USS Franklin (CV-13) 2007 Reunion News

Casserino has seen demons in his sleep for 62 years, ever since March 19, 1945, when the USS Franklin, on which he was a crew member, was hit just before dawn by two Japanese semi-armor piercing bombs.

Every night, Casserino, now 85, sees many of the faces of the 724 crewmembers killed and the 265 wounded.

"I have nightmares," he said, tears rolling down his face. "I just can't take too much of this. I had headaches for 35 years. I think of what happened every night. It never leaves my mind."

Casserino, who lives in Boynton Beach, is one of about 90 USS Franklin survivors in Pensacola through Thursday for the 26th USS Franklin Reunion, taking place at Pensacola Naval Air Station.

The reunion began Monday for the survivors of the Franklin -- originally nicknamed "Big Ben, " and later nicknamed "The Ship That Wouldn't Die."

Most decorated crew.

The Franklin crew's decoration include two Medals of Honor, 18 Navy Crosses, 22 Silver Stars, 110 Bronze Stars, five Gold Stars and more that 1,000 Purple Hearts. To this day, the crew remains the most decorated crew in U.S. Navy history.

On Tuesday, Franklin veterans and their family members took in a Blue Angels practice show at NAS. That was followed by a panel discussion at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, where old buddies swapped war stories, hugs and tributes to fallen friends.

Today, they will attend another Blue Angels practice, followed by an air crew water survival training demonstration and later, a dinner and dance at the museum.

"Yours is a story of true heroism," museum historian Daniel Clifton told the group Tuesday. "Thank you all for your sacrifices, and we remember your crew members who were not so fortunate."

On March 19, 1945, the Franklin was near the Japanese coast when a single enemy plane made a low-level run on the aircraft carrier, dropping two semi-armor piercing bombs.

One struck the flight deck, penetrating to the hangar deck and igniting fires through the second and third decks. The other struck near the stern and ripped through to decks, igniting fires and ammunition throughout the ship.

The Franklin, listing in the water just 50 or so miles off the Japanese coast, had lost radio communications and was cooking from the inside from the numerous fires. Many crew members were thrown into the water by the blasts, while others were forced to jump overboard to escape certain death.

Bob Blanchard, 83, of Forked River, N.J., was given last rites on the ship by the Franklin's chaplain, Lt. Cmdr. Joseph O'Callahan, who later was awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor for his heroism.

Blanchard, who was a yeoman in the ship's gunnery office, was trapped in the ship's mess hall with about 300 other sailors, looking for an escape from the choking smoke that was filling the room.

Lt. j.g. Donald Gary discovered the men and led them to relative safety on the ship's deck. Gary also was awarded the Medal of Honor.

"Lt. Gary, he found a way to get us to the flight deck on a metal ladder," Blanchard said. "He saved about 300 people that day."

Once Blanchard hit the flight deck, he collapsed, overcome by smoke inhalation.

Soon afterward, O'Callahan, who was working his way across the wounded and dying, knelt at Blanchard's side and administered last rites, fearing the young man was near death.

Navy photographer Al Bullock, who was assigned to the USS Santa Fe, which had responded to the Franklin tragedy and was helping perform rescue operations, shot film of O'Callahan praying over Blanchard. Images from the film were broadcast in newspapers and magazines worldwide.

"He made the sign of the cross and gave me a blessing," Blanchard said. "I was just laying on the deck out of it. I was kind of groggy, but I could hear him and he asked me if I was all right, I think. He thought I was dying. I knew I wasn't doing too good, but I didn't think I was dying."

'Great to see old faces'

Blanchard was one of the lucky ones.

Casserino remembers crawling through the ship, where bodies of dead crew members were piled on top of each other, and another haunting image of two crew members sitting on the deck, their backs against the bulkhead.

"I tried to get them to come with me away from there," Casserino said. " I tapped them on the shoulder, and they both fell down. They just fell over. They were dead."

While the Franklin veterans mourn those lost, they also rejoice in the bond that the tragedy has forged in the survivors.

"I really enjoy these events," Blanchard said. "It's great to see all the old faces and to remember all our old friends. It does us all good."

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