CREW'S STORIES
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EVENTS OF AUGUST 11 - 12, 1945
From: Nancy Camp [mailto:ncamp@earthlink.net]
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 6:48 AM
To: Lonnie@uss-bennington.org
Subject: Original Crew Member
Hi!
Here’s information on:
Joseph Martin Camp, 1920-1950
Naval Academy midshipman Class of ‘45, graduated in ‘44
Gunnery officer, USS Bennington August 1944 through late 1945
I live just up the hill from the Pentagon and about a mile from Arlington National Cemetery where my father is buried. I was over there yesterday and came back to see what information was on the internet about the USS Bennington. That’s how I found your site.
Since he was part of the original crew, I’d love to have his information included in the crew list. Here’s a brief about his all too short life.
After his tour on the Bennington ended in late ‘45, he went to basic flight school in Corpus Christi, got his wings at Pensacola and then went on to Jacksonville for PBM training.
He then linked up with VP-47 in Honolulu, (where I was born in late ‘48) and after they closed Kaneoi Bay, he was stationed at Sangley Point in the Phillipines. In 1950, he had finished that tour and hopped a Clark Air Force Base C-54 plane to pick up his crew and head home. The C-54 crashed on Mount Hirugatake, 50 miles southwest of Tokyo and five minutes flight to Tachicawa air base, the plane’s landing area. All 35 men aboard perished, including Lieutenant (jg) Joseph Martin Camp.
I have some news clips from a Washington News Paper about the 3rd Fleet activities during the War and would be happy to pass them along if they are of interest to you.
Click on the image for a larger, readable view which opens in a new window
 This is an original inter-ship communique which I understand was a daily or frequent on-board news bulletin that circulated to the officers. This is dated 12 Aug (45). |
A newspaper clipping from the Times-Herald, 16 August, 1945 |
A newspaper clipping from the Washington (DC) Evening Star 16 August, 1945 |
A newspaper clipping from the Washington (DC) Evening Star 16 August, 1945 |
Thanks,
Nancy Camp
Arlington, VA 22204
email: ncamp@earthlink.net
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