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US veteran honours the fallen
By Graham Davis

Edition 5008, 17 May, 2007
 
LOST FRIENDS: James Grizzell lays a wreath at the memorial.
 
James Grizzell Jnr was a 19-year-old “buck private” in the US Marine Corps when Japanese bombers attacked his ship, the carrier USS Lexington in what was to become known as the Battle of the Coral Sea.

The Lexington, or Lady Lex, as she was affectionately known, was mortally damaged.

“I was one of the last to leave her,” James told Navy News.

“I was in the water for about two and a half hours before I was rescued.

“The USS Hammann picked me up.

“The Hammann saved 250 in all,” he said.

James, now 84, later married Ruth and became a successful architect in Oregon.

The couple now live in the Alaskan town of Wasilla.

James has never forgotten those who lost their lives...137 in all...when the Japanese attacked Lexington in May 1942.

When he heard that the 65th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea would be remembered in Brisbane on May 5, 2007, he and Ruth decided to make the long journey “down under.”

“We went to Anchorage, caught a plane to Hawaii and then another on to Sydney,” he said.

“Then there was the final flight from Sydney to Brisbane.”

...and so it was on a sunny Saturday, May 5, that James, proudly wearing his crimson satin Lexington jacket, was called upon to represent the ship’s company of the lost aircraft carrier and lay a wreath on the Coral Sea Memorial in Newstead Park, Brisbane.

After laying the wreath at the foot of the eagle mounted stone column, he stood back, paused.

...and remembered the 137 shipmates who didn’t come home.

Nearby similar thoughts went through the mind of sailor Jim Adams, now aged 82 and a member of the squadron division on the Lexington the day she was destroyed.He had flown in from Phoenix, Arizona for the service.

Also present were members of the Pearl Harbour Survivors Association.