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"4:20 a.m. There was a tremendous explosion -- I was thrown from my bunk and the ship rolled to port (left) real hard. I tried to get to my feet as it came back to center again. ... I grabbed my pants, pulled them on, slipped my shoes on, also my life jacket and headed for the stairs and top side. I couldn't find the buttons on my pants when I got topside. Then I found out I had them on backwards. I just reached around back and buttoned them up in the back."

When Breen hit topside, he discovered that two Japanese soldiers in a small boat loaded with explosives had tried to blow up Breen's ship. Instead, the boat hit the larger ship's landing craft, far enough away to do minimal damage to the ship.

There was a good reason, Breen said, the USS Starr was nicknamed the "Lucky" Starr.

"A lot of things happened to us on the ship, but the ship was lucky and so were we," he said.

In observance of Veterans Day, Breen spoke to a class of fourth-graders Wednesday at St. Mary's Grade School, 304 E. Cloud. The children were students of Pam Keller, Breen's daughter, who said she wanted her class to celebrate Veterans Day with a special veteran.

"I wanted them to know how you should treat and respect them," she said.

Had to grow up quick

Breen, 85, is a retired farmer from Minneapolis who joined the U.S. Navy 65 years ago, on May 9, 1944. He was just 20.

"I got to be a man real quick," he told the students.

Breen was shipped to Norfolk, Va., that November to board the Starr, a 459-foot-long, 63-foot-wide attack cargo ship that carried amphibious boats and personnel to beaches in the Pacific.

The ship embarked to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii via the Panama Canal, loaded with boats, arms and other cargo. A month later, Breen spent a lonely Christmas at Pearl Harbor in 1944. It was the first time he had been away from home and his family for any length of time.

"We always had a family reunion at Christmas with the Breens," he said. "All I had now was other sailors. We made a meal and did the best we could."

Off to Saipan, Iwo Jima

In January, the Starr joined a large convoy and proceeded to Saipan, where an assault force was being staged to invade a small island called Iwo Jima.

From Breen's diary, Feb. 18, 1945:

"We are here at Iwo Jima and have dropped anchor well back from the beaches. The big battleships and destroyers are pounding the island with all kinds of shells up to 16 inch. In the morning we will go in -- don't think there will be much sleep tonight."

The Starr served as an ammunition ship and carried cargo vehicles and personnel to the beaches. It also received the wounded and transported them back to U.S. hospitals.

"Those that died, we had to bury at sea," he said. "We had to wrap them in a canvas. That was pretty rough."

In March, the Starr headed to Okinawa beaches in Japan. That's where, during the early morning hours of April 9, they escaped critical damage by a Japanese suicide boat.

Japan surrenders

Breen's luck continued when the Starr received orders to return to Pearl Harbor and then to San Pedro, Calif., for repairs. After an overhaul, the ship loaded cargo in San Francisco to be delivered to Guam.

The ship was several days out of Guam when it received word in August 1945 that Japan had surrendered.

Breen and his shipmates hugged and celebrated after hearing the news.

"We had no women, wine or song, but our cooks made a great V-J (Victory over Japan) turkey dinner," he said.

With the war over, petty officer Breen was discharged from the Navy on Feb. 13, 1946. He had been in the Navy exactly one year, nine months and five days.

"An officer told me that if I didn't want to go home on Friday the 13th, they'd keep me until Sunday," Breen said. "I said the 13th was just as lucky as any other day, and I left."

Did you have to eat fast?

At the end of Breen's talk, several curious fourth-graders peppered him with questions, including: "Did you have to eat fast in the Navy?"

"Well, sometimes you had rough seas, so you had to hold on to your plate or it would be on the other side of the room," Breen said.

"Did you have a lot of buddies in the Navy?"

"Oh, yes," Breen said. "We used to have a reunion every year, until last year. People are getting too old to get together now."

A different world

Keller said she learned things about her father during his visit that she had never known before.

"He'd never talked much about those experiences," she said. "When you're 85, you don't know how much longer you have to share those stories. A lot of kids have parents in the military now, and I wanted them to hear what a veteran had to say."

Breen said he was happy to share his wartime experiences with the children and remind them of the importance of Veterans Day.

"When I was that age, they celebrated Veterans Day a lot more back then," he said. "It's a different world now."

nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.

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