<< Back

Forward >>

Marion Gray

VT5 crew member Ordnance Gunner 3rd Class Marion Gray was also happy to receive my call and to relate what had happened on March 19, 1945, from his point of view.

He had been awake almost the entire night with all the calls to General Quarters to deal with hostile aircraft that wanted to attack the Task Force. He was in Lt. Carr's half of the squadron, which was not going to take off until noon, so he was finally given leave to get some sleep.

Mr. Gray was awakened by the Franklin's being hit; he was tossed out of his top bunk.

I must confess that I do not recall the rest of Mr. Gray's story about how he survived that day. I listened but I did not take notes. The purpose of my calling was to learn about what happened to my father; after I knew that Mr. Gray had not seen his skipper the entire day, I listened politely to his story, but my pen was idle. I asked him questions about it, but I heard nothing very different from the stories of danger and survival that I'd already heard several times. Like all the other men on the Franklin that day, though, Mr. Gray is a hero.

In each interview I had with men on the lists that Jim Stuart had provided me, I first listened to the story of the terrible events of March 19, from the viewpoint of the survivor. If there was anything in the story about my father, I scribbled furiously and probed for further information. Also, if the story had unusual details, I took careful notes.

After hearing the survival story from each of the men, I would ask him if he could recall impressions of his skipper in life. Anecdotes about my father as a living person, as a real man, are very important to me, to balance the image I've always had of him as a heroic ghost.

Mr. Gray shared with me the following anecdote:

They had been on their way from Hawaii to Ulithi Atoll in late February. Artillery men were doing rocket practice against a sled being towed by the ship. Mr. Gray, a 20-year-old green recruit, was completely frightened by all the rockets flying around.

On the following day, Lt. Comdr. Edmands addressed the non-coms: "You inexperienced lads-- what did you think about what you saw yesterday?"

Mr. Gray stood forward and admitted that the exercise "scared the daylights out of me."

His summary comment on Ace: "one of the best commanders I ever ran into."

Later Mr. Gray sent me this picture of his Avenger torpedo plane, piloted by Russell Smith. Mr. Gray is facing the rear in the bubble turret. Not shown is the radio man, Harold Smith. (Click the picture to enlarge it.)

Continue with the narrative