[Annotator's Note: The interview begins with Fred Gemmel already in conversation with the interviewer.] Gemmel arrived in Leyte Harbor, the Philippines on 1 January [Annotator's Note: 1 January 1945], the Battle of Leyte Harbor [Annotator's Note: Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23 to 26 October 1944 at Leyte Gulf, Philippines] had already taken place. His ship's job was to shell beaches to soften them up for landings. Gemmel graduated high school in 1942 and began an apprenticeship. At age 17, he wanted to enlist so he would not get drafted into the Army, as he wanted to be regular Navy. His mother gave him permission eight days before he turned 18. He completed boot camp in Farragut [Annotator's Note: Farragut Naval Training Station in Bayview, Idaho], then went on to torpedo school in Norfolk, Virginia. After a year and a half in the Navy, he was assigned to the Laffey [Annotator's Note: USS Laffey (DD-724)] at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. He had been shocked about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. All of his friends joined the service. In Farragut, the camp was set up after the war had started. He learned how to be in the military. The training was not very long. He finished boot camp as a Seaman Apprentice. He had previous experience as a machinist, which the Navy thought would serve him well as a torpedoman, although he had wanted to be an aviation mechanic on carriers. He graduated as a Torpedoman 3rd Class and was assigned to a destroyer tender, the USS Altair [Annotator's Note: USS Altair (AD-11)], then ended up on the Laffey as a Torpedoman 2nd Class. During an air strike, there was nothing for the torpedomen to do. He was responsible for depth charges [Annotator's Note: also called a depth bomb; an anti-submarine explosive munition resembling a metal barrel or drum]. He never even fired a torpedo. By the time Gemmel was assigned to the Laffey, the ship had already participated in Normandy [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. Gemmel only saw the Pacific war. His torpedo crew of ten men did not have much occasion to spend time with other crews.

Fred Gemmel [Annotator's Note: a Torpedoman 2nd Class assigned to the USS Laffey (DD-724)] headed to the Philippines, with the goal of getting rid of the Japanese around the islands. They shelled Mindoro [Annotator's Note: Mindoro, Philippines]. They experienced a typhoon in the South China Sea which was scary. He never went ashore in the Philippines. After that, the ship performed escort duties with battleships, including to Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan], Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February-26 March 1945; Iwo Jima, Japan], and Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed operation Iceberg, 1 April-22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan] where they were hit while performing picket duty [Annotator's Note: the role of being stationed outside a formation of ships or specified area as a rescue or warning unit]. There was only one other ship in the area, a small minesweeper [Annotator's Note: small warship designed to remove naval mines]. Gemmel's job, when the planes started coming in, was to help fight fires or whatever was needed, spending most of his time getting out of the way. His most memorable experience was seeing a plane coming in low over the water, straight for the Laffey. Two five-inch guns [Annotator's Note: five-inch, 38 caliber naval guns] hit the plane which went into the water. Throughout the war, he was protected by his faith and his mother's prayers. After they were hit, communication between the bridge [Annotator's Note: a room or platform of a ship from which the ship can be commanded] and the engine room had been cut off. The ship was only able to go in circles because the rudder had been jammed. A plane went straight into the rear gun mount.

Fred Gemmel [Annotator's Note: a Torpedoman 2nd Class assigned to the USS Laffey (DD-724)] saw kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft] in the Philippines, once the Japanese could see that the end was coming. Gemmel could not understand how anyone could do a thing like that, but it was their belief. The more experienced Japanese pilots would strafe and bomb before flying into the ship, while the less experienced would simply fly into whatever ship they could find. It was the honorable thing for them to do, a form of harakiri [Annotator's Note: also called Seppuku, Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment]. At Kerama Retto, Okinawa [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945 at Okinawa, Japan] the Laffey was sent on radar picket [Annotator's Note: a ship stationed outside a formation of ships or geographical areas as a rescue or warning unit], essentially alone. Gemmel did not know what was going on until he saw planes coming after them. General Quarters [Annotator's Note: battle stations] were called, everyone went to their stations. Planes started bombing and strafing them. Marine pilots in their Corsairs [Annotator's Note: Vought F4U Corsair carrier-based fighter-bomber] were a godsend. One pilot flew underneath a Japanese plane forcing it up and stopping it from hitting the bridge, saving the ship. A man from Seattle, named Jack Andersek, [Annotator's Note phonetic spelling] was stationed on a 20mm gun [Annotator's Note: Oerlikon 20 mm cannon] and fired at a plane coming in to drop a bomb. He missed it and was killed by the bomb. The ship took several bombs and several planes that day. Gemmel liked Captain Becton [Annotator's Note: US Navy Rear Admiral Frederick Julian Becton] very much. He was a good skipper and a fair man. The attack lasted 90 minutes. The Marine pilots chased a lot of the approximately 35 Japanese planes away, and the Laffey's antiaircraft batteries shot many of them down. All of their guns were out of service except for one 20mm. One of the junior officers was hit in the head with shrapnel. There was a lot of confusion.

Fred Gemmel's ship [Annotator's Note: the USS Laffey (DD-724)] was assisted into a port after sustaining damage [Annotator's Note: from kamikaze - Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft – attacks during the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945 at Okinawa, Japan]. They then returned to Pearl [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] as an escort without any depth charges [Annotator's Note: also called a depth bomb; an anti-submarine explosive munition resembling a metal barrel or drum], torpedoes, and only one 20mm gun [Annotator's Note: Oerlikon 20 mm cannon], and then onto Seattle [Annotator's Note: Seattle, Washington], where tours of the ship were conducted to show the damage to the public. The Laffey then went to Tacoma [Annotator's Note: Tacoma, Washington]. During one of these tours, Gemmel's eye was caught by a woman who was coming aboard with a friend. He married her three years later. After repairs, the Laffey went back to Pearl, and Gemmel was nearing his 21st birthday. He was discharged in Bremerton [Annotator's Note: Bremerton, Washington]. His tour of duty on the Laffey was about 18 months long. He went back to an apprenticeship as a machinist in a Navy yard for three years. He then used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to go to the University of Puget Sound, College of Puget Sound at the time, in Tacoma, trying to find himself. Gemmel then went to business school. He worked as a machinist at the Panama Canal Zone for nine and a half years, mostly driving ships through the locks [Annotator's Note: a device used for raising and lowering watercraft between stretches of water of different levels], retiring at age 49 and returning to Tacoma. He had four kids. He has never been to reunions since they were all on the east coast. He did not get to know many men on the ship besides his own crew.

Fred Gemmel is proud to have served on the Laffey [Annotator's Note: the USS Laffey (DD-724)]. He did not realize it when he was younger, but now he knows what it is like to be a serviceman. He spent 25 years in the Navy reserves. It is important for kids to learn about the war. He would serve again if he had the chance. He liked being in the Navy and was proud to wear the uniform. He enjoyed traveling throughout the world. He enjoyed being on a ship even though the weather was rough sometimes