Ellsworth Kendig
Age: 89
Born: Jan. 3, 1922
Hometown: Detroit
Residence: Indian Wells
Military branch: U.S. Navy; USS Edmonds (DE-406)
Years served: May 31, 1942 - June 12, 1946
Rank: Lieutenant JG
Family: Wife Doni Rae; four children, Robert Kendig of Aspen, Colo., Richard Kendig of Puget Sound, Wash., Susan Willen of Redondo Beach and Maggie Brown of Balboa Island; seven grandchildren.
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U.S. Navy veteran Ellsworth Kendig was a gunnery officer aboard the destroyer escort USS Edmonds.
The ship was assigned to the Pacific, where it protected convoys from air and sea attack.
One of Kendig's last assignments lasted nearly three months.
“In Okinawa, they had kamikazes all over the damn place,” Kendig said. “We circled that island for 89 consecutive days. We were cruising around trying to keep subs, aircraft and ships from hitting our ships.”
The USS Edmonds — a “subchaser” — was armed with specialized artillery — including a device called a “hedgehog” — designed to blow up underwater intruders.
The hedgehog had a group of rockets that shot into the water in a circular pattern, surrounded the sub and blasted it to pieces.
Kendig's first combat mission was the invasion of Moratoi Island, where its sister ship, the USS Shelton was sunk by a Japanese submarine.
The USS Edmonds participated in invasion landings in the Philippines, including Leyte Gulf and Lingayen Gulf.
That's where Kendig first encountered Japanese dive bombers.
“We got hit from all directions,” Kendig said. “They were frightening.”
Kendig said the pilot would come tearing in, drop a bomb on one ship, then try to dive and crash into a second ship.
“They came in low so you couldn't see them. Suddenly, they'd zoom up into the sky.”
Once, a bomber was racing toward the USS Edmonds — and closing in fast.
“We opened up with the enemy 200 yards away. It just blew it into pieces.”
“It was so close, you could even see the pilot sitting in his seat.”
Kendig ducked between two big 40 mm guns when the plane came zooming in.
“Those 40s were firing — ‘boom!' ‘boom!' ‘boom!' We thought, ‘Happy days! We got that guy!'”
As gunnery officer, Kendig was in charge of about 20 guys who were responsible for keeping the guns in working order.
The salt water — which constantly lapped up onto the deck — could do major damage to the mechanisms.
“They maintained the equipment so it was ready to go. They had to work hard to keep the guns clean and functioning.”
In January of 1945, USS Edmonds joined the U.S. 5th Fleet in Ulithi — an atoll in the Caroline Islands that served as a staging area for U.S. naval operations.
After getting organized and picking up food and supplies, the men were off to Iwo Jima.
“They sent kamikazes all the way from Japan. They had just enough fuel to get out there.”
The convoy set a smoke screen to shield themselves from the fighter pilots.
It worked at least once.
“We heard them zooming around us. It was an absolute miracle they didn't hit us. Most of them went into the water.”
But the enemy hit its mark on Feb. 21, 1945.
“Three kamikazes came in,” Kendig explained. “One was shot down, two hit the USS Bismarck Sea.”
“The explosion literally blew men over the side. We picked up 376 men. We were concerned about capsizing.”
Some of the men were transferred to a hospital ship, others were treated aboard the USS Edmonds, where a doctor worked all night trying to save wounded seamen.
“We had a burial at sea the next day. Fifty-four pound projectiles were used to carry them down to the bottom. That was a sad, sad time.”
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II on Sundays. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
