They fought like they were battleship class vessels and only with what they had to use.

Yep all of them are my hero's...medals don't reflect enough honors...

My father served on the USS Heermann (DD532) during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He told me he saw the Gambier Bay getting hit. His ship made a torpedo run on the Yamato. The torpedoes missed but they forced the Yamato to take evasive maneuvers which monumentally took the Yamato out of action. My father didn’t have any kind words about Halsey. He felt he left Taffy 3 unprotected. However, Taffy 3 turned the tide on the Japanese causing them to leave. The Japanese erroneously thought the Fletcher class destroyers were light cruisers. One error was the Japanese fired armor piercing shells which passed through the ship without exploding. One of Yamato’s shell passed through the bow of my dad’s ship destroying his bunk department. My dad said the Navy replaced his uniforms but not his jar of jawbreakers. I bet your dad’s ship had a favorite bar on Hotel Street in Honolulu. My dad’s ship did. My dad and I found his ship’s bar. Unfortunately the owner refurbished the bar. Sailors carved their name and ship on the wood. My dad has passed after serving in WWII, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. My brother and I served in the Vietnam War. Mom was a nervous wreck! 😂 If you want to find out more about your dad and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, try to go to the Pacific War Museum in Fredericksburg, TX. It has a room dedicated to that battle. I donated everything I had from my father to the museum. They are categorizing and digitizing everything on the Pacific War for future generations. You will enjoy the place. They also have a reenactment of an island landing that is interesting to witness. Sorry I made this too long of a read. Bless your father!