Victor James Yost was born on a farm in Illinois in October 1920. His parents were farmers. Yost was one of eight children. The family lived on a 240 acre farm, but they did not make much during the Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression]. Yost made 15 cents for rabbits he caught. The family farm grew corn, wheat, and hay. Yost stayed on the farm until he was 18 years old. He did not want to be a farmer, so he joined the Navy. Yost did not like milking cows. He liked to travel, which is why he chose the Navy. He did his boot camp in Chicago, Illinois. When he finished boot camp, Yost was set to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. When he saw California, he decided not to return to Illinois, other than to see his family. From there, he joined the crew of a cruiser and went to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. It was there that he joined the crew of the Yorktown [Annotator's Note: USS Yorktown (CV-5)]. He was a seaman at the time, so he mostly swept and painted the ship. When the ship sank later in the war, Yost was a coxswain, Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class. When he was assigned to the mess hall, Yost was a Master at Arms [Annotator's Note: a form of law enforcement officer]. After the Yorktown sank, Yost returned to Pearl Harbor on the Fulton [Annotator's Note: USS Fulton (AS-11)], a repair ship. After four days, he was sent to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] then to Philadelphia [Annotator's Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] to join the crew of the Calvert [Annotator's Note: USS Calvert (APA-32)]. After their shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay [Annotator's Note: Virginia], the ship was sent to Casablanca [Annotator's Note: Casablanca, Morocco] to participate in the invasion of North Africa [Annotator's Note: Operation Torch]. There was an issue with the engine, so the ship stayed in a shipyard. The repairs took four months. Yost went through the Panama Canal and participated in the Battle of Tarawa [Annotator's Note: Tarawa, Gilbert Islands; 20 to 23 November 1943]. The ship made it to Auckland, New Zealand without an escort. Yost did not see much during the invasion because he was many miles out at sea. His ship put the Marines in their landing craft. Afterwards, Yost participated in the invasions of the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands], the Philippines, and Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan].

Victor Yost's first action against the Japanese was at the Battle of the Coral Sea [Annotator's Note: 4 to 8 May 1942]. There were two Japanese carriers in the sea against two American carriers, the Yorktown [Annotator's Note: USS Yorktown (CV-5)] and the Lexington [Annotator's Note: USS Lexington (CV-2)]. Both ships sent their planes to attack the Japanese and the Japanese did the same. The Lexington took many hits, while the Yorktown took only one. The bomb went four decks down to the armor deck, killing roughly 45 men in a repair party. The Lexington was hit badly, with its ammunition blowing up. The Lexington had to be scuttled. After returning to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor], Yost participated in the Battle of Midway [Annotator's Note: Midway Atoll; 4 to 7 June 1942]. While the fighting at Coral Sea was happening, Yost worked as an ammunition passer for a five inch gun. They were firing at the planes coming in. With all the fire, Yost could not understand how the Japanese were getting through. He saw many Japanese planes getting shot down. There were many American fighter planes around the ship. Yost did not have any close calls in the battle. The captain did a good job of dodging torpedoes. A few Japanese bombs came close to Yost's position. The ship was leaking oil, so she needed repairs at Pearl Harbor. The workmen were given 36 hours to put temporary patches on the ship because she was needed for the upcoming Battle of Midway. The initial estimate was four months of repairs, but they were given three days. There were only four American carriers at the time, so they were all needed. The Americans gained control of the sea. It was said in six minutes, the tide of the war changed. The shipyards started making ships quickly too. Kaiser Shipbuilding [Annotator's Note: Kaiser Shipyards] put out a ship every 30 days. The workers worked around the clock.

While in Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii], Victor Yost helped clean the ship. When at sea, Yost was at his general quarters, so many things did not cleaned. When in port, people had to work cleaning the ship quickly. They also had to restock the ship. One time while at sea, he went 110 days without taking on new rations. When at sea, Yost had a daily routine. He had to scrape rust and paint whenever possible. He also had to stand watch for four hours a shift. Everyone had to stand watch. Yost knew there was going to be battle with the Japanese. At Coral Sea [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Coral Sea, 4 to 8 May 1942], one of the ammunition passers ran away. He was caught and told to help the men up. He returned to his station for the remainder of the battle. Everyone was scared during battle. Everyone wanted to live. Yost did not get to see any of the ships sink. The Yorktown [Annotator's Note: USS Yorktown (CV-5)] was not near other carriers, but other ships were nearby. Yost remained by his gun incase enemy planes attacked. It was rough because he had to remain at his post and wait for something to happen. The Yorktown was hit by a bomb that went down a smoke stack and knocked out the ships power. Another bomb hit, causing the ship to list. The power finally came back on, but the captain ordered the men to abandon ship. Destroyers were around to pick up the sailors. Yost does not know which destroyer picked him up. Yost tried to shoot down enemy planes when they attacked. He wondered how the planes could get through all of the bullets in the air. The Japanese had good pilots. When the order came to abandon ship, the crew got into small boats that went into the water. Everyone took their shoes off before they got into the water. He was in the water for about 15 minutes before he made it to a small boat. Yost was worried about Japanese fighters strafing the men in the water. The destroyers would circle close to the men while picking them up. When enemy planes came on their radar screens, the destroyers would take off so they would not be easy targets. The destroyers spread out, but remained close to the men. Yost remained in the water for about 40 minutes until he was picked up. The ship was leaking oil. Everyone was covered in oil. Sailors gave clothes to the men who were picked up. Yost did not know what was going to happen when he was ordered to abandon ship.

After the Battle of Midway [Annotator's Note: Midway Atoll; 4 to 7 June 1942], Victor Yost was brought back to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] for reassignment. Yost was sent back to Frisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] for his reassignment. They liked Boatman's Mates because they were short on the rank. He did not have any trouble getting attached to a new ship. Sailors were supposed to get shore duty after four years at sea. Yost waited 12 years before getting shore duty. He did not mind because he was single. When Yost went ashore, he got married. He was assigned to an APA [Annotator's Note: attack transport ship] and decommissioned it in 1946 in New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York]. His last operation was bringing troops back from various bases when their enlistments were finished. He traveled to China, Sicily, Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria], and many other places. Yost brought 250 German prisoners to the United States. Germany had been sinking ships. The German prisoners were kept in the bottom of the ship, but were brought up for fresh air during the day. The prisoners would count the ships to make sure none had been sunk. Yost thought the prisoners were fine. He thought they were like the people of the United States who were forced to fight. The Catholic Pope [Annotator's Note: Pope Benedict XVI] had been drafted during the war. The war changed Yost's life. He traveled around. He believes Japan started the war. They wanted land close enough to bomb the United States. Yost believes that Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] saved his life and ended the war by dropping the atomic bombs. He thinks the Navy helped him mature. He did not know much before joining the Navy, but got to see other countries and how they live. The service makes men out of people. He learned how to take orders. Yost thinks America was changed by the war. The country realized it could do things faster. The country grew up because of the war. Yost thinks the war changed the world. The war told the world who was strong and who was weak. He believes America and Russia grew up. The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] shows younger generations what the country fought for. Yost does not know if schools teach the history of the war.