WWII USS HENDRY RADARMAN THIRD CLASS CREW NEPTUNUS REGIS & DOCUMENT GROUP

Exceptional grouping of Radarman third class Kenneth Paul Dingerson who was on board of the WWII troop carrier the USS HENDRY which took part in the battle of Midway and the invasion of Iwo Jima as well as Operation Magic Carpet.  
Her gunners were busy during this dangerous period; Japanese planes succeeded in sinking escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95) and damaging USS Saratoga (CV-3) but suffered heavy losses. Hendry sailed for Saipan 25 February, arriving 3 days later.
Hendry remained in the Saipan area until late March, taking part in training for the largest amphibious operation of the Pacific, the capture of Okinawa in Japan's back yard. She sailed 27 March as part of a mighty armada, called by British observers "the most audacious and complex enterprise yet undertaken by the American amphibious forces." Arriving Easter Sunday, the morning of the first landings, Hendry put ashore her troops and for the next 10 days survived fierce kamikaze attacks, which took a heavy toll on American transports and escort vessels in the Okinawa area but were themselves destroyed and did not even check the steady progress of the invasion. Her gunners and those of the supporting ships kept Hendry free from damage until she departed the bitterly contested island 10 April.