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Tom Begley, United States Marine Corps

It Was 1943, World War II had been raging for over two years. My Brother, Tom Begley, and his friend Ralph Thissen set on a bench in the corridor at Chowchilla High School with the other senior boys, laughing talking and maybe taking a glance at the girls passing by.

" What Branch of the military are you going to join?" someone asked, setting off a debate on the topic. Within a year all of the seniors were in the service. Tommy joined the Marines, while Ralph was assigned to the Navy.

American men were fighting battles in every part of the world. So what were the chances of two freinds from a dicky town in California becoming shipmates? Tom and Ralph ran into each other while they stood in chow line aboard the USS Saratoga. Needless to say they were surprised and excited to discover both had been assigned to the Saratoga.

Early 1945, the Saratoga put to sea as the flagship of a task force heading for Tokyo. The night before the Tokyo raid, Ralph went to Tom's quarters. These tow young men. who once sat together on a branch in a high school corridor, were now sitting on a bunk of an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean talking about home, war and death.

My Brother told Ralph he knew he would never live through the war and asked Ralph to take a message to his family,. Ralph promised.

After

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