The raid on Japan's capital the night of March 9-10, 1945 killed an estimated 100,000 people. To those who witnessed it from above, though, all that resonated was a "sea of flame."
This photo and article is about my late father, Martin Sheridan, who was a Boston Globe War Correspondent in the Pacific in WWII. Thank you for writing this article about him. He was also the only non combatant allowed out on a submarine war patrol during WWII. He was not supposed to be there but apparently Admiral Chester Nimitz let him go. Dad subsequently wrote his second book on the USS Bullhead about his experiences on the first patrol in 1945. He dedicated his book to the sailors on the submarine’s third patrol which was sunk by the Japanese on the final day of the war. It’s title is “Overdue and Presumed Lost.” My father was also the only newsman who was in a B29 flying in the firebomb raid over Tokyo in 1944. He reported to Curtis LeMay at the news conference after the raid that his plane was the only one with a camera that took photos of the raid. He also was on a transport ship (USS Fremont) in 1944 in the Pacific 2,000 miles from Boston when a young sailor walked up to him on movie night. He asked if my father was Martin Sheridan. When my father answered yes, the sailor told my father that he was the man who pulled him out of the burning Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston on November 28th 1942. The 492 victims died in the fast moving fire that lasted less than 20 minutes. My father received 3rd degree burns but sadly his first wife died in the fire.
This photo and article is about my late father, Martin Sheridan, who was a Boston Globe War Correspondent in the Pacific in WWII. Thank you for writing this article about him. He was also the only non combatant allowed out on a submarine war patrol during WWII. He was not supposed to be there but apparently Admiral Chester Nimitz let him go. Dad subsequently wrote his second book on the USS Bullhead about his experiences on the first patrol in 1945. He dedicated his book to the sailors on the submarine’s third patrol which was sunk by the Japanese on the final day of the war. It’s title is “Overdue and Presumed Lost.” My father was also the only newsman who was in a B29 flying in the firebomb raid over Tokyo in 1944. He reported to Curtis LeMay at the news conference after the raid that his plane was the only one with a camera that took photos of the raid. He also was on a transport ship (USS Fremont) in 1944 in the Pacific 2,000 miles from Boston when a young sailor walked up to him on movie night. He asked if my father was Martin Sheridan. When my father answered yes, the sailor told my father that he was the man who pulled him out of the burning Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston on November 28th 1942. The 492 victims died in the fast moving fire that lasted less than 20 minutes. My father received 3rd degree burns but sadly his first wife died in the fire.