Tech Topics - Fall 2007 - (Page 27)

Burdell&Friends ‘An Epic of Naval History’ “The death toll of U.S. Navy officers and seamen lost in the wake of Typhoon Cobra was enormous, more than twice the number of sailors and airmen killed in action at the Battle of Midway and nearly as many as at Midway and the Battle of Coral Sea combined. As one eyewitness was to write in the wake of the killer storm, ‘Compared to the staggering total of some 790 men who were lost or killed during Cobra’s attack, the rescue ratio … seems pitifully small. But when the circumstances that governed the majority of these rescues are brought into consideration, they become a monumental tribute to the skills and courage of our sailors and the binding bonds of the brotherhood of the sea.’” “Halsey’s Typhoon,” by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin By Kimberly Link-Wills head of Camp Tate for Boys in north Georgia. A photo of the 10 Camp Tate counselors in 1934 shows two interesting faces: future Tech football coach Bobby Dodd, instructor in “field sports, fishing, woods games (and) tumbling,” and Plage, assistant in aquatics. Marjorie died in 1999. Also gone is Plage’s older brother, William, AE 36. Both young men were in the NROTC at Tech and served with distinction in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Henry Plage graduated from officer candidate school in 1941. By mid1944, he was captain of the USS Tabberer. As the year neared an end, the destroyer escort was part of Adm. William Halsey’s Third Fleet in the Philippine Sea. Retired Lt. Cmdr. Archie G. DeRyckere writes letter after letter, year after year from his home in San Diego in an effort to have the Medal of Honor awarded to Plage. DeRyckere also figures prominently in “Halsey’s Typhoon,” beginning in the preface under the date Dec. 18, 1944. “For the better part of the morning DeRyckere had listened with mounting disbelief from his station on the bridge as the Hull’s … ship-to-ship wireless flashed scratchy distress calls from across the whole upheaval of the Philippine Sea. Vessels unaccounted for. Men swept overboard. Fighter planes blown into the sea off the decks of carriers. Cruisers dead in the water.” Meanwhile, Plage was on the open bridge of the Tabberer. “The open bridge on a DE is just that, 40 feet above the waterline and completely exposed to the weather, offering a 360-de- Tech alumnus Henry Lee Plage’s seamanship and courage saved dozens of lives gree view of the surrounding sea. From this vantage point, young Plage, eight weeks shy of his 30th birthday and with a 5-month-old baby boy (Henry Lee “Skip” Plage Jr.) at home, could hardly believe what he was witnessing,” the book reads. During the massive typhoon, the USS Hull capsized, the Spence split in half and the Monaghan imploded. The death toll climbed to 793. According to “Halsey’s Typhoon,” Plage’s binoculars caught a sailor from the Hull bobbing in the water. “Plage attempted several by-the-book rescue approaches into the wind … but no rescue rules applied in these high seas. … He could think of only one other maneuver, a highly dangerous course of action he’d once read about a squadron of Merchant Marines experimenting with. … The naval reservist, with less than 18 months at sea, drew the Tabby about 50 yards to the windward side of the floater and turned his ship broadside into the heaving seas. It was a stroke of genius from such a novice seaman.” On the morning of Dec. 19, Halsey T here is a memorial on the grounds of Silver Springs Shore Presbyterian Church in Ocala, Fla., dedicated by a band of World War II veterans to Henry Lee Plage, the man they credit with saving their lives. The plaque was put in place less than three months after the Sept. 24, 2003, death of the church member whose heroism was heralded this year with the publication of “Halsey’s Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue.” Survivors of the untold rescue continue to wage a campaign to posthumously award Plage, IM 37, the Medal of Honor. As a Georgia Tech student, Plage was president of Chi Phi fraternity, captain of the swim team and a member of the ODK senior honor society. In 1941, he married Marjorie Armstrong, daughter of professor and faculty director of athletics A.H. Armstrong, who also was the administrative Henry Lee Plage was in the NROTC at Tech, above, before becoming skipper of the Tabberer, pictured here. ”At least until daybreak, he told his officers; if he saved just one more man, the insubordination would be worth it. … The captain’s hazard paid off almost immediately as the Tabberer pulled in her 41st survivor a little after sunset.” TECHTOPICS | FALL 2007 27

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Tech Topics - Fall 2007

Contents Mail Call Alumni House Historic Renovation 007 Buzz Bash Dazzling Daylilies Living History Cover Story: Key to the City The Hill Tapping Technology Robotics Rivalry No Easy Ride Giving Back Balancing Act Student Life Burdell & Friends Epic Story of Heroism Yellow Jackets Very Good Team Passport to Retirement Real World

Tech Topics - Fall 2007

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