The night of Nov. 3, 1944,
the USS Reno was on its way from Ulithi Atoll to the Philippines. It
was 11:25 p.m. A group of sailors were asleep in their bunks when a
torpedo from a Japanese submarine struck the living compartment where
they slept.
Water rushed into the chamber, filling it instantly.
Only two sailors made it out alive. Third Class Machinist's Mate Donald
Sauvageau wasn't one of them.
Sixty-four years later, his
brother Kenneth Savageau (his name is spelled slightly different
because of a mistake on his birth certificate), has donated a scrapbook
commemorating his brother's death to the Veterans' History Project.
"When
I made the scrapbook, it was more for my benefit more than anything,
but then I heard of this organization," Savageau said.
The Library of Congress' Veterans' History Project works with volunteers to collect and preserve "stories of wartime service."
Kenneth
Savageau's scrapbook contains correspondence between the Navy and his
father after Donald was reported missing in action, as well as the
history of the Reno. It's at the North Dakota State Historical Society,
located in the Heritage Center.
Donald, the second oldest of
four children, was born in Fargo. Donald was 18 at the time of his
death. His brother, Kenneth, is two years younger.
His dad, a World War I vet, worked as the assistant branch manager of a tractor company.
Kenneth Savageau doesn't remember much of his brother, growing up.
"I feel strange, being the one to memorialize him," Kenneth Savageau said. "My brother and I fought like cats and dogs."
But he has no grudges against his brother.
Growing
up, Donald Sauvageau held the usual childhood interests of a boy in the
'30s and '40s. He enjoyed camping with friends and outdoor sports.
"I think I remember him being on a baseball team or something of that sort," Kenneth Savageau said.
Although
the family would later move back to Fargo, when Donald Sauvageau joined
the Navy, it was from Billings, Mont., where his father had been
transferred.
His first assignment as a machinist's mate was
aboard the Reno, joining the ship's crew shortly after it was
commissioned in December 1943.
The Reno saw its share of combat
during Donald Sauvageau's time with it. Its mission was to escort
aircraft carriers in the Pacific.
The Reno participated in the
Battle of the Philippine Sea and the invasion of Guam before moving
with the U.S. offensive against Japan into the western Pacific.
On
Oct. 24 of 1944, when the USS Princeton was set ablaze by a Japanese
dive bomber, the Reno assisted in the attempts to douse the flaming
ship. The fires were so hot that the paint on the Reno bubbled, and in
the end, the Princeton was lost. After the evacuation of the surviving
crew of the Princeton, it was the Reno that was ordered to sink it.
Finally came that fateful night of Nov. 3.
The Reno was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-41.
Badly
damaged but not sunk, the crippled Reno was towed to the advanced fleet
base at Ulithi after salvage crews managed to stabilize it.
Due
to restrictions, the Navy was unable to tell the Sauvageaus all of the
details of what had happened. Instead, they were simply notified by
telegram on Nov. 21 that Donald Sauvageau had been lost at sea and that
more details would be made available as restrictions were lifted.
In
a later letter, the new chaplain of the Reno, Rudolph Ramseth, hinted
to the family that Donald Sauvageau wouldn't be coming home.
"Officially,
I am not permitted to give any information either as to the action of
the ship, nor any further definite information about your son Donald.
But I think it would be wrong for me to encourage you in your hope that
he will be recovered," Ramseth wrote.
When the details of Donald
Sauvageau's death came from M.A. Sawyer, the new captain of the Reno,
on Sept. 1, 1945, it was no surprise to the Sauvageau family.
"I
am truly sorry that security measures have prevented the Navy from
informing you any sooner," Sawyer wrote. "Please take comfort in
knowing that Donald contributed to the victory our nation now enjoys,
and his memory will always be honored by his shipmates."
Donald Sauvageau's memory has been honored by more than just his shipmates.
Since
his death, he has been awarded the Purple Heart and been commemorated
on the Military Order of the Purple Heart and World War II memorials in
Billings.
(James Ziegler is a student at Bismarck State College. He can be reached at 302-0822.)
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