRED AND FIRED 4 TORPEDOES INTO THE FLAMING HULK. USS HORNET SANK EARLY THE NEXT MORNING ON OCTOBER 27, 1942, ONE YEAR AND SEVEN DAYS AFTER BEING COMMISSIONED; A CASUALTY OF THE BATTLE OF THE SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS. SOME 140 OF HIS SHIPMATES WERE KILLED DURING THE ENGAGEMENT. AWARDED THE COMBAT ACTION RIBBON, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL WITH ‘FLEET’ CLASP, AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL, AND WWII VICTORY MEDAL. HONORABLY DISCHARGED AFTER THE WAR ENDED AND ISSUED THE WWII HONORABLE DISCHARGE LAPEL PIN.