heart of the Seven Valleys - Callaway Courier

Page 6—Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, The Callaway Courier
Medal comes to war vet 68 years later
Sailor aboard ship
during the liberation
A little more than 68 years
after the Battle of Leyte Gulf
in World War II, a Machinist
Mate on the USS California
was recognized for his role in
helping to liberate the Philippines
from the Japanese.
That mate, Dave DeLong
received the Philippine Republic
Presidential Citation
Unit Badge and the Philippine
Liberation Medal from the
Philippines Office of Veterans
Affairs in the mail on Dec. 21.
DeLong was serving on
the California, a part of the
invasion force landing at
Leyte to take back the island
nation from the Japanese.
Recognition for battles that liberated
the Philippines.
Japan sent a three-prong
naval task force to throw the
American fleet back thereby
leaving the troops on the
ground isolated. It almost
worked but superior U.S.
naval power and numbers
shattered the Japanese fleet
in a series of engagements in
October 1944.
DeLong’s ship was sunk
in the attack on Pearl Harbor,
raised, refitted and put
back into action. He was
assigned to the ship following
the sinking of his first berth
on the USS Yorktown which
was bombed and torpedoed
during the Battle of Midway.
Four weeks later he was helping
to refit his new berth.
At Leyte, the California
was part of task force commanded
by Rear Admiral
Jesse B. Oldendorf, with six
old slow battleships (five of
which had been sunk or damaged
at Pearl Harbor), four
heavy and four light cruisers,
and 26 destroyers. The force
was charged with the task of
stopping the Japanese Southern
Force expected to pass
through Surigao Strait.
The ships and sailors were
ready for the Japanese commanded
by Admiral Nishimira
as they entered the strait
with the intention of sneaking
around to trap and attack the
fleet at Leyte.
“We ambushed them,” De-
Long said. “They didn’t know
we were there. The reason
they were there was because
they had another task force
coming down from the north
and they were going to trap us
in the Leyte Gulf.”
While the California was in
the Gulf as forces cleaned up
after the successful invasion,
DeLong said the Japanese
were sending in a scout plane,
the men came to call “Check
Point Charlie,” every evening
just before dark to check on
the American fleet’s status.
His task force waited for the
scout plane to come and go
and then steamed out in the
night for Sirigao Strait as the
Americans knew the Japanese
were coming.
The Japanese were first
attacked about 11 p.m.,
on Oct. 24 by PT Boats firing
torpedoes while reporting
back the position of the enemy
to U.S. commanders. As
the Japanese force advanced
into the strait, it came under
a devastating torpedo attack
by U.S. Destroyers from both
sides of the strait.
The American destroyer
attacks were so successful
that when the Japanese
force came within range of
the battleships and cruisers
positioned across the Strait all
U.S. Postal Service
announces rate increases
for most classes of mail
Beginning Jan. 22, it will cost
a penny more to mail letters
to any location in the United
States. It will be the first price
change for First-Class Mail
stamps (Forever stamps) in
more than 2½ years. However,
customers can continue to mail
letters at today’s prices by purchasing
their forever stamps
before Jan. 22.
“That’s why Forever stamps
were created, to help consumers
ease the transition during
price changes,” said Callaway
Postmaster Melva Phillips.
The new single-piece First-
Class Mail pricing will include:
n Letters (1 oz.) — 1-cent
increase to 45¢
n Letters additional ounces
— unchanged at 20 cents
n Postcards — 3¢ increase
to 32¢
n Letters to Canada or
Mexico (1 ounce) — 5¢ increase
to 85¢.
n Letters to other international
destinations — 7¢
increase to $1.05
Prices also will change for
other mailing services, including
Standard Mail, Periodicals,
Package Services and Extra
Services. While actual percentage
price increases for various
products and services varies, the
overall average price increase
across all mailing services is
capped by law at 2.1%, the rate
of inflation calculated based on
the Consumer Price Index.
New for all customers is
a 3 month pricing option to
rent PO Boxes.
