Philip recalls meeting Veterans of D Day and Pearl Harbour

27th October, 2022

This was a day I’ll never forget, as not only did I attend the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney, I personally met two very remarkable, and truly inspiring veterans of D Day and Pearl Harbour.

Firstly I met 100 year old Master Sergeant Steve Melnikoff of the US Army, who was a veteran of the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy France on the 6 June 1944.

Omaha was the most heavily defended beach and Steve advised that he lost 40 percent of his men even before reaching the shore and the huge losses of life was significant. After France, Steve's unit then pushed on to Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.

On the 17 June 1944, Steve was shot in the neck. Not wanting to let his mates down Steve advised me of his struggle to overcome his injuries and how he fought to be able to get back into the fight and support his mates. Steve was unfortunately shot again, this time to his shoulder on the 14 September 1944 whilst also suffering shrapnel injuries from an explosion. Some of the shrapnel is still inside Steve's body as it was deemed too dangerous to remove it.

Steve is highly decorated and has been awarded 2 Purple Hearts, 3 Bronze Stars, the French Medal of Honor amongst other commendations. To hear a firsthand account of the events that occurred on D-Day, considering we were also advised there were only twelve (12) D-Day veterans remaining was an absolute privilege and an honour. Thank you Steve, and thank you so very much for your service.

Secondly it was also my privilege to be able to meet 100 year old Mickey Ganitch, who was the Quartermaster on the USS Pennsylvania BB-38. Mickey was on duty on the 7 December 1941, which was the day Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.

The USS Pennsylvania was in drydock at the time of the attack, and was one of the first ships in the harbor to open fire as Japanese dive and torpedo bombers attacked. Mickey advised that General Quarters was called as the first Japanese air attack occurred at approximately 7.55am. Mickey's battle station was in the crow’s nest of the main mast and said that a 500-lb bomb hit their ship during the second air attack.

Following the attack, the USS Pennsylvania sailed for San Francisco, arriving on the 29 December 1941 and underwent repairs until the 30 March 1942. Mickey recalled the sadness of that day, the loss of life, ships and also the USS Arizona which sank 14 minutes after the attack started and entombed most of its sailors.

On the 6 and 9 August 1945, the USA then dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Mickey said following this, on the 12 August 1945 the USS Pennsylvania was attacked at Okinawa by what the military thought was a friendly plane, but later turned out to be a Japanese torpedo plane. The ship was hit by a torpedo in the rear of the ship by the propellers, which was the living compartment of the quartermasters.

Mickey recalled very sadly that he lost 20 of his 26 quartermasters that day and that the Japanese sought peace the following day. He recalled the loss of life that didn't need to occur, many of which were his closet friends.

Following this attack, Mickey advised the crew struggled to keep the USS Pennsylvania afloat, let alone recover the victims. On the 18 August 1945 the Pennsylvania, under tow by two salvage tugs departed Buckner Bay Okinawa for Apra Harbor in Guam and entered dry dock on the 6 September 1945 to effect repairs. A large patch was welded over the torpedo hole (approx. 10m in width) which enabled the Pennsylvania to return to the United States under her own power to be fully repaired.

The surrender was signed on the 2 September 1945 on the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, and another veteran, and my very dear and beloved friend Jack LeCras was present on the Missouri for the signing ceremony.

What I witnessed not only with these two remarkable veterans, but by Jack and all service personnel in attendance from around the world was humility, and even disagreement when thought of as hero's. Steve and Mickey described it best when they said they called their military service a privilege more than a duty. "I’m no hero" they both told me, especially when we lost so many mates.

Further, the story Jack’s also told me personally (and I’ve recorded) of how after the surrender, they sailed to collect Allied POW’s, and what they confronted was both horrific and haunting and is a piece of history that must never be forgotten. I’m also in the process of completing a documentary video to honour Jack, his shipmates and to ensure this part of history is never forgotten.

As Australians, we really do have a lot to be thankful for, especially those that gave so much to defend, protect and ensure all the freedoms we have today.

I’m so very proud of all of our service personnel that have served our great country and equally, it’s been an honour and a privilege to know and discuss significant historical events with Steve, Mickey and Jack, events that I will never forget.

Our country, and all Australians have a lot to be thankful for, and equally, a lot to remember this Remembrance Day, and I for one are in awe of our veterans, and everything they’ve done for us all.

Lest We Forget