Originally Posted by Albany Rifles

Dad's battle station was on the steam throttle in the fire room. When the ship was hit, a steam line got ruptured and they lost electrical power in fire room. My dad crawled through pipes in pitch black darkness to the cutoff wheel It took him 27 turns to close the valve which rerouted the steam line and power restored. Dad said he remembered 2 things...the shriek from steam line rupture (on the other side of a bulkhead which was why his compartment was safe) and someone yelling. He later realized the yelling was himself...saying the Rosary at the top of his lungs! In our family the phrase 27 Turns came to mean getting a job done because it had to get done and others were counting on you.

BTW, he was 18 years old.

F1C Paul G. Buchanan 1926 - 2000

Yeah, we're proud of him.