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Mr. Gallagher: Ed Metzler: Mr. Gallagher: Ed Metzler: Mr. Gallagher: Ed Metzler: Mr. Gallagher: Ed Metzler: Mr. Gallagher: Ed Metzler: Mr. Gallagher: Ed Metzler: Mr. Gallagher: Ed Metzler: Mr. Gallagher:
Ed Metzler: Mr. Gallagher: Ed Metzler:
... of the plane. I actually learned to shoot. Using a cam, you could shoot a bullet right through the blades of the ... of the plane as it ... as it rotated. Okay. Get the sequence right. Didn't have to do that. So, you graduated then for Ordnance School? Graduated in early May, and they ... And what ... then what happened? ... and they ... and they shipped me out going to the west coast for my next assignment which I didn't really know at the time what it was going to be. And So, you didn't know which ship you were going to be assigned to? Either a ship or land, air station ... Uh hum. ... whatsoever. And ... but we weren't there too ... some of us. There were ... there were a hundred, I think maybe, hundred ten or so graduates of that class that had boarded the train and ... and spent about three to four days traveling to the west coast. That's a long run. Just to San Diego. Yeah (chuckles). Went to the naval air station at San Diego, and in ... in the temporary ... temporary housing barracks. And it wasn't long ... it was about five days before somebody told me that my name was ... was on this list of people that were assigned to the [USS] Franklin which was tied up at a near ... at a nearby dock,
had just come from the east coast, and finishing off with what they needed. The ship shipped out to the Pacific. So, the ... so, the ship hadn't really gone out to the Pacific yet. She was still (unintelligible). They ... they came from the east coast ... Right.
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Walter Gallagher. Gallagher joined the Navy after quitting high school and trained in aviation ordnance. In May, 1944 he was assigned to USS Franklin (CV-13) where he would arm dive bombers. Gallagher describes an injury he sustained while loading bombs as well as various enemy attacks on the Franklin, including a kamikaze. He was aboard when the Japanese bombed the Franklin in March, 1945. Gallagher recalls the attack and was ordered to transfer to USS Santa Fe (CL-60). From there, Gallagher spent six months at Hawaii before going back to the US.
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Gallagher, Walter.Oral History Interview with Walter Gallagher, July 21, 2022,
text,
August 30, 2022;
Fredericksburg, Texas.
(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1603101/m1/6/:
accessed July 16, 2024),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu;
crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.