FOX, Jerome “Jake” D. (b. 1925) | Oral History

FOX, Jerome “Jake” D. (b. 1925)

Military Service: U.S. Navy WWII Veteran

Oral Histories

His experiences as an OS2U Kingfisher gunner aboard the cruiser USS Detroit in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His youth on a ranch in West Texas; his decision to enlist in the Navy, June, 1943; boot camp at San Diego, California, 1943; aerial gunner school at Naval Air Station, Modesto, California, 1943; assignment to the OS2U crew aboard the Detroit, February, 1944; patrol duty in the Aleutian Islands, 1944; bombardment of the Kurile Islands, June, 1944, as part of Task Force 94; South American patrol, July-December, 1944; shipboard routine; assignment to the Central Pacific Theater as an escort for the Tanker Division in refueling carrier battle groups, 1945; kamikaze attacks; operations off Iwo Jima and Okinawa, 1945; the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945; his postwar activities.
Date of Interview: August 21, 2003

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