 |
| Click image above to enlarge |
| |
Friday nite, Nov. 24, ‘44
Today was your Thanksgiving and I do so much hope you spent a lovely day. Bet you had a nice chicken (roasted) for just ‘Maw and the kids.’ … I sort of took it easy on the eating side today, felt a bit stuffed yet from yesterday’s repast which was plenty bountiful. … For a Thanksgiving Day bonus I was presented with the 2 ship’s incinerators or trash burners and their crew of 14 men. Believe me I didn’t need any additional duties… But guess I’ll get by somehow! As long as I have you!
Donald Domenic DiMarzo, USS Intrepid
On November 24, 1944, Donald Domenic DiMarzo wrote to his wife to wish her a happy Thanksgiving. For Intrepid’s crew, Thanksgiving was a bittersweet holiday. To celebrate the occasion, the ship’s cooks produced a rich holiday banquet with turkey, ham and other favorite dishes. Yet the circumstances of the feast were anything but traditional. The men devoured their meal in the belly of a steel aircraft carrier at war. A month earlier, the ship had suffered her first kamikaze attack, which killed ten men. While Thanksgiving dinner offered a welcome respite from combat, crew members longed for their loved ones back home and mourned their fallen shipmates.
DiMarzo’s Thanksgiving letter was the last he ever sent to his wife. The following day, he was killed in a kamikaze attack. On November 25, 1944, two kamikaze aircraft struck Intrepid within five minutes of one another. After the first hit, DiMarzo, the ship’s Fire Marshall, rushed to battle the raging fires. The second crash-diving airplane took his life. The two attacks claimed the lives of 69 Intrepid crew members, the single biggest loss of life in Intrepid’s history.
Thanksgiving 2010 marks the 66th anniversary of Intrepid’s darkest day. As we give thanks this holiday season, we remember those who gave their lives in service aboard Intrepid.
 |
| Click image above to enlarge |
|