John Armstrong
from an email

I only know of this disaster (firstly) from the newspapers at the time, but then while being attached to the Second Marine Division as a Pharmacist mate, and serving at Tarawa & Saipan I met a Ph M 1st class by the name of Sam Hodges. A good friend. "Smilin Sam"

Somehow the subject of the school explosion came up one day and he told me about his sisters.

Sam served on Guadalcanal so when rotation came up after the Tarawa battle he was the only long term company member who did not get sent back to the states.

I never saw Sam smile again. He would only say. "I won't make it home". Sam was killed on Saipan.

I have suspected that he was killed in the West Loch explosion at Pearl Harbor. One of the Navy's greatest secrets of the war. Loaded LST's blew up. Several of our corpsmen show deaths the first day of the Saipan campaign. How many Marine casualties show that date I do not know.

John Armstrong
Kirtland Ohio