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As long as we have recorded history men have sailed the seas. Boats were originally made of reed or wood, but in the middle 1800's steel began to appear on ships. Steel and iron may make ships tougher, but it is the sailors who man a ship that truly make it hard as steel. While we may bandy about names of ships, it is the sailors who served that brought valor to their ship. Many ships have shown perserverence and strength beyond their years simply because the sailors would not have it any other way. The WARD was one such ship. Front-line forces are often the latest and greatest a nation can offer. But the United States' entry into World War Two was not fought by a sleek new fighter or battleship, but rather by an old destroyer from the last war crewed by recently called-up reservists from Minnesota. The USS Ward, DD-139, named after a Civil War hero was the first to fight in the Pacific just minutes before the Pearl Harbor air raid when she attacked and sunk a Japanese midget submarine. By a strange twist of fate the Ward was sunk three years to the day later at Ormoc bay on Leyte after being hit by a twin-engined Japanese Kamikaze bomber. In the three years between she earned eleven battle stars in engagements all over the South Pacific. Even in her death the Ward was a lucky ship in a sense, for she never lost a man in a fight; and in her entire career only one sailor died while serving on her when he was swept overboard and lost in a storm. This site attempts to gather knowledge about this proud ship and her crew into one area and to honor the memories of their efforts and sacrifices. Few served on the Ward; for she was a small ship. Few of those are alive today. We hope to learn from them and remember them for their valiant efforts in a war long-distant to the general population that they served and protected. |
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