Navy Gunner's Mate John "Johnny" Rosario Labrato Jr. (also spelled Liberato) was born in Pensacola, Florida on November 24, 1924, the son of John Rosario Sr. (1894-1975) and Bessie Leona Brown (1907-1977). Johnny was the son and grandson of Italian immigrants who came to the U.S. in 1900 and to Pensacola in 1903. Both of them were "men of the sea" and spent time on merchant vessels. His father would eventually become a ship's carpenter in 1910 followed over the years by various other jobs such as a salesman in a hardware store (1930) and a machine operator at a local brewery (1940). He would finally retire form the motel management business.
As for Johnny, he attended local schools but left the family home at 1800 West Government Street to enlist in the US Navy in January 1942 just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was sent to an abbreviated boot camp in San Diego before being shipped out to the Pacific fleet. He boarded the heavy cruiser (CA-83) USS San Francisco at Pearl Harbor as a "gunner's mate" on April 4, 1942. Johnny's new ship had been at Pearl Harbor for repairs during the Japanese attack but was undamaged. She took up her duty escorting various task forces before heading for the August 7th landing at Guadalcanal. At this time of the war, the Japanese fleet was far superior than their American counterpart as the two battled for control of Guadalcanal and the Solomons. On September 15th, Johnny watched as the USS Wasp was lost to a enemy torpedo followed in the days ahead by more American ships going down as casualties mounted.
On November 12th, the San Francisco's task force arrived off Guadalcanal as the transports commenced unloading men and supplies. However, enemy planes attacked at 1408 hours with one crashing into Johnny's ship as he was firing into the them. They lost 16 sailors killed and 29 wounded. The next day an enemy surface ships arrived as Johnny's task force headed straight for them in order to protect the Marines ashore and the transports in the area. The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal had begun! At 0151 hours, the San Francisco open fