Eddie is said to have adored his brother Joe, my grandpa. Grandma often spoke of their fondness for one another and that is an honor.  His brother Joe died in a fiery crash not far from where I am sitting now in 1957. Six years before I was born.  I often thought of Great Uncle Eddie as my own Grandpa. Getting kinda choked up, but I knew he was happy to know I thought this as he too missed his brother.

Grandpa Joe was delivering a large load of manhole covers from the foundry in Goldsboro who he delivered for when he was not driving from Florida to NYC, Philadelphia and New Jersey with produce and to all parts in between.  My dad's most cherished memory of his father were the rides hauls he was allowed to go on when he was 14.  My dad loved his dad and lost him at 15. I love him too through my dad and Great Uncle Eddie, Great Aunt Blanche & Great Uncle Laster.

If you look through the images and find his selective service card you can see that Great Uncle Eddie was back home in North Carolina living with his mom in Winston-Salem by 14 December 1945 when he completed this card. If you look at his service record dates and his age in 1945 as 19, he was well under age when he enlisted to fight during WWII.

Mr. Edward Daniel (Eddie) Quinn, 91, of Eddie Quinn Rd. went home to be with his Lord and Savior Friday, March 30, 2018 at the Veterans Hospital in Salisbury. Eddie was born February 5, 1927 in Duplin County a son of the late Franklin Pugh Quinn and Minnie Victoria Davis Quinn. He was a retired Teamster Local 391 President and OTR driver retired from Roadway Trucking. 

Great Uncle Eddie was the closest person in the world to my grandfather, his brother Joseph "Joe" Samuel Quinn whom I never  had the opportunity to meet.  A teamster himself, grandpa Joe died 6 years before I was born.  

I grew up seeing and loving it when Great Uncle Eddie was in town visiting my grandmother Margaret Rivenbark Quinn in Goldsboro, or visiting my parents here in Raleigh..  He and Aunt Barbara were very fond of riding their Harley in those days and they rode up to her house in style. They were likely headed to the beach. in 1975 when I still could not drive, Uncle Eddie gave me a Nickel Plated 22LR Pistol as gift to protect myself driving up and down the road. I think it was the year before when I had seem him last during the summer while staying with grandma. He drove up on his Hog again, except he had died his hair Jet Black.  He was a "live wire" for sure.

Long before his death, I had the opportunity to have him and Barbara over for dinner as they were "out and about" on the roads of the Carolinas. Take my kids by Eddie Quinn Road to see one of my most favorite men on the planet.

A veteran of World War II, Great Uncle Eddie was assigned to the USS Mugford DD-389 after training.  The Mugford was being outfitted at Mare Island, California and on December 30, 1943 he checked in as a Seaman Second Class, a non-designated sailor assigned to the Deck Division. Upon discharge by July 1945, he had been promoted to S1c and then mustered off the Mugford, headed home.

His son Choya is named for the Native American that pulled him from the water after a Val Dive Bomber attack on the Mugford in 1944 that blew the turret, gun and crew into the waters off the Philippines. (Presently Looking Through Muster Sheets for Choya)

"On 5 December 1944, Mugford spotted enemy aircraft attacking amphibious craft passing through her patrol area in Surigao Strait. She sped to protect them, and late in the action was crashed by a “Val” dive bomber. She was badly damaged, and lost eight men killed, 14 wounded (Including Great Uncle Eddie). Making temporary repairs, Mugford pulled into San Pedro under her own steam. She was ordered to the United States for permanent repairs at Mare Island 5 January 1945 to 4 March 1945."

USS Mugford joined the Pacific Fleet in late 1937, conducting local operations along the U.S. West Coast and the Hawaiian Islands. During this time, she underwent regular overhauls and upkeep.

From 5 June 1939 to 30 July 1940, Mugford was the first command of then-LCDR Arleigh Burke. Under his leadership, the destroyer earned a Battle “E” for gunnery excellence.

On the morning of the Japanese attack, Mugford was at Pearl Harbor, berthed at B6 in the Navy Yard for repairs. As flagship of Destroyer Division Eight (DesRon 4), she was on standby status when the attack began.

• Within 10 minutes, her antiaircraft gunners shot down three enemy planes.
• An hour later, she was steaming out of Pearl Harbor, still firing as she went.

Following the attack, Mugford joined the Wake Island relief force, then shifted to convoy escort missions between the U.S. and Australia through mid-1942.

