Buy a book, get an autography
Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Two authors whose books have local connections will be signing copies of their books in the area.
Frank Murphy will be signing copies of his book “The USS Chincoteague: the ship that wouldn’t sink” at Albertson’s in Oak Harbor Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. Murphy was a gunner’s mate on the seaplane tender which operated in the Pacific Theater and served PBY Catalinas — the reason the Navy came to Oak Harbor.
He grew up in Sarles, N.D. “I grew up shooting jackrabbits so I thought I would be good at shooting airplanes,” Murphy said from his home in Vancouver.
He enlisted in Great Falls, Mont., and went to boot camp in Farragut, Idaho, before being assigned to Bremerton and then Kirkland.
The USS Chincoteauge was built at Lake Washington Ship Yard. On the ship’s commissioning day, April 12, 1943, “We shoved away from the dock at 10 a.m.,” Murphy said. “That’s a lot of years to remember a specific time.”
While on duty in the Santa Cruz Islands during World War II, the ship was bombed 11 times in three days.
One of the bombs hit the engines, killing everyone in the engine room and leaving the Chincoteage dead in the water. “The captain ordered us to start bailing. We bailed for three days and three nights,” Murphy said. It’s still hard for him to talk about the engine crew after 59 years. “I don’t even like to think about that,” he said.
Finally, a rescue ship arrived. After being repaired on the West Coast, “We were shipped back out to Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands,” Murphy said.
Friday, June 14, beginning at noon, Lt. Shane Osborn will be at Cascade Mall in Burlington signing copies of “Born to Fly: the untold story of the downed American reconnaissance plane.” Osborn will be in Burlington until 3 p.m.
Osborn was the pilot of a reconnaissance plane that made an emergency landing on Hainan Island, China, in April 2001. There will be a flag-raising ceremony by Girl Scouts and a display of battle flags by Washington Air National Guard. Also as part of the Flag Day celebration, a limited number of American flags will be given away. In addition to Flag Day, Cascade Mall will be celebrating Whidbey Island Naval Air Station’s 60th birthday and Girl Scouts of America’s 90th birthday.
