Radioman Third Class, United States Naval Reserve
USS JOHNSTON (DD-557)
Fletcher-class destroyer, commissioned October 1943
Date of Enlistment: December 16, 1943 Home or Place of Enlistment: Boise, Idaho Missing in Action: October 25, 1944
On 25 October 1944, while serving with an escort carrier task force in support of the Leyte campaign, USS JOHNSTON and a few other destroyers and destroyer escorts valiantly attacked an overwhelmingly strong Japanese battleship and cruiser force during the Battle off Samar. Though she was lost in this action, along with most of her crew, USS JOHNSTON’S efforts were instrumental in saving most of the carriers and preventing the Japanese fleet from reaching the Leyte invasion area.
NAVY PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY Washington
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION to
TASK UNIT SEVENTY-SEVEN POINT FOUR POINT THREE, consisting of the U.S.S. FANSHAW BAY and VC-68; U.S.S. GAMBIER BAY and VC-10; U.S.S. KALININ BAY and VC-3; U.S.S. KITKUN BAY and VC-5; U.S.S. SAINT LO and VC-65; U.S.S. WHITE PLAINS and VC-4; U.S.S. HOEL, U.S.S. JOHNSTON, U.S.S. HEERMANN, U.S.S. SAMUEL B. ROBERTS, U.S.S. RAYMOND, U.S.S. DENNIS and U.S.S. JOHN C. BUTLER
for service as set forth in the following
CITATION: For extraordinary heroism in action against powerful units of the Japanese Fleet during the Battle off Samar, Philippines, October 25, 1944. Silhouetted against the dawn as the Central Japanese Force steamed through San Bernardino Strait towards Leyte Gulf, Task Unit 77.4.3 was suddenly taken under attack by hostile cruisers on its port hand, destroyers on the starboard and battleships from the rear. Quickly laying down a heavy smoke screen, the gallant ships of the Task Unit waged battle fiercely against the superior speed and fire power of the advancing enemy, swiftly launching and rearming aircraft and violently zigzagging in protection of vessels stricken by hostile armor-piercing shells, anti-personnel projectiles and suicide bombers. With one carrier of the group sunk, others badly damaged and squadron aircraft courageously coordinating in the attacks by making dry runs over the enemy Fleet as the Japanese relentlessly closed in for the kill, two of the Unit's valiant destroyers and one destroyer escort charged the battleships point-blank and, expending their last torpedoes in desperate defense of the entire group, went down under the enemy's heavy shells as a climax to two and one half hours of sustained and furious combat. The courageous determination and the superb teamwork of the officers and men who fought the embarked planes and who manned the ships of Task Unit 77.4.3 were instrumental in effecting the retirement of a hostile force threatening our Leyte invasion operations and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.