USS Franklin (CV-13) Documentaries, Videos, And Oral Histories

Until my book comes out, here are other sources that provide more information about USS Franklin (CV-13).

Documentaries

I want to give a shout-out to the documentary, “Apocalypse ’45, which covers World War II in the Pacific during the final nine months of the war. The digital photography has been remastered. The part showing Franklin (pictured on the cover <–) is awesome and gives the viewer a sense of the enormity of the explosions triggered by the bombing attack. I have watched the original video, but in this documentary, it has been remastered. The difference is staggering. This documentary is not available on YouTube; you can rent or buy it from Amazon.com.

USS Franklin: Honor Restored is a documentary produced by Joseph Springer, author of the book Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin In World War II. I recommend it, as well. As I write this, I see the documentary is available on FreeVee.

YOUTUBE Videos

There are dozens of videos on YouTube featuring USS Franklin. The simplest and best way is to search for “USS Franklin.” Note that the ship’s name does not contain the name “Ben.” It’s USS Franklin, not “USS Ben Franklin,” despite at least one YouTuber naming it after Ben.

Books

Most of the books about USS Franklin are out of print. I often get mine from abebooks.com. Here’s a blog post, Books About USS Franklin Or Its Crew, that may be helpful.

Oral Histories

The National World War II Museum in New Orleans has a Digital Collection containing oral histories. Several crew members, including Raymond Bailey and James Metcalf, have oral histories recorded there.

The National Museum of the Pacific War also contains many oral histories from Karl Braddick (the museum misspelled his name as “Carl Braddock”), Walt Gallagher, Jack Wensel, and many others.

The US Naval Institute maintains an oral history collection featuring retired senior officers. Admiral James Russell, USN (Ret.), and Captain Stephen Jurika ‘s, USN (Ret.) oral histories both contain valuable information.

I’ve spent some time exploring the collections listed above. I decided to ask ChatGPT to list other universities and museums containing WWII oral histories. Here’s the response I received:

“Universities

1. Columbia University: The Columbia Center for Oral History Research (CCOHR) has extensive collections, including those focused on WWII.
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: The Southern Oral History Program includes WWII veterans’ interviews.
3. Baylor University: The Institute for Oral History has a collection of WWII veteran interviews.
4. University of Florida: The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program includes WWII oral histories.
5. Rutgers University: The Rutgers Oral History Archives features interviews with WWII veterans.
6. University of Texas at Austin: The Voces Oral History Project, while primarily focused on Latino/a experiences, includes WWII veterans.

Museums

1. The National WWII Museum: Located in New Orleans, it maintains a vast collection of oral histories from WWII veterans.
2. Smithsonian Institution: The National Museum of American History has numerous oral histories, including those from WWII.
3. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: This museum in Washington, D.C., includes testimonies from WWII veterans who witnessed the Holocaust.
4. Library of Congress: The Veterans History Project collects and preserves personal accounts of American war veterans, including those from WWII.
5. The Imperial War Museum: Based in the UK, it holds a comprehensive collection of oral histories from WWII veterans.
6. Australian War Memorial: It maintains oral histories of Australian WWII veterans.

These institutions offer invaluable resources for understanding the personal experiences of those who served during World War II.”

ChatGPT neglected to list the University of Southern Mississippi as having an oral history program that records the histories of many Mississippians, including WWII and other veterans.

(Looks like I have my work cut out for me!)

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Did you arrive here via a search engine? I am the author of the forthcoming book Heroes By The Hundreds: The Story of the USS Franklin (CV-13). In addition to writing about the bravery of the crews that saved her, I will discuss the lessons we can learn in leadership and decision-making and the changes the US Navy made because of those lessons.

Feel free to follow me on Facebook. There, I am M. Glenn Ross, Author. I also write a monthly newsletter, Glenn’s Action Report, about subjects I find interesting in my research. You can sign up for it below. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. Thanks for reading.
-Glenn