Russell Thornton served on the Benjamin Franklin or "Big Ben".

The following story involves a school project to tell soldiers' and sailors' stories for the Library of Congress. The story originally ran in the Dearborn County Register and was written by Michele Stegman, who submitted it to CET.

Story Credit to:
Register Publications, Lawrenceburg

RUSSELL THORNTON

It started as a state mandated writing project for Mary Tuttle's eighth grade English class at Sunman-Dearborn Middle School and ended in the Library of Congress.

According to state standards, said Tuttle, students have to learn interview techniques and write a biography. She received an e-newsletter from Senator Richard Lugar that mentioned the Special Veterans Project, for which veterans submit their stories for inclusion in the Library of Congress. Tuttle decided that having her students do this project would not only fulfill the state standards, it would make writing more meaningful to the students.

Tuttle also felt that eighth graders often feel that they have little to contribute and by doing this, they were able to make a difference.

She gave her students the choice of interviewing an older relative or a veteran. One student who interviewed a grandparent said she used to go to her grandparents house and watch TV while her parents and grandparents talked. After she did the interview, she now sits and talks with them.

Several students chose to interview veterans. Tuttle contacted Lugar's office and she said they were very helpful. ''This is a project that is dear to Lugar's heart,'' she said.

At the Library of Congress website Tuttle found interview forms, sample questions and sample interviews and made the assignment.

One of her students was Kirk Hubbard, son of Steve and Diana Hubbard. He chose to interview a veteran and the veteran he chose was Russell Thornton.

During World War II Russell Thornton was a 2nd Class Aviation Electrician aboard the Essex class aircraft carrier, the USS Franklin.

Thornton said he got a letter from the draft board but decided to enlist in the Navy because he didn't want to be walking in the army. ''As long as the ship was afloat, you had hot meals and a place to sleep,'' said Thornton.

Thornton went to the Great Lakes Naval station for training in the spring of 1944. Then he was sent to aviation electrician school in Chicago. He was sent to Rhode Island, then to Virginia where he boarded the Franklin for a shakedown cruise, to learn the ropes and find out if the ship needed any repair.

The war was raging in the South Pacific so the Franklin headed to Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal, then went on to the South Pacific where Thornton saw his first action of the war on the Fourth of July, 1944.

''We ran pre-invasion raids on South Pacific islands such as Iwo Jima and Guam,'' said Thornton.

In October 1944, off the coast of the Philippines, the carrier was hit by a Komikaze plane and had to go back to the state of Washington for repairs. Then it was right back into action.

The Franklin, and Thornton were at Okinawa then moved on toward Japan. ''We were closer to Japan than any major warship and we just got too close and got hit by two 500 pound bombs,'' said Thornton.

''It was raining that day and he (the Japanese plane) came out of the clouds right over us, right down the flight deck and dropped the bombs. We had about 50 planes fully loaded with their ammo, bombs, and gasoline on deck. We were ready for a raid on Kyoshu and were just waiting for a break in the weather.''

When the two bombs hit all those planes with all their gasoline, that caused much of the damage to the ship.

When the bombs hit, Thornton was in his bunk. ''I hadn't slept for two nights. I was going to eat but something, or Someone, got me by the hand and took me to my compartment instead of the mess hall. Everyone in the mess hall was killed when the bombs hit.''

The Franklin lost over 700 men out of about 3,000, said Thornton.
He went to the back end, or fantail, of the ship. The ship was on fire, mainly from the gasoline. Then the fire hit the oxygen that was stored on the flight deck for the pilots. There was an explosion that blew off the edge of the flight deck.

''I found a life preserver and jumped into the water. There were other American ships around and the destroyer, USS Hunt, picked up about 400 of us. It was crowded.''

The Franklin was dead in the water and listing badly but could be towed. A cruiser, the Pittsburg, towed her out of danger. A skeleton crew managed to get the engines running and got the carrier back to Pearl Harbor. Thornton went aboard the Franklin in Pearl Harbor just long enough to collect his things, then he was in the hospital for smoke inhalation.

The Franklin was being repaired when the war ended. Repairs were ended and the ship was scrapped.

Thornton was sent to a hospital in New York. He had the only radio in the hospital so when the war ended several people had gathered in his room. Two nurses sat on his bed while they all listened to the news that Japan had surrendered.

''So I can honestly say that when the war ended I was in bed with two Navy nurses,'' said Thornton, laughing.

At the end of the war, Thornton was still single but was engaged. He married in May of 1947. Originally from Ripley county Thornton moved to Lawrenceburg after the war where he still lives. He worked at Schenley for 46 years.

As for his war time experiences, Thornton said, ''I wouldn't want to do it over but I wouldn't take anything for the experience. They were scary times.''

Kirk Hubbard got all this down in his interview with Thornton and turned in his project. Fourteen of Tuttle's students submitted their interviews with veterans to the Library of Congress and will be included in the library's records. In August 2006, Thornton received a certificate from the Library of Congress and Senator Lugar, ''for participating in the Veterans History Project and in recognition of the supreme dedication to the United States of America.''

Hubbard said that when his teacher gave the assignment he groaned because he thought it was going to be just another report. But later he felt really good about what he had done. He and his dad always liked history and this was an interesting project to do.

Tuttle said that her students learned a lot doing this assignment and were able to make a real contribution to American history. She said, ''I want to express my heartfelt thanks to those who took part in the project. Some students didn't have older relatives in the area so neighbors stepped in.'' She said it was a real commitment of time on the part of those interviewed and she appreciates the help they gave her students.

Anyone can take part in the Special Veterans Project and send in their stories from any war, including World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Dessert Storm and the Iraq War. For information on how to participate go to http://www.loc.gov/vets/.