“I think the thing that surprised me or shocked me a little bit was the destruction that we saw on shore ... also the filth in the bay, a body floated by... it was pretty bad and it didn't change when we were there.” - Seaman Second Radioman Striker Donald R. Fosburg
“When I graduated from high school I was living in Illinois and hopped a train and got to California and enlisted in the Navy", Seaman Second Radioman Striker Donald R. Fosburg shared with the United States Navy Memorial film crew as it attended the USS Missouri Reunion in the fall of 2014. Fosburg spoke of his World War II service on the USS Missouri as if his time fighting in the war in the Pacific had happened yesterday. His first service at sea during World War II was on the USS North Carolina for a short time and then was transferred at sea to the USS Missouri.
Fosburg recalled the moment when he saw the battleship Missouri for the first time and his reaction to what lay before him, “I came to the Missouri and it was in the fleet...of course I was a farm boy I had never seen anything like it...it was quite impressive.” Fosburg served in the Radio room on the USS Missouri and shared his memories at sea as his ship battled the Imperial Japanese Navy and provided support for land based operations. The moment then came when he heard of the Atomic Bomb and the steps toward the formal Japanese surrender.
As the USS Missouri sailed into Japanese waters with the mainland in sight, Radioman Fosburg recalled with vivid detail his observations of the scenes of death and destruction, “I think the thing that surprised me or shocked me a little bit was the destruction that we saw on shore ... also the filth in the bay, a body floated by… it was pretty bad and it didn't change when we were there.” The sights of destruction as the USS Missouri entered Tokyo Bay were overshadowed by the events taking place on her deck, as her crew prepared for the Surrender Ceremony as told and witnessed by Seaman Fosburg. To hear Seaman Second Radioman Striker Donald R. Fosburg’s story come alive, view his detailed experience that has been digitally archived by the Navy Memorial.
The United States Navy Memorial honors Seaman Second Radioman Striker Donald R. Fosburg, featured within the series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial Tales From The Navy Log Archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site.