• 7 August 1942: While patrolling off Lunga Point, Guadalcanal, Mugford was struck by one bomb and several near misses. Despite downing two attackers, she lost 8 killed, 17 wounded, and 10 missing.
• 8 August: Shot down another Japanese aircraft and rescued two enemy aviators.
• 9 August: Rushed to the scene of the Battle of Savo Island, rescuing 400 survivors from cruisers USS Vincennes (CA-44) and USS Astoria (CA-34).

After emergency repairs at Sydney, she resumed patrols in the Coral Sea and along Australia’s northern coast.

From her bases at Brisbane and later Milne Bay, Mugford supported Allied operations:

• July 1943: Assault on Woodlark Island.
• September 1943: Escorted LSTs for the Lae invasion and conducted pre-invasion bombardment near Finschafen.
• 20 October 1943: Withstood massed air attacks by 60 Japanese planes without damage.

On 15 May 1943, Mugford also rescued survivors of the Australian hospital ship AHS Centaur, sunk by a Japanese submarine.

• 14–15 December 1943: Supported landings at Arawe, New Britain.
• 25 December 1943: Came under heavy air attack at Cape Gloucester. One man was killed, six wounded, and the ship was peppered with shrapnel.

After repairs at Milne Bay, Mugford continued patrol, bombardment, and escort duties in the New Guinea campaign into early 1944.

• March 1944: Overhaul at Mare Island, California.
• June 1944: Rejoined the fleet for the Marianas operation, screening carriers and bombarding Saipan and Tinian.
• 19–20 June 1944: Took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, a decisive U.S. naval victory.

She later served as radar picket between Guam and Rota.

Mugford joined Task Force 38, striking targets across the Bonins, Yap, Palau, Okinawa, Formosa, and Luzon.

• 24–25 October 1944: Supported carrier strikes in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, including the Battle off Cape Engaño.
• 30 October 1944: Helped guard damaged carriers Enterprise, Belleau Wood, and Franklin back to Ulithi.
• 5 December 1944: Crashed by a Japanese “Val” dive bomber in Surigao Strait. The attack killed 8 sailors, wounded 14, and caused severe damage. She limped to San Pedro, Leyte, then sailed for permanent repairs at Mare Island.

Returning in March 1945, Mugford served as radar picket and antisubmarine patrol between Ulithi and Saipan until the war’s end.

• September 1945: Participated in repatriating Allied POWs from Japan to Okinawa.
• Screened carriers during the occupation of Nagasaki–Sasebo.

She returned to San Diego in November 1945 and was selected for atomic test duty. Uncle Eddie was discharged as the Mugford arrived back stateside at Naval Station Treasure Island, where I too was once discharged from the Navy.

• 29 August 1946: Decommissioned during Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll.
• Retained for decontamination experiments.
• 22 March 1948: Sunk off Kwajalein.

• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 7 battle stars
• World War II Victory Medal
• Navy Occupation Medal with Asia Clasp

Aug 6, 1945 (Hiroshima): USS Mugford (DD-389) was at Ulithi Atoll (Caroline Islands), where she’d arrived July 31 and remained until getting underway two days later on August 2.

• Aug 9, 1945 (Nagasaki): Mugford was underway escorting Convoy UOK-45 from the Carolines toward Okinawa on Aug 8, she reached Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on Aug 12.

If we take USS Mugford’s design and operating speeds:

• Conservative cruising (12 knots) → ~1,150 nm in 4 days
• Typical convoy escort (15–18 knots) → 1,440–1,730 nm

No Higher Speeds Likely

• High-speed run (20 knots) → 1,920 nm
• Flank (30+ knots) → 2,880–3,700 nm

So in 4 days, depending on orders and fuel, she could realistically cover 1,200–1,700 nautical miles (the speed bands destroyers normally used for sustained ops). Because she was Convoy Escort for this entire period of time, she could have traveled about 15-18 knots or 1,440 nm to 1,730 nm allowing Great Uncle Eddie's reports of seeing the explosion in the dead of night, at sea. Not directly as he states, but from a long distance.

That means from Ulithi (her starting point July 31, 1945) she could just about reach Okinawa (1,200 nm) in four days if steaming straight through at a steady 12–13 knots, or much sooner if ordered to push faster. Because no Naval ship with the right skipper, travels a strait line, the Mugford could have been approaching as the bombs were detonated. Which according to her log she made the voyage in 4 days time to Okinawa where the blasts could not be seen.