The new USS Bunker Hill was planning to celebrate its 25th anniversary, and they wanted to honor Austin. Predicting a ‘no’, Dennis asked the question — would he be willing to go?
A silence fell between father and son.

Dennis watched as his father’s eyes filled to the brim with tears.
“Yes, I have to do that,” Austin said.

After keeping the visions of smoke, fire and blood a secret for more than 65 years, Austin was prepared to tell his story, a story he never told during his time as a student at MSU and throughout the rest of his life. He is one of countless Spartans who has served their country and one of many who served during World War II. Visiting campus for the first time in 15 years Wednesday, Austin reflected on a time when campus grew by the thousands as veterans returned from war. Many, not unlike Austin himself, were unable to talk about the horrors they had seen. Years later, he has decided he’s ready.

The history
Austin, now 87, was drafted in 1945 and assigned to work on the USS Bunker shortly after graduating from high school.

That year, the aircraft carrier set its course for Japan. As a weather engineer, it was his job to write daily weather reports for the admiral.

Six months after the ship set sail, tragedy struck. It was May 11, 1945.

“We were landing our planes that were coming back from a bombing run and along came two enemy planes,” he said.

While the soldiers were performing their regular routine of ushering in planes returning from other missions, Japanese soldiers committed two suicide attacks by crashing into the ship, each dropping a bomb upon impact. The first plane collided into the top flight deck and 30 seconds later, a second plane hit the side of Austin’s office, just outside his window.

“It happened so quickly nobody had time take cover,” he said.

The ensuing explosion was only further fueled by the gasoline barrels on board.

“Everything was a ball of fire,” he said. “No matter how much water we threw on it, it wouldn’t go out.”

Because an aircraft crashed near the door to his office, Austin was unable to escape. When the enemy plane was removed and Austin was able to exit, he immediately took in the sight of 15 gunners shot, still sitting behind their weapons — lifeless.

He ran to assist his shipmates man the firehose, but despite their efforts, the veteran said the fire burned for more than 24 hours.

The devastating attacks took the lives of nearly 370 crew members.

To this day, Austin said he believes someone should have noticed the enemy planes approaching the ship.

“Nobody saw them coming, and nobody reported it,” he said. “I always thought somebody goofed and still do.”

Shutting it out
Soon after the war ended, Austin returned to the U.S., married the woman he had left behind and enrolled at Michigan State College — MSU’s former name.

Although he couldn’t explain why, the veteran didn’t want to talk about what he had experienced during the war.

“Most everybody that’s been in the service or been in the war understands that you went through it, but you’re glad to be out of it and you just want to go about your life,” Austin said. “It’s just something you don’t bring up much.”

Growing up, Cindy Norton knew the war was a sensitive subject for her father.

“You could sense that it was difficult for him to talk about it,” she said.

Michael Stamm, assistant professor in the department of history, said Austin’s desire to leave behind what he has experienced in the war was not unusual for young soldiers of World War II.

“Veterans come home and they often have very difficult times readjusting to life domestically,” he said. “They would like to do everything they can to forget the horrible things they saw. … If you’re 18 or 19 years old now, that’s the age people go to college. But back then, people went off to war.”

Cindy said she often wondered what her father had experienced overseas, but was left only to daydream about his possible adventures.

“I got somewhat of a picture from the photographs (he showed me),” she said.

“I often think to myself what it would be like to be on that ship.”

Reliving the memories
When Matthew Graham, the public affairs official of the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), heard from the family of a soldier of the original ship, he was ecstatic. Graham invited the Nortons to San Diego to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ship.

When Austin and his family arrived, the current crew crowded around, animated by the arrival of a veteran of their ship’s namesake.

“(They were) treating him like a rock star,” Cindy said. “They were excited, and they wanted his autograph (and) to take photographs with him.”

The soldiers began asking Austin about his experiences on the first USS Bunker Hill. Dennis scolded himself for not telling the shipmates his father likely wouldn’t answer their questions.

Suddenly, Austin began to answer every single question the soldiers fired at him, describing experiences ranging from the impact of the bombs to the loss of many of his crewmates.

Dennis said he was shocked his father finally released all the details he had kept from his family for years.

“It was an emotional experience for me,” he said. “Here’s my father who (has) been totally closed up, and all at once he’s opened up and telling these stories. It certainly put it in a whole new light for me.”

Graham said the experience was not only meaningful for Austin, but for current members of the ship’s crew.

“It’s important for our sailors to have that understanding of our history,” he said. “I think it’s very meaningful to be able to meet someone who (has) got that same background for more than sixty years. … There’s a lot of pride there.”

Cindy said the trip to California to see the ship he once called home was something her father will treasure forever.

“Dad keeps telling us over and over, ‘That was the best weekend of my life,’” she said. “In 87 years, he’s had a lot (of) weekends. It really impacted him tremendously.”