Earl Knutson
Earl Martin Knutson, 2007
- Branch of Service: U.S. Navy
- Highest Rank: Gunner Mate 2nd Class
- Military Service: Enlisted, June 1942 - December 1946
Listen to the following sections by scrolling forward to the timecode.
0:00 - Enlisted and training; aboard a fuel tanker; overview of service
2:55 - Pearl Harbor memory; joined Navy; dangerous missions on the ship
7:32 - Features on the ship; overnight liberties
10:04 - Eleven men to run gun on the ship
13:27 - About 380 men on the ship; radar picket duty; nine destroyers in convoy
18:01 - Tanker refueling process
20:30 - Pet monkey on the ship
23:10 - Atomic bomb and surrender
25:45 - Eating on the ship during rough seas
26:44 - Anchored in a radioactive area after the atomic bomb
28:48 - Life after the war and reunions
This story was recorded at an SDPB event in Vermillion, SD.
For more information about SDPB's educational resources and services, contact
The HOMEFRONT SOUTH DAKOTA STORIES Project was Sponsored in Part By:
