The information on the following pages depicts the story of Eugene Sorenson S2C, who was killed on the USS Atlanta during the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal fought on Friday, November 13th, 1942. Mr. Sorenson was assigned to one of the 5"/38 mounts and was killed when a shell hit the mount, killing everyone inside except one person. From the records I can find, there were two mounts where that happened so we are not sure exactly which mount he was stationed in.
This information was kindly supplied by Barbara Cousins, Mr. Sorenson's niece. Mrs. Cousins mother, Bonnie, is Mr.Sorenson's sister - a letter to her by him is one of the items donated by Mrs. Cousins.
The first document is a bio history of Mr.Sorenson taken from a local publication along with a family picture of Mr. Sorenson apparently after graduating boot camp. The second set of documents is a letter from Mr. Sorenson to his sister, and Barbara Cousins mother, Bonnie Sorenson. Its not dated but it was apparently written while at sea and provides a view of the personal life these men and women left behind. Last is a letter from Lt. William Mack, division head of the division Mr. Sorenson was assigned to aboard the USS Atlanta, dated December 23, 1942. The letter describes how Mr. Sorenson died, and provides some details into his excellent conduct aboard ship.
The information provided by Barbara Cousins enables one to get a feeling of the tragedy and sorry that was brought about by the death of Mr Sorenson, something that one cannot feel by reading history books or ships histories. Many thanks to Barbara Cousins for kindly sharing this information with us.
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