This past November 6th, my American Legion Post 703 in Fox Lake hosted a Meet-A-Vet Day and one of them was Mr. Thomas E. Decker. Handouts were given to those attending and this is what his said.
He enlisted in June 1938, in St. Louis, Missouri and had basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Center in North Chicago.
Upon graduating, he was ordered to Hospital Corps School in San Diego, California, and afterwards did a short tour of duty at Mare Island Hospital. He then shipped out to the USS Relief (a hospital ship) stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where he was appointed to 3rd Class Pharmacist Mate and was reassigned to the USS Hull (DD-350).
On December 7, 1941, the Hull was in a group of five destroyers tied up to the supply ship USS Dobbin. Decker was asleep in his bunk when he was awakened by, "We are being attacked!"
More to Come. --DaCoot
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