Matthew Lynch Oral History Interview JAMES LINDLEY: Today is the -- MATTHEW LYNCH: October 28th. JL: Right. All right. This is Dr. James Lindley, and this is an oral history interview that is being collected over the telephone. The purpose of the National Museum of the Pacific War Oral History Project is to collect, preserve, and interpret the stories of World War II veterans’ home front experiences, the life of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and the old Nimitz Hotel, by means of audio and/or video recordings. The audio and video recordings of such interviews become part of the Center for Pacific War Studies, the Archive of the National Museum of the Pacific War, and the Texas Historical Commission. These recordings will be made available for historical and other academic research by scholars, and members of the interviewee’s family. We, the undersigned, have read the above and voluntarily offer the National Museum of the Pacific War full use of the information contained on the audio and/or video recordings, and written text of these oral histories, for the purposes of research. In view of the scholarly value of this research material, we hereby assign rights, title, interest pertaining to it to the National Museum of 1 the Pacific War, and the Texas Historical Commission. And I’d like you at this point in time to indicate your approval of this statement. ML: I’m in agreement with the statement. JL: All right. And the next statement is: I give permission for excerpts of my oral history to be used in the Nimitz Foundation publication, The Nimitz News; the programs; the publications; and exhibits of the National Museum of the Pacific War. ML: I do. JL: All right, very good. This interview is Mr. Matthew James Lynch. Mr. Matthew James Lynch. And Mr. Lynch is being interviewed on the telephone. Mr. Lynch lives in Wilmington, Delaware. And, again, this is the 27th of October, 2011. We certainly thank you for your time this afternoon, and we appreciate your service to our country during the Second World War. Would you please begin by telling us a little bit about yourself, and then tell us your experience during the conflict in World War II? ML: Okay. Leading up to the travels of the USS Conner, DD-582, during World War II, the year was 1941 -- JL: Let’s start by telling us a little bit about yourself, where you were born -- 2 ML: Okay. I, Matthew J. Lynch, was a happy senior at La Salle Academy, looking forward to graduation in June 1942. I was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, and happily planning my future college career. However, December 7th changed all my well laid out plans. The war, in the beginning, did not seem to affect my plans right away, but in July 1942, all 18-year-olds had to sign up for the draft. Since I lived all my life around the ocean, I started to think Navy. On September 8th, 1942, I joined the Navy and headed for boot camp at Newport, Rhode Island. After a short stay at Newport, where we took a battery of tests, I was assigned to gunnery school, where we learned to repair and clean all types of firearms, gear. After 15 weeks, some of us were selected to attend advanced electric hydraulic school in Washington, D.C. And we then proceeded for 15 more weeks of training. We concentrated primarily on the 5”/38 multipurpose gun, found on all ships in the fleet. I was promoted to third-class gunner’s mate, and assigned to new construction. That turned out to be the USS Conner DD-582, being built in Boston, Massachusetts. The USS Conner was a new type destroyer of the Fletcher class. Destroyers are built for speed, and are built of one quarter inch steel, with no armament. The Conner was constructed in the shadow of Old Ironsides, and was soon to 3 live up to the fine tradition of that great ship. The Conner is a story of ships built after Pearl Harbor. It is the account of the new Navy, which wrested -- W-R-E-S-T-E-D -- control of the Pacific from the torturous enemy, which won temporary advantage by that infamous attack. Her track: the route of the triumphant advance upon the Japanese empire. Her history is studded with the scenes of American victories at such places as Tarawa, Kwajalein, Majuro, Eniwetok, Kavieng, Hollandia, Philippines Sea, Iwo Jima, Saipan, Guam, Okinawa, Leyte, Luzon, Brunei Bay, and Balikpapan. The USS Conner DD-582 was placed in full commission June 8th, 1943, after a shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the