RD 3/c William D. Yeager  "Dan" Yeager: Nov. 2001

William D. "Dan" Yeager  has customized a memorial statue by adding a copper plate bearing the names of over forty men killed  April 12, 1945 when a Japanese "Val", suicide bomber flew into the port side of the USS Whitehurst, instantly killing everyone in the CIC (radar shack), the pilot house,  many on the bridge, in the radio shack, and nearly every man on the forward gun stations.  Dan, who was serving as special messenger to the captain, was the only radarman not lost in the attack.  Badly injured by shrapnel, he "jumped or was blown"  into the water and was picked up by another ship, probably the USS Crescent City APA-21.

After customizing the memorial, Dan commissioned several framed photographs which he has donated to his shipmates in attendance at the 2003 reunion of Whitehurst WWII veterans.  The images are pictured below.

The photos are on display in the Destroyer Escorts Historical Museum aboard the restored DE USS Slater, in Albany, New York. 

"Tears From A. Grateful Heart"

HONORING ALL WHO SACRIFICED FOR OUR FREEDOM

The following names are displayed on the memorial