Don Keith - The Indestructible Man: The True Story of World War II Hero Captain Dixie

The IndestructibleMan

The True Story of World WarII

Hero CaptainDixie

By Don Keith

with David Rocco

EP

Erin Press

Indian Springs Village, Alabama

Copyright 2017 by Don Keithand David Rocco

All rights reserved. Otherthan brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book maybe reproduced in any form without the express written consent ofboth the copyright holders.

For comments, questions,subsidiary rights inquiries, or other correspondence, pleasecontact the authors via email at don@donkeith.com

Contact the publisherat:

ERIN PRESS

40 Red StickRoad

Indian Springs Village, AL35124

Other books by DonKeith

The Forever Season

Wizard of the Wind

The Rolling Thunder Stockcar Racing Series(with Kent Wright)

Final Bearing (with George Wallace)

Gallant Lady (with Ken Henry)

In the Course of Duty

The Bear: The Legendary Life of Coach PaulBear Bryant

Final Patrol

The Ice Diaries (with Captain William R.Anderson)

War Beneath the Waves

We Be Big (with Rick Burgess and Bill BubbaBussey)

Undersea Warrior

Firing Point (with George Wallace)

The Spin

On the Road to Kingdom Come

Riding the Shortwaves: Exploring the Magic ofAmateur Radio

Dangerous Grounds (with George Wallace)

Get on the AirNow

Writing to be Read

Untold Millions

The Amateur Radio Dictionary

The Ship that Wouldnt Die

Mattie C.s Boy: The Shelley StewartStory

Dream On: A Journey to Deliverance (withSteve Skipper)

Writing with Edie Hand:

The Last Christmas Ride

The Soldiers Ride

A Christmas Ride: The Miracle of theLights

Visit www.donkeith.com

CONTENTS

FROM THE AUTHORS

A good story is cutthrough with coincidence, irony, unintended foreshadowing, tie-ins,what-ifs, if-onlys, and almosts. Cut through like sinew that tiesmuscle to bone to make certain that important work can ultimatelyget done.

Compelling stories often feature characterswho disdain the tried and true. Robert Frost wrote of two divergingroads in a wood, of taking the one less traveled as it bent intothe undergrowth. Of wondering where he might have ended up had hechosen the easier way.

A good story contains elements with whichanyone can readily identify, but many others that can only beexperienced when the reader is placed within the context by theteller of the tale.

The best stories are about otherwiseordinary people who find themselves placed in unusual situationsand who then do remarkable things.

These are all reasons whyDixie Kiefers is a truly great tale.

An editor at Sports Illustrated oncedescribed the work of the late writer Frank DeFord thusly: Hedhang bells throughout the story, and at the end go back and ringevery one of them.

We, as the tellers of thistale, can only hope we have done justice to Captain Dixies story.That we have shown you the what-ifs and if-onlys, connected sinewto bone, revealed to you the destination of at least one mans pathless taken, dropped you into the pilots seat of a hurtlingdive-bomber or onto the heaving, burning deck of an aircraftcarrier in the China Sea. That we have been able to help youunderstand this man and how he was able to do what he did in theface of unfathomable adversity.

We hope that we have hungthe bells, and then rung every one of them.

Dixie Kiefer deserves noless.

Don Keith and David Rocco

21 January 1945,

aboard the aircraftcarrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14),

China Sea off the island of Formosa

Captain, youre bleedingpretty bad. Let me get a corpsman up here

Naw, Im okay, son. Theyneed to be helping the boys down on the flight deck. You see howthose 5-inch gunners stopped those other three bastards before theycould

Captain, your arm, though.Needs to get looked at

Im a tough old bird, boy.I ever tell you about the time I got run into by a pontoon planethat was buzzing me? At the Canal? Had a been my head he hit thenthe plane would have gone into the drink! Broke my left arm. Now Igot a right arm to match. Bring the ship around to one-hundred-fivedegrees. Keep the wind to our starboard so the fire and smoke blowsaway from the flight deck.

Here comes a corpsman now,Captain. We got a mattress. Maybe you can lie down here and let himsee if he can stop some of that

That last kamikaze wasmore lucky than good getting through all the ordnance the gunnerswere putting up. Keep pumping to the port tanks and maintain ourlist at five to seven degrees. Makes it easier to keep shoving theburning planes overboard. Keep spilling that burning fuel over theside, too. Gun crews need to be ready for more suicide planes. Theyknow were wounded and if they got em theyll sendem.

Jesus, Captain. Looks likeyou broke both bones in your right forearm. Im going to wrap itbut you need to go down to sickbay right now and let them set andsplint

Wheres theXO?

Hesuhpretty bad hurt.We took him down already

Nope. Ill stay on thebridge until we have the fires under control.

Then at least stay stillso Isorry, sirIll try to stop some of this bleeding. How youfeeling, sir? Youve lost a lot of

How are themen?

Uhlots of casualties,sir. But we got a bunch of them that are just as stubborn as theirskippersorry again, sirstaying at their posts, manning hoses,shoving planes and ammo overboard, helping the wounded. Theyreflat refusing to go to sick bay and get treated. I dont think theNavys going to have enough medals and ribbons.

Does not surprise me.Every man on this ship is one tough son of a gun. Dixies kids, Icall em. Be it typhoon or kamikaze, Ive watched what they can do.Ouch!

Sorry, sir, compoundfracture. Needs to be properly set and splinted

After while. Hey, Bill,get me updates from the hangar deck and see what damage controlsays about the fires on the flight deck. Boilers and piping stillintact? Theyve done a fantastic job down there. Lets dont loseit now.

Aye, sir.

Be sure they know thebridge is well aware of the job theyre doing. Were going to saveBig T. Shes got a lot more to do in this war. Besides, theircaptain is not going over the side of another carrier if he canhelp it. A fellow could get himself hurt doing that.

Well tell em,sir.

Fantastic job, men. Nowsomebody help me up. Lets see how the wind is doingnow.

Captain, steady. Youvelost a lot of

Ourposition looks good but still lots of fire and smoke on the flightdeck. Anybody got me an update on the hangar deck, just in case weneed to try to get some planes in the air? Whats the degree oflist by now? Casualty update? Any more guns out of commission? Ammocarriers still keeping them supplied, just in case? Anybody heardhow Langley isdoing? I saw her take a strike just before our first hit. Bringspeed to ten knots so the current doesnt keep us floating in thatburning oil. Then

Captain, youre going tohave to keep pressure on that wound on your face. Its deep andbleeding like a son of a

Will do, but son, I needyou to get back down and take care of the boys doing all the work.Tell em we got their backs. Show Tokyo Rose the Big T is still inthis war. Shes indestructible. Long as we have a crew thatperforms like this.

Indestructible!

Prologue

Our story beginsas do allstories set on the planet Earthmore than 450-million yearsago.

That was a time whencontinents were boldly, brutally shouldering each other around,vying for their own space on an evolving young sphere, rearrangingthe face of the globe. One particularly violent collision betweentwo such meandering land massesones that are now better known asNorth America and North Africacreated the mountains that wouldmuch later be dubbed the Hudson Highlands. These summits are oftenassociated with a hefty, rocky chain that now runs roughly from NewEngland to central Alabama with other spikes that angle off invarious directions and are labeled with differing names. Somegeologists argue the Hudson Highlands are part of the AppalachianMountains. Others disagree.