More stories from Ed

I met with 97-year-old Ed again yesterday. When looking over his WW II experience, one has to conclude it's a miracle he's alive.

First, as described earlier, he survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Ed's ship, Light Cruiser Helena was not sunk but it was heavily damaged.

After repairs, Ed and the rest of the crew set out for the Pacific where they joined the task force that was headed for Guadalcanal.

On the evening of July 5th, 1943, Ed's ship was hit by four torpedoes.

Incredibly, the ship did not sink immediately so Ed had time to abandon.

Many men were killed, some made it to rafts but Ed was in water where he tread water and dog paddled for about two hours. Just when he was giving up hope, he heard voices so he swam over and was picked up by a raft.

From there they were picked up by rescue ships and that begins a whole new adventure for next time.

But when all is said and done after the torpedoes, over 400 men had been rescued and over 200 were killed.

Since we're going to be in Florida until May 8, I won't be seeing Ed for a while but I have sufficient notes to continue this narrative until our return. So come back soon.