Sailors stand aboard the USS Levy (DE 162) during WWII. Woody Story, a Sailor onboard Levy during the war, spoke about his experiences to Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. Photo courtesy of Woody Story.

Story, a native of Virginia, was a sonarman first class during his tour on Levy, serving as the captain’s talker at special sea detail and on the sound stack listening for a torpedo attack, at general quarters. Levy’s duties included anti-submarine and anti-air protection.

‘‘On one occasion, we were able to hear a torpedo coming toward our ship. There was no time to report it to the Captain, so I shouted ‘hard right rudder’ to the helmsman and left the sound stack to watch a torpedo go by our port bow,” Story told the Midshipmen. ‘‘Captain Clarenbach said, ‘Story, I love you, now get back on the stack and we’ll get that son-of-a-gun.’ It took about four hours, but we brought the Japanese submarine up and sunk it.

‘‘I didn’t know how I was going to feel about killing all of those people.”

Story said it was a serious issue, something he has had to come to terms with over the course of his life and that the Mids may have to face as well in the near future.

After the submarine incident, the Levy returned to the U.S. where the torpedo tubes were removed and 40 mm guns added to the ship’s arsenal. The ship then headed to the Pacific.

‘‘I did not see or hear of one occasion that caused dissatisfaction from the crew as we continued our service,” Story said of his experiences. ‘‘We fought our battles, kept our faith and helped win the war. I truly believe that the respect and honor between the officers and enlisted men on our ship brought us through this war and made us love our ship even more.”

Levy went on to play a key role in the surrender of Japan. Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Emporer of Japan announced Aug. 15 acceptance of the terms of surrender to the Allied forces. On Aug. 22, 11 days before the unconditional surrender by the Japanese onboard USS Missouri, Japanese officers from Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands came aboard Levy to discuss details for their surrender.

Once the plans were approved by the Japanese government, a cloth symbol was displayed on the airstrip on Mili Atoll as a signal of surrender to American pilots. Sailors from Levy entered the atoll Sept. 28 and raised the American flag. The crew of the Levy also accepted Japan’s surrender of Wake Island Sept. 4 and was present for the surrender of the island of Jaluit.

Story presented the Academy with copies of the photos taken at these events and said he hopes that the collection will help prepare Academy graduates to meet the challenges presented to them during and after their military careers.