Francis "Frank" Borrell was born in Beacon, New York, 60 miles north of New York City and ten miles from West Point [Annotator's Note: United States Military Academy in West Point, New York]. He saw movies about sailors, which made him want to join the Navy. When the war started, Borrell married his girlfriend, then he joined the Navy. He went to Sampson, New York for training. He was told to never turn his back on a Japanese person. After boot camp, he was given a short leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], before going to New Port, Rhode Island. He was told he was assigned to a new battleship in the Brooklyn Naval Yard [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn, New York]. Borrell volunteered to be a cook, so he was able to go to the ship early. He thought it was the biggest thing ever. He is glad he joined the Navy. Borrell was drafted early and was allowed to choose his service branch. Seeing BB-63, Missouri [Annotator's Note: USS Missouri (BB-63)] for the first time amazed him because of how big she was. Borrell always had chores to do on the ship. He was on the deck crew after his tenure as a cook. He did not want to be on the deck crew, he wanted to be a gun striker. He was given permission to work as a gun striker and eagerly learned the job. He took a test and became a Seaman 1st class. He found out how accurate the main guns were and what each deck gun did. He got used to life on the ship and it became fun. The only time he got home sick was his first Thanksgiving away. He missed his family. The only time Borrell used the main guns was for a pre-invasion bombardment. At Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan], the Marines thought nobody was there after the bombardment, but the Japanese were underground. At Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan], the Missouri had to return for another bombardment. When the flag was raised on Mount Suribachi, Borrell cried. The island became an airbase for bombers. Borrell was on the ship when it was christened. Harry Turman's [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] daughter, Margaret, christened the ship. He believes in the service, a person makes it whatever they want it to be.

Francis Borrell's first cruise was in the Atlantic Ocean. Borrell believes Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] built a strong Germany. He then received orders to go to the Pacific. He sailed through the Panama Canal. Borrell remembered going through all of the locks. Once he was in the Pacific, Borell wanted to fight the Japanese fleet. He was happy to serve under Admiral Halsey [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey]. At Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii], the Japanese did not destroy any carriers [Annotators Note: aircraft carriers]. The Japanese admiral [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto] understood the Americans were going to fight back. Borrell started looking for the enemy fleet. There was a spotter plane on the ship that would fly out looking for ships. When the guns fired, they made the ship rock.

When general quarters were announced, Francis Borrell had to be in his position as fast as possible. He would sit at his gun until he was told where to fire. He did not hear any sound from the guns when they fired. When the 16 inch and five inch guns fired at the same time, there was a lot of damage being done. The ship also had 40mm guns [Annotator's Note: bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon], which made noise. Borrell's gun was in the first gun division. There nine 16 inch guns, three per division. Borrell knew Halsey [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey] was happy each time a ship was sunk. He met Halsey once when he thanked the crew for their good work. It was then that Borrell was told about the Yamato [Annotator's Note: Japanese super-battleship Yamato]. He then joined the TF-98 [Annotator's Note: Task Force 98], which was searching for the Japanese ship. They were told the Air Force took the ship out first. The sailors liked to listen to jazz music on the deck. He saw African-American cooks dance on the ship with mops on their heads. Borrell would be sent to the powder room to get the ammunition to the guns.

Francis Borrell found out Doolittle [Annotator's Note: USAAF then USAF General James Dolittle] wanted an airfield on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. Both the Japanese and Americans wanted the island. The Japanese would hide underground. The Americans bombed the island that morning [Annotator's Note: the morning the Americans landed, 19 February 1945] for roughly 3 hours. They thought nobody was on the island, until the Marines landed. After Iwo Jima, Borell bombed Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He had to return to Iwo Jima to bomb the island again. The bombers started flying from the island and hitting Japan. Borrell thought the radar men were good at their job. The kamikazes would come in with the sun at their back to help blind the ship gunners. The pilots were trained to fly the planes into the ships. They were told to kill Halsey [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey]. The gunners were blinded by the sun. Borrell saw bodies on the deck after an attack. By the time a gunner saw the airplane, it was too late to detroy the plane. The kamikaze destroyed a gun on the ship. Borrell knew the men that were killed during the attack. The kamikazes could do a lot of damage. There were always destroyers nearby looking for submarines.

Francis Borrell was woken up early one morning and was told about the Japanese surrendering. Everyone was celebrating, but had to clean the mess the next day. The enlisted men heard about the surrender before the officers. Borrell was told the surrender would happen on the Missouri [Annotator's Note: USS Missouri (BB-63)] in Tokyo Bay [Annotator's Note: Japan]. He saw MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] tell the Japanese where they would sit. He also saw B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombers] and fighters overhead. The sailors were at general quarters while going into Tokyo Bay. Borrell was nervous that something would happen. He watched the surrender from his quarters. Afterwards, Borrell guarded a building until he volunteered for duty inside a different building. Once he was back on the ship, he returned home. When he saw the Golden Gate Bridge [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California], it looked good to him. When he passed the Statue of Liberty [Annotator's Note: New York, New York], it made him cry. Once on shore, he went to a dry cleaners to get his uniform cleaned. He was given his clothes back, and received free meals at Grand Central Station. Borrell was topside when the surrender was signed. Everyone was happy the war was finally over. Borrell is thankful to have gone home in one piece. He felt sorry for those that were wounded during the war. Borrell was happy to finally be able to meet his daughter.

Frank Borrell thinks about the men he served with. They became like members of his family. Everyone tried to be friends. Borrell thought the African-American sailors were great. After the war ended, things got more relaxed. During the surrender, there were B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombers] and fighter planes flying around. Borrell liked MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area]. Borrell thought the Japanese would try to do something because he was trained to believe they were untrustworthy. He went ashore after the surrender to guard some buildings. He was surprised by all the stuff in the buildings. All the people at the surrender were from different countries. Borrell watched the signing from his quarters on the main deck. Some of the Japanese in the mountains did not know the war had ended. He thinks World War 2 is worth talking about, but hopes it never happens again. He enjoyed smoking cigarettes with Admiral Halsey [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey]. He also liked Admiral Nimitz [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Sr., Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet]. The first time he saw Admiral Mitscher [Annotator's Note: US Navy Admiral Mark Mitscher] was at the signing. Borrell thinks it is good to have museums because it teaches kids about what happened. He hopes there is never another war. He thought the food was pretty good. He thought the chefs were good, but not like his mother.