Corporal Leslie Edwards USMCLeslie Daniel Edwards was the cousin of Pvt. Philip Edwards who you met in One April in Boston. He was born in Beacon Falls, Connecticut on November 12, 1912. As an 8-year-old boy, Leslie may have attended Phil's impressive memorial service with his parents on July 17, 1921 at the Congregational Church in Naugatuck, Connecticut. This service and tales of his ancestors passed down in the family surely had an impact on a boy who would one day travel to distant shores like his g-g-grandfather Ben before giving his life in service to the country he loved. Young Leslie attended local schools and Naugatuck High School. He enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 2, 1941, five months before the outbreak of World War II. Leslie Edwards attended basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina. After Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, the cruiser USS Nashville sailed from its patrol duty in the Central Atlantic to Casco Bay, Portland, Maine. Leslie was aboard the Nashville when it sailed from Portland, Maine to escort a troop and cargo convoy to Iceland. The ship continued escort duty to Bermuda and Iceland until February 1942. On March 4, 1942, USS Nashville rendezvoused with the carrier USS Hornet off the Virginia capes and escorted the Hornet through the Panama Canal to the west coast. The vessels arrived in San Diego on March 20 and were in port until early April. On April 2, 1942, under Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, the carrier USS Hornet and the cruiser USS Nashville sailed from San Diego. Aboard the carrier were 16 Army B-25 bombers under the command of Lt. Colonel James Doolittle. These planes were scheduled to make the first air attack of the war on the Japanese empire. On April 13, the Hornet and Nashville rendezvoused with the 15 other vessels of Task Force 16, and set course for Japan. On April 17, when the ships were 1,000 miles from their destination, the destroyers were detached; Nashville, other escorting cruisers, and carriers Hornet and Enterprise sailed at top speed to the launching point for the attack, 500 miles from Japan. On April 18, the Task Force was spotted by a Japanese picket boat. The boat reported the sighting before being sunk by scout planes from the Enterprise. When a second Japanese vessel was spotted, Admiral Halsey detached the Nashville from the convoy. Corporal Leslie Edwards and his fellow Marines saw their first action of the war when the Nashville sped to within 5 miles of the Japanese ship, opened up with her 6 inch batterys, and sank it. With the element of surprise lost, the B-25s had to be launched immediately, 10 hours early and 150 miles short of the planned position. The carrier USS Hornet swung around and pitched violently in the heavy seas. The wind blew at a 40 knot gale, and seas crested to 30 foot swells, as the lead plane commanded by Lt. Colonel James Doolittle made its way down the drenched 467 foot flight deck and lifted into the sky. The 15 other B-25 bombers soon followed and the planes flew toward Japan. After the launch, the Nashville and other vessels reversed course to avoid Japanese forces. An enemy patrol vessel was sunk by aircraft from one of the carriers, and the Nashville's guns destroyed a second Japanese boat. This enemy vessel had shot down an attack plane from the Enterprise and the Nashville's crew soon rescued its two downed pilots. As many of the Task Force vessels headed toward home, Doolittle and his courageous men flew low over Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and other cities dropping 16 tons of bombs on military and industrial targets. Their daring raid had a great psychological impact on Japan and boosted American morale less than 5 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Corporal Leslie Edwards and the Marines aboard the USS Nashville returned to Pearl Harbor on April 25, 1942. The cruiser was in port for three weeks and left Hawaii on May 14, 1942 to become flagship of Task Force 8 defending Alaska and the Aleutians. The Nashville arrived at Dutch Harbor, Alaska on May 26 and sailed for Kodiak two days later to meet the other vessels in the Task Force. On June 3, Japanese carrier planes attacked Dutch Harbor. Because of heavy fog, the Nashville and other members of the Task Force were not able to make contact with the torpedo bombers, dive bombers, and zeroes. |