On Sunday, September 10th at 1:00pm, a SURPRISE gathering will be held at the Floris City Park, in Floris, Iowa. Floris is a very small town just a few miles southeast of Ottumwa. Specific details and rally points are still being worked out and will be posted ASAP. A commemorative plaque from the PGR is being made and will be presented to Mr. Croft in appreciation of his service. We would like to have as many PGR bikes, cars, trucks, bicycles, horses, what ever mode of transportation you choose to participate in honoring this Hero from a quickly fading generation.
Thomas M. Croft joined the US Navy on January 13th, 1940. After completion of his training he was first assigned to the Battle Ship USS Arizona. In the late spring of 1941 a new destroyer was commissioned and needed a crew. Seaman Croft volunteered for duty on the USS Monssen, DD 436. They reported to the Atlantic Fleet on June 27th, 1941 as part of Destroyer Division 22. The next 5 months were spent on neutrality patrols in the northwest Atlantic between the coast of New England and Iceland. On December 7th, the Monssen’s mission changed from neutral to belligerent until February 1942 when they reported to the Boston Naval Shipyard for overhaul and preparation to join the Pacific Fleet.
The Monssen and her crew directly participated in every major Naval campaign of the early Pacific war. In the role of anti-sub screening, they escorted the USS Hornet (CV-8) with the famed Lt. Col Jimmy Doolittle and his B-25s as they steamed towards their launch for the first raid on Japan. Monssen’s crew performed the same missions during the Battle of the Coral Sea along side the Yorktown and Lexington. After a brief repair stop at Pearl Harbor, Task Force 16 with the Monssen was heavily engaged at the Battle of Midway. Once again, repairs were needed at Pearl. A month’s worth of work was done on the task force to prepare for the Tonga Islands and the Japanese held Solomons. Their targets, Guadalcanal and Tulagi were within 40 miles of their position. Providing anti-sub screens as well as fire support for the 2nd Marine Regiment and escorting a damaged USS Saratoga to the Tonga Islands for repairs, the Monssen played a key role in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and the fight to keep Henderson Field in US hands.
On November 13th, 1942 (Friday), the Monssen came into direct contact with the Japanese Fleet just 3 miles north of Kukum. The Japanese objective was to bombard and cripple Henderson Field’s air operations long enough to reinforce Japanese forces on the island.
With communications and radar battle damaged, the Monssen was forced to rely on radio and optics to fight and navigate. Caught in the spotlight of a Japanese ship, the Monssen was bombarded by some 40 medium and large caliber shells. Within 20 minutes, the ship was completely immobilized and ordered abandoned. Less than 40 percent of her crew survived the battle. Just after daybreak, the ship was still barely afloat but on fire from bow to stern. Three brave sailors left the safety of a life raft to reboard the floating inferno to recover dog tags and check for survivors. CC Story, LF Sturgeon and JG Hughes climbed back onto the sinking, burning hulk to rescue 8 severely wounded but living shipmates. Thomas Croft was one of these 8 men. Suffering serious wounds to his back, neck and head, Seaman Croft was incapable of leaving the ship by himself. If not for his 3 shipmates, Tom Croft would have been lost with the ship as it now rests o n “Iron Bottom Sound”, deep under the sea’s surface at Guadalcanal.
The family and friends of this now 89-year-old retired Iowa farmer has invited the Patriot Guard Riders to help honor this living American Hero. Mr. Croft’s sacrifices and wounds left him with some serious health issues for the rest of his life. Yet, just as he and his shipmates did so long ago, he never gave up! He continued to be a productive Iowa farmer (no easy job in those days!) and raise a fine family in the community of Floris, Iowa. We want to let this man know that we appreciate everything he has done in his lifetime to make all of our lives just a little bit better. Please plan on attending if at all possible.
http://patriotguard.org/Forums/tabid/61/forumid/51/postid/201413/view/topic/Default.aspx
Thanks and ride safe,
Preach |