crew was motored into a fighting unit. The Conner returned to Boston. It was during the return to Boston the Conner saw its first action: trailing an enemy submarine and dropping depth charges, before being relieved to continue back to Boston. Our post-shakedown overhaul was completed on August 23rd, 1942, and we left Boston for good, with two other destroyers, headed for the Panama Canal and San Diego. The Conner arrived in Pearl Harbor on 9/24/42. Forty days out of Boston the Conner was in an antiaircraft screen, protecting aircraft carriers whose plans were neutralizing Jap-held outposts. After a daring raid on Wake Island, the 4 USS Conner returned to Pearl Harbor. The Conner started training for the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. During this invasion, the Conner experienced extensive (pause) air raids, and warding off submarines. The Conner assisted in shooting down one plane. After the Gilberts, the Conner bombarded Narm Island, N-A-R-M, celebrating six months in the warzone. On Christmas Day, a large group, including the Conner, swarmed Kavieng, K-A-V-I-O-N-G [sic], New Ireland, and that night was under heavy attack from Jap planes, with no damage to any US ships. About January 1944, the USS Conner joined Task Force 58 and headed for an attack on the Marshall Islands, in preparation for invasion. The next action for Task Force 58 was set for March 22nd. Raids were made on [Blav?], B-L-A-V, [Yapa?], Y-A-P-A, and Woleai, W-O-L-E-A-L [sic]. After working over the islands, the Conner and Task Force 58 provided for the Marshall Islands, where we remained until June 6th in training. The Conner proceeded westward, with Task Force 58, for strikes on Guam, G-U-A-M, and Rota, R-O-T-A, islands of the Marianas group on June 16th and 17th. This operation was in support of a greater operation of Saipan, Tinian, T-I-N-I-A-N, and Guam. During this action, the Conner picked up a plane’s survivors from the USS Hornet. Again, on June 18th the Conner recovered 18 Japanese 5 soldiers whose transport had been sunk by American subs. The first battle of the Philippines Sea began on June 19th, and the Conner was in the thick of it. On the night of the 20th, with all running lights on, the Conner dashed about looking for downed US pilots that had run out of fuel, and luckily we were not able to find any floating pilots. On the 23rd of June, the Conner rejoined the Task Force, and headed for Iwo Jima for a sweep of the islands, then headed for Eniwetok, and some baseball. After three days at Eniwetok, the force headed for Saipan, and then made a fighter sweep over Iwo Jima to neutralize the airfield. On July 4th, strikes were made at Iwo Jima, Hahajima, H-A-H-A, and Chichi, which is C-H-I-C-H-I. That afternoon, the Conner used real firepower to celebrate the 4th of July, blasting the airfield on Iwo Jima. In addition, the Conner drove off three Jap Zeros, which were attacking our spotter planes. A few well-placed shells soon convinced the Jap pilots we were for real, and they left in a hurry. On July the 15th, the Conner joined the USS Lesuth, L-E-S-U-T-H, and the USS Claiborne, C-L-A-I-R-B-O-R-N-E [sic], to escort them to Eniwetok for boiler repairs. And once we did, the three cans joined Task Force 38 and spent several days in training. Task Force 38 made strikes on Palau, P-A-L-A-U, and Mindanao, M-I-N-D-A-N-O [sic], to provide coverage for 6 landing on [Thailand?], T-A-L-A-N-D, and [Loro?], L-O-R-O- T-A-I. These operations were carried out to maintain control of the eastern approaches through the Philippine Islands, and the Formosa/China coasts. On September 13th, the Conner rescued two pilots who had been found to land -- who had been forced to land their plan in the water. One pilot was from the USS Wasp, and the other was from the USS Boston. On September the 14th, the Conner was assigned to the fleet to assist in landing on Morotai, M-O-R-O-T-A-I, and the Conner joined Task Force 38 the following day. On September 21st, the Conner shot down a plane attacking the USS Hornet. On the 24th of September, the Conner rescued the crew of the Bunker Hill plane, after it crashed off the port bow, as it was returning from a strike against Corregidor. On October 2nd, the Task Force 38 proceeded to strike shipping and installations in Okinawa, Jima, and then proceeded Formosa and Luzon, to support the capture and occupation of Leyte Gulf, and Negros areas, N-E-G-R-O-S areas.