Jack Adams
I was assigned to the heavy cruiser Chicago.
I received my parents' permission and went into the Navy on June 3, 1941.
I passed a typing test and became a member of the staff of Rear Adm. Newton.
I finally returned to the States in the spring of 1944 and finished out my service at the Sub Chaser Training Center in Miami, Fla., in October 1945.
I also served on the staffs of Rear Adm. DeWitt C. Ramsay and Rear Adm. Frederick C. Sherman aboard the carriers Saratoga and Bunker Hill.
However, during those months the airmen and ship crews of the U.S. Navy learned the lessons we needed to win the Battle of Midway.
Everybody knew that I could type pretty well.
Chicago's buoy was a couple of hundred yards astern of Arizona, and I was saddened to look at her.
California was sunk in the mud, with water up to her main deck. Oklahoma had capsized. West Virginia was also sunk, with her deck awash. Arizona was blasted into bits. Her main mast and bridge were bent forward.
Another nice thing was that I would type out letters home for the admiral's stewards. They would then feed me the same food the admiral ate.
After the Battle of Midway there was a week in a rest camp at Pearl Harbor.
A chief petty officer taught me shorthand, which got me promoted to yeoman first class.