My Dad, John Patrick Whiteman, served in the US Navy from November 21, 1942 until March 4, 1946. He earned the rank of signalman and...

“We can’t let this happen again .” During World War II, Ensign Francis Tatem wrote these words in a letter while on board the YMS-346. ...

In 1988, Congress established February 3rd of each year as Four Chaplains Day. This day commemorates the anniversary of the sinking of a...

At the start of the Normandy Invasion aboard the YMS-346, Signalman Neal Smith kept a day-to-day, hour-to-hour diary, written in pencil...

"For heroism on December 24, 1944, in the English Channel while serving as a member of the crew of the U.S.S. YMS-346." as stated in...

So begins the handwritten diary of Neal Smith, Signalman First Class, aboard the minesweeper YMS-346, at the start of the Normandy...

There is an old military saying, "Any ship can be a minesweeper...once." I had never heard that phrase before connecting with the family...

In the same location that transformed "Young Boots" into able-bodied sailors for the United States Navy at the onset of WWII, now stands...

Before the YMS-346 was called to action in WWII, the ship was being built in Jacksonville, Florida by the Gibbs Gas Engine Company. A...

I have been corresponding with the daughter of Meyer H. Leavitt, the Yeoman who wrote the 1st Anniversary Celebration of the ship. She...

Although Veterans Day is officially celebrated on November 11th every year, I thought I would tell this particular Veterans Day story...

"I have seen the whole world, except at the time I saw it, they were blowing it up." I remember my father saying those words. Not...

On March 4, 1946, Signalman John P. Whiteman was officially discharged from the U.S. Navy. The YMS-346 was decommissioned two months...

Even with the end of the war, for the minesweepers, there was still much work to be done. The brave men who served on minesweepers...

News of the end of the war reached the crew of the YMS-346 in 1945 while they were still underway. There are two dates that commemorate...

In the early part of 1945 the YMS-346 was headed back to the US and by mid year was headed to the Pacific. After assisting with the...

On Christmas Eve 1944, the Belgian troopship Leopoldville crossed the English Channel with over 2000 American soldiers onboard and was...

Seaman Jack Whiteman kept an album on the ship with photographs of the crew and his family. The photographs below are of his shipmates...

Seaman Jack Whiteman kept an album on the ship with photographs of the crew and his family. In a letter dated October 15, 1944 Jack...

August 20, 1943 found a group of officers and men leaving Jacksonville, Florida - starting on new careers and missions......................