80 years ago, he survived sinking of USS Hornet. Fresno-area vet shares his WWII story
Eighty years ago, Bob Cole was a sailor on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in the South Pacific.
It was already a bit of a famous ship, having assisted in the Doolittle Raid, the United States’ first air strike against the Japanese mainland in April 1942.
Cole was on board for the raid, even took a photo with Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle, the raid’s namesake and the man who led the attack.
Likely, that photo never made it off the ship.
The USS Hornet was sunk Oct. 26, 1942, at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.
“The Japanese dropped a bomb at the ship. It came right down the elevator and it landed right where we were stationed and exploded; a 500-pound bomb,” Cole said Wednesday in an interview with The Bee.
“There was 35 of us there. Twelve of us came out alive and the other 23 were killed.”
Cole was wounded in the attack, but survived, his left eye hanging by just its optic nerve. He remembers holding the eye in place with a towel while abandoning ship. He spent 45 minutes in the water before being rescued and eight months recovering in a naval hospital before being offered a medical discharge, which he refused so he could receive paid college.
Cole moved to Fresno after visiting his sister one Easter break and was a teacher in the area for 35 years.
At 100, he is one of the last remaining survivors of the aircraft carrier, according to Paul Loeffler, who hosts the Hometown Heroes radio show and brought Cole to the Veterans Memorial Museum in downtown Fresno to mark the 80th anniversary of the sinking.
The veterans museum has some memorabilia related the USS Hornet, specifically the Doolittle Raid.
Loeffler wanted to make sure Cole got some recognition for his service, and that his fallen comrades were honored in the process.
“I’m not sure how many survivors of the Hornet’s sinking remain alive,” he said, “but there aren’t many.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 5:30 AM.