Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
3:44 | He was carrying a letter from his girlfriend and the news wasn't good. That moment of inattention on the flight deck cost the pilot his life in a most grisly manner. Bob Reynolds describes that incident and other perils of life on an aircraft carrier.
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Why the Navy? Bob Reynolds says he didn't like ties and the Navy had open necks. That and the varied trades offered made him pick the Navy over the other services. Nearly his entire class from boot camp was assigned to the brand new carrier, the USS Franklin. He worked in the most hazardous area of the ship, the flight deck.
The kamikazes were everywhere, recalls Bob Reynolds. Three of them attacked his ship and two were fought off but the third got through. The ship was repaired and back at sea but, before long, it was the target of dive bombers.
Six years after the war, Bob Reynolds rejoined the Navy and once again served on aircraft carriers, this time as a Gunner's Mate. He got in his twenty years chasing Russian subs around the world in the Cold War.
