FIVE CLASSIC LINES SUMMED UP THE FIGHTING PHILOSOPHY . . .

Burke in 1958

Five classic lines summed up the fighting philosophy of the extraordinary squadron leader, Arleigh A. Burke, then a Commander, and by war’s end Admiral Marc Mitscher’s Chief-of-Staff, a much-decorated hero who eventually rose to become the only three-term Chief of Naval Operations.

DESRON 23 DOCTRINE

If it will help kill Japs it’s important

If it does not help kill Japs––it’s not important

Keep your ship trained for battle!

Keep your material ready for battle!

Keep your boss informed concerning readiness for battle!

Admiral Marc Mitscher and Chief of Staff Arleigh Burke
transfer over to Enterprise after Bunker Hill 
is hit twice by kamikazes.

    THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR MARKED THE BEGINNING OF the effort to capture Rabaul, and the climax of the drive up through the Solomons.  The campaign finally ended in victory on February 15, 1944 when American troops landed in the Green Islands, one hundred and twenty miles from Rabaul.

    Behind lay bloody Guadalcanal––an epitaph, an enduring symbol of American bravery and sacrifice.

From: The United States Navy in World War II
Compiled and edited by: S. E. Smith