“The overall price increase
is small and is needed to help
address our current financial
crisis,” said Phillips.”
The price of Shipping Services
will also change on Jan.
22. The overall price change
for all Shipping Services is
4.6%, with Priority Mail prices
increasing an average 3.1% and
Express Mail prices increasing
an average 3.4%.
The new Mailing and Shipping
Services prices are available
at www.usps.com/newprices.htm.
Priority Mail pricing will
offer an average 6.8% discount
off retail prices for customers
using online and other
authorized postage payment
methods. For commercial and
online customers, a new, larger
Regional Rate Box C (12x12x15
inch) will be added to the existing
two sizes.
Prices will also be adjusted
for other shipping services
products and services, including
Parcel Select, Parcel Return
Service, International Mail,
Premium Forwarding Service
and Post Office Box Service.
The Postal Service receives
no tax dollars for operating expenses
and relies on the sale of
postage, products and services
to fund its operations.
that remained were the battleship
Yamashiro, one heavy
cruiser and one destroyer.
The overwhelming gunfire
of the Allied ships sank the
Yamashiro and reduced the
cruiser Mogami to a blazing
wreck. One destroyer survived.
When the second half of
the Japanese force followed
on behind, its commander
saw the devastation, became
discouraged and withdrew.
The overall result of the
last gasp attempt to throw the
Americans out was that the
Japanese Navy was essentially
rendered ineffective the
rest of the war.
The California helped support
the landing at the main
island of Luzon after the first
of the year. DeLong said on
the fourth day, the ship sustained
a kamikaze hit which
damaged the after fire control
tower. Most of the electronics
equipment used to aim the
ship’s guns were wrecked and
this forced the ship and crew
to withdraw back to port in
Bremerton, Wash.
Though Luzon was their
last engagement, the ship and
crew supported numerous
invasions as the Americans
threw back the enemy island
by Island. They were supporting
the invasion of Saipan,
one of the bloodiest battles
of the war, when a Japanese
tank dug into a cave managed
to hit the battleship with a
round from two three miles
out to sea as the big guns
were laying down a barrage
in support of the invading
troops. It hit the crows nest.
“Two or three guys got
Purple Hearts out of that,”
DeLong said with a chuckle at
the irony of a battleship being
attacked by a tank.
DeLong took shore duty
until the Japanese surrendered
and the war ended. He
was honorably discharged on
Sept. 18, 1945.
He came home, got married,
was hired by Custer
County Public Power as a
lineman and later an engineer,
raised his family and
now lives in retirement with
wife, Phyllis, in Callaway. The
war was left behind but the
memories still linger.
The Presidential Unit Citation
Badge was first issued in
April 1967, and the Liberation
Medal, July 1986. The awards
were a way for the Philippine
nation to say thanks to those
soldiers, sailors, marines and
airmen who liberated the
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world war ii veteran dave delong displays a medal and
ribbon given in appreciation by the Philippine government
for his part in its liberation from the Japanese.
Where to Deliver
The Courier: P.O. Box 69, Callaway, NE 68825
The Courier Office: 206 E. Morse, Callaway, NE
by e-mail: ccourier@gpcom.net
country from the brutal occupation
of the Japanese.
He said there are probably
several thousand veterans of
the liberation that are still
eligible to receive the medal
and ribbons. There are fewer
every day. “It’s an award for
me but it’s also an award for
those who didn’t make it,” he
said.
DeLong said he did not
hear about it until attending
an annual reunion of the
California’s crew. He sent the
necessary information to the
Philippine government and,
to his surprise, was issued the
awards.
The California was cut up
for scrap years ago and its
surviving sailors are now old
men. Just one more reunion
is slated as most have become
too infirm to make the trip.
Out of the original 2,000 men
who served on the ship, only
14 made it to the one DeLong
attended two or three years
ago. Most of those, he said,
were in wheelchairs.
DeLong said he will send
the medals and ribbons to his
daughter, DiAnne and her
husband, who are members of
USS Yorktown CV 10 Association.
“She’s the historian in
the family,” he said.