CREW'S STORIES
RETURN TO:
Edward F. Harrington -
Boiler Explosion in 1953
And
Explosions in 1954
Subject:
USS Bennington
Date:
Tue, 11 Jul 2000 13:31:45 GMT
From:
"Marlene Harrington"
To:
bennington@uss-bennington.org
CC:
bkauf22@frontiernet.net
Hi All:
My name is Marlene Harrington and I am writing to you regarding my father, Edward F. Harrington, who was on board the USS Bennington for both the Boiler Explosion in 1953 and the larger explosions that occurred in 1954. Recently, while surfing the web, I came across the USS Bennington Organization web site -- I was delighted to see that such a web site existed and was very pleased to read all of your submissions. I know bits and pieces about my father's time aboard the Bennington -- mostly from what I've put together through newspaper clippings -- since they were Rhode Island residents, my grandparents had collected quite a few news articles about the carrier's arrival in Quonset Point.
Unfortunately, my father passed away several years ago, so I was unable to learn all that I wanted about his years in the Navy. I would be delighted to receive any information that you may have about the Bennington and/or the explosion -- I realize that it was almost 50 years ago (something I'm sure is hard to believe), but if any of you have info to share about my father, my family would be very appreciative.
For your information, my father was with the Interior Communications staff both before and after the explosion. He was in the active military for 8 years; and received a Meritorius Mast for Performance in Duty after the 1954 explosion. I did recognize the name of one of his close friends from the navy among the list of those injured in the explosion -- Robert Pfefferle (IC2).
Again, thank you for your time.
Sincerely
Marlene Harrington
marleneh23@hotmail.com
Over the years I have seen 2 articles in which my father's name was mentioned (there was an article from a Boston paper -- possibly the Globe or the Traveller, I can't recall -- in which one of the IC crew mentions that my father was missing, and that he didn't know what became of him. The 2nd article is a LIFE Magazine article about the Bennington explosion, which shows a picture of my grandfather talking on the phone to my father) -- I don't know of any other articles that mention his name, but if you don't mind looking I'd appreciate it very much.
As for your second question, my family is from Rhode Island, unfortunately I can't think of anyone who has any ties to an automobile dealership (that would come in handy though!) -- did you know someone in particular?
Thanks again for the suggestions -- I may check out the crew listing and see what I can find -- I'm not terribly optimistic that people will be living in the same place 50 years later -- but you never know.
By the way, I just wanted to mention how much I enjoyed looking at the website -- you've done a great job. Part of the point of my little project is to find out more about the ship, if I can find out more about my father's role while on board, that's just gravy -- I've enjoyed reading all the stories -- it seems like you've all lead very interesting lives.
thanks again, hope to hear from you.
marlene harrington
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