Sailor had bird's-eye view of battles in Pacific

IVESDALE – Kamikazes haunted Jack McHale's dreams for years, long after he'd left the South Pacific and returned to Ivesdale to raise his family.

McHale, a recognition officer on the battleship USS Massachusetts from October 1944 until the war ended, was stationed in the crow's nest high above the deck in the middle of the aerial action . His job: to spot aircraft and ships and identify them as friend or foe.

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