The belief that there may be something in the superstitions
surrounding the number 13 is growing in the mind of Storekeeper First
Class Lawrence Robert Endicott, 25, who was in Cincinnati on a brief
visit. It was the thirteenth of the month that he was born: on April
13th, 1942 he shipped to the South Pacific, and on November 13th,
1942 he was wounded in action in the Guadalcanal area.
Endicott, who visited his brother and sister-in-law Mr. and Mrs.
Charles L. Endicott, 4051 St. Williams Avenue, Price Hill, enlisted
in the Navy December 7, 1937 after he had completed his first
semester at Kansas State College. A native of Pittsburg, Kansas he
finished his four year tour of duty December 7th, 1941, but
re-enlisted the following day in San Francisco, where he was
stationed.
He was ordered to New York to board the cruiser Atlanta. He was
one of the few crew members who did not hail from Georgia. On this
ship he served in both oceans until the battle of Savo Island,
November 13, 1942, when he was wounded.
Locates Japanese
One of a group of ships, the Atlanta had located a group of
Japanese heavy craft in a harbor and at 2am November 13th, steamed
into the harbor for the attack, Endicott said.
"Before we could put the Jap searchlights out of commission or get
into line". Endicott continued, " the Japs had located us and
commenced firing and launching torpedoes."
" At the time of the attack I was in a structure over the bridge
where 12 of us were stationed. . We had been on duty for three days
and nights. Shells crashed through the shelter, killing 10 of the
men, who fell on me".
Endicott beleives the bodies of his comrades saved him and the
other survivor in the post from further wounds.Although he had about
100 pieces of shrapnel in his back, which surgeons hope to finish
removing next week, and had suffered a coumpound fracture in his
shoulder, Endicott was able to slide down a rope to the deck with the
aid of two other sailors.The shells had torn away the ladder to the
lookout he said and the distance of the rope slide was that of the
height of a second story window."One of the sailors caught me before
I hit the deck", Endicott said, "or I would have broken both legs."
Ship Scuttled
Although in a sinking condition, the Atlanta was scuttled the next
day, he said, and he was transferred to a foxhole by marines from the
neighboring island. In the foxholeEndicott underwent night shelling
and was shuttled about for a day and a night before being flown to a
hospital in the islands.In December of this year he was taken to a
hospital in California.
He obtained a 30-day leave to come to Cincinnati for the first
time to see his brother, whom he had not seen in eight years.
" A lot of funny things happened during the battle", Endicott
asserted. "For instance, I saw two sailors ordered to abondon a
destroyer in the area sitting on the deck arguing whether or not to
take off their shoes before going overboard. A few seconds after they
finally hit the water the boat went down".
Another sailor, he said, was severly wounded and begged a comrade
to shoot him, but the comrade refused, saying he had no gun.
Before going to the Guadalcanal area Endicott saw service on the
Atlantic coast and out of Pearl Harbor. He said he had been in Pearl
Harbor for two years previous to the attack.
Besides the battle in which it was sunk, the cruiser Atlanta,
Endicott stated had participated in the battles of Midway and the
Coral Sea, for which he wears service ribbons.
Lost Diary
Endicott, who came here with a sister, Mrs. W.F. Vorhies, of
Odessa Tex., will return to Santa Cruz, Calif. for further treatment.
He expects to be discharged from the Navy in a few months and will
return to seek work in Cincinnati.
His greatest loss among his belongings that went down with his
ship, Endicott said, was the diary he had kept since the day he
enlisted in the Navy.
The brother, Charles L. Endicott, is an industrial arts teacher at
Oyler Junior High School and will teach Baldwin trainees at the Ohio
Mechanics Institute this summer.
Endicott wears ribbons for good conduct,: service in the
Southwestern Pacific battle area; service in the Atlantic and Pacific
combat waters; Navy expeditionary forces, and a ribbon for bieng in
the Navy before the outbreak of the war, as well as the survivor
star. His ship he said, had received a presidential citation and he
added that the citizens of Atlanta, Ga., have raised the money to
commission another ship named for their city. Endicott added that he
beleived the Atlanta had undergone every known method of enemy
attack.
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