229015 B'swain C. C. McAmis American Navy USS Boise My father was stationed on the USS Boise from 1940 until after the Battle of Cape Esperance. He was a talker in the No 5 powder magazine during the battle. As a boatswain he helped remove and wrap the bodies of the men killed in the forward part of the ship after the battle.
He almost ended up being stuck in the Phillipines at the outbreak of the war because he and a buddy jumped ship on 7th December 1941. He had two fake liberty cards. The next morning when they got to the dock the ship was getting under way. They were able to talk one of the men manning the liberty boats to run them out to the ship. They got there and jumped on the gangway as it was being pulled up and the ship was leaving the harbour.
The war was on. He said that the feeling on board was that they would sink the Jap "rowboat" navy in two weeks. As he said later, it took a little longer than we thought.
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