We Are Going Clear In, Within A Few Thousand Yards Of The Beach

Jan. 7, 1945

My Darling Kay:

We are headed back in again as we never bombarded San Fernando.  Today we are going clear in, within a few thousand yards of the beach. I am kinda worried that the Japs might start shooting at us.

We were the second ship to open fire. We are firing 16-inch armor piercing shells. In fact that is the only knid we have in 16-inch.

With the glasses I can see a lot of little houses on the beach.

We are not going to shoot as much as we did at Leyte. We don’t want to get caught short of ammunition as we did before. The ships will take turns firing. We will fire for a couple of hours then another ship will fire for awhile.

We had an air attack and one plane crashed into an Australian Cruiser. If it had been a little higher it would have missed them. It hit one of the stacks.

I guess I will be up most of the night again.

Australian cruiser hit by Japanese kamikaze, as seen from the USS West Virginia