The Horst brothers from Chicago, Henry, 19, Gottfried, 20, and Chris, 17, look like three peas in a pod. The picture was taken shortly after they entered the Navy in 1942. Photo provided

The exploding Japanese torpedo sheared off 15 feet of the destroyer USS Benham’s bow during a night engagement off Guadalcanal on Nov. 14, 1942. Machinest-mate 3rd Class Henry Horst was two decks down in the magazine of the ship’s number one, five-inch main gun when disaster struck. Read the rest of this entry »