CH – What did you do after the plane hit?
HJ – We lost power. The CIC stopped. Everything stopped. We knocked down two other planes with the forward 5” and the two 40mm. A short time passed, and the captain ordered us to abandon ship. I went down two ladders to the spud locker and the XO (executive officer) was there. He ordered me to give a hand on deck. We began dumping potato crates for the sailors to float on.

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CH – How did you get off the ship?
HJ – I had a Mae West life preserver on me. I had always wanted the belt-type life preserver as they were cooler, but they had pinholes and didn’t float. I don’t know how long I was in the water, I later told people six hours. Finally, an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) came to pick us up. It appeared to me as big as a battlewagon. They came under fire and had to back off. The LCI returned, and the crew threw the cargo net over the side. I couldn’t pull myself up the net. A big, burly sailor picked me up and threw me on the deck. We were given dry clothes. Where in the world they had all these clothes I’ll never know. Other ships were picking up our survivors and helped fighting the fires on the Mullany.

CH – What were your thoughts while you were in the water?
HJ – I thought about don’t kick your shoes off while in the water because you could cut on the coral and get gangrene. I must have swallowed about half that Pacific Ocean. I wasn’t too worried about sharks, but I wasn’t going to make any big splashes either.

CH – Your crew was able to save the Mullany from sinking. What happened next?
HJ – That ship was tore up pretty bad where the plane hit. I found out later that the crew from amidships back was unaware of the abandon ship order for some time because they were cut off. I rejoined the ship at Kerama Retto. It was just a graveyard of ships. The guys that were killed were on the fantail in body bags. I had to go back and identify my friend Poling from the guys whose bodies were charred. I had to stand watch because the Japanese were bringing suicide boats in there. Another ship with a hole in the side had Japs swim into it and kill a crewmember. I carried a rifle on the burial detail as the island was not secured yet. We were there for weeks while they made the ship seaworthy. I was amazed when they did. Only one screw worked, which hurt our stability.

CH – What was next for the Mullany?
HJ – We went to Enewitok for supplies and fuel and then headed back to San Francisco to Bethlehem Steel for repairs. We were refitted, had torpedoes removed and quad 40mm added. We headed back to Hawaii, picked up some SeaBees and went to Charleston, South Carolina, to be put into the mothball fleet.

Harlan and Delores Johnson

Harlan later volunteered for the Army and was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division on occupation duty in Japan. He fought with the 1st/7th Cavalry from the Pusan perimeter to Pyongyang and was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and five battle stars for his duty in Korea. He left the military and returned to Illinois, ultimately settling in his hometown of Monmouth. He was a union official for 20 years before retiring in 1990. Harlan has been married to his wife Delores for 55 years, and they have three children. He spends his time golfing, attending Navy reunions and working for the Democratic Party. Click here to read his early experiences in the Illinois Militia and the U.S. Navy.

Click to read a review of the new documentary on PBS about surviving kamikaze pilots, Wings of Defeat.

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