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by Ronald Russell
(The following originally appeared
in Veterans Biographies, distributed during the annual Battle of Midway
commemoration in San Francisco, June 2006)
As an economics student at the University of
Pennsylvania in 1940, Bryan Crisman was intrigued by a notice posted at the
university’s school of finance. The
solicitation from the U.S. Navy’s Supply Corps promised college graduates a
commission in the Naval Reserve. That
sounded fine to Bryan, so he signed up and found himself called to active duty
only a few months after graduation.
After training at the Navy’s Supply Corps school, he initially served
aboard USS Ranger (CV-4), then in September 1941 became the disbursing
officer and “S” division officer on USS Yorktown (CV-5).
The Yorktown’s first major
test in combat came in May 1942 in the Coral Sea, in which it suffered bomb
damage from a Japanese air attack. But
there was no respite upon returning to Pearl Harbor from that battle—the men
worked feverishly to repair the damage and reprovision the ship for a another
major operation. As the Yorktown
left port, the crew was informed that they were going to take on an enormous
Japanese invasion fleet headed for Midway.
As disbursing officer, Ensign
Crisman’s assignment before leaving port had been to ensure enough cash was on
hand to pay the crew upon arrival at Bremerton, Washington after the
forthcoming action at Midway. The ship
was slated for an overhaul to permanently repair its Coral Sea damage, and
after more than three months away from the states, the men would have a lot of
money due at Bremerton. Thus, before
departure for Midway, Crisman had under his control over $500,000 in cash that
was destined for the bottom of the sea.
(That would be the equivalent of more than four million dollars in
today’s money!)
Ensign Crisman’s battle station was
at Flight Control in the island, which shook violently from three bomb hits as
the Battle of Midway commenced. One of
the bombs hit at the base of the island, sending billowing smoke into Flight
Control. The ship came to a halt as the
crew furiously worked to repair damage to the flight deck and get the boilers
restarted. Crisman left his battle
station at that point to retrieve the vital pay records from the disbursing
office, deep in the ship. He bagged and
secured them with 200 feet of line to prepare for lowering into a boat, then
moved them to his stateroom, which was more accessible in an emergency. (Saving the crew’s pay records was deemed
more important than saving the cash!)
He returned to Flight Control, but the ship was
struck again by aerial torpedoes, prompting the captain to give the “abandon
ship” order. Crisman gathered the
bagged pay records and proceeded toward his abandon ship station when he
noticed three Marines isolated at their gun mount due to damage to the catwalk
at the edge of the flight deck. The
catwalk had been peeled up by a torpedo blast, leaving the men no way to exit
their battle station. Sacrificing the
vital pay records, he threw his 200-foot line to the Marines, tying off one end
so that they could free themselves.
Now without his pay records or his
line, he encountered an unconscious sailor in a squadron ready room, still
alive. We the aid of another officer,
the two carried the sailor to the fantail and lowered him into the sea where a
third rescuer got him aboard a raft and eventually to safety on a
destroyer. Crisman finally lowered
himself into the oily water, and after four hours of swimming in a life jacket
that was gradually losing its buoyancy, he was taken aboard the USS Anderson
(DD-411), along with about 200 other Yorktown survivors. He eventually returned to Pearl Harbor
aboard USS Fulton (AS-11). And
as for his all-important pay records?
The salvage crew aboard the Yorktown wisely rescued them two days
later, transferring them for safekeeping to the destroyer USS Hammann (DD-412),
tied up alongside. A short while later
the Hammann and the Yorktown’s pay records slipped beneath the
waves, the result of a Japanese submarine attack!
Crisman continued to serve in Supply Corps billets for the rest of the war and at its end was the supply officer for the U.S. embassy in London. Eventually promoted to lieutenant commander, he left the Navy in 1956 to commence a long career in real estate.
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