Story posted Friday, November 27, 2009
Veteran Depicts Experiences In Painting
By RICHARD MAYER Assistant Managing Editor
Mt. Prospect Mayor Irvana Wilks (left) accepts a painting by VFW Post 1337 member Tom Leo on behalf of the village.
Tom Leo, a member of VFW Post 1337 in Mt. Prospect and a survivor of the bombing of the USS Ben Franklin aircraft carrier in 1945, recently donated a painting he made to Mt. Prospect Village Hall. The work of art is of the Franklin engulfed in flames more than 60 years ago.
Leo, who will turn 83 this Sunday, grew up in Ohio but moved to Mt. Prospect in 1958. In 1992, he moved to North Carolina, but moved back to the Des Plaines/Mt. Prospect area about two years ago when his wife became severely ill.
Leo enlisted in the Navy in 1943 at the age of 17. He went to the Great Lakes Naval Academy for six weeks. He was then shipped off to Bremerton, Wash., where he boarded the USS Ben Franklin to join the country's war effort.
Leo said he and 3,300 other men, who included pilots and aircrew, set sail in the Pacific Ocean in January 1945 accompanied by other vessels.
"We were heading to bomb Kamikaze fields in the southern most island of Japan," said Leo.
Leo said the invasion was set for Apr. 1, 1945, but as fate had it, his life and the war made an abrupt turn.
"On the night of Mar. 17, St. Patrick's Day, they (Japanese) found us at sea at night and lit up the air," said Leo. "We were under fire for 36 hours before our ship got hit. We got hit at 7 a.m. on Mar. 19, 1945."
Leo had just been relieved after 36 hours of duty on his gun prior to the Franklin being attacked. He was going to get some food, but because the line was long, he changed his plan.
"I went to my bunk and then heard an explosion," said Leo. "That explosion hit all those people in the chow line and they were all killed. I went down another deck in that area for a short period of time, which was the hospital area. I left that area a few moments later and I went to the port side of the ship. A few minutes later, all those people in the hospital area were killed."
Leo said he was able to get into an area near one of the deck edge elevators but could not go any further, and was actually trapped there, while bombs were being dropped one by one around him. He was with approximately 20 other people.
"We were there for a couple hours," said Leo. "We eventually came out and went down to the hangar deck for safety."
Approximately 900 people died that day from the attacks with more wounded, Leo said.
"A good number of the crew went overboard," commented Leo. "It ended up that 704 of us remained aboard ship."
Leo said the ship was virtually "totaled" but had enough power in its engines to get back to the United States. Leo and the remaining crew were able to sail the ship 50 miles off the Japan coast 1,700 miles back to the Brooklyn, NY, Naval Yard.
"We were still putting fires out and burying the dead for a week," Leo said. "The greatest moment was when we pulled into the New York Harbor and were greeted with fire hoses spouting out red, white and blue water."
Leo left the Navy as a first-class gunner in 1946. Shortly thereafter he attended Miami (Ohio) University.
Mt. Prospect Mayor Irvana Wilks said she is unsure where the painting will go at village hall, but should be hung soon. She added Leo can take back the painting at any time.
"Mt. Prospect has been my home and I wanted to give the painting a place for others to see it," said Leo.
Leo has created numerous paintings over the years including a picture of the September 11, 2001 disaster. That painting is expected to be displayed at the new Fire Station 14 off Kensington Road when it opens in the next few months. Copies have been made of the 9-11 painting and are currently at the other fire stations in the village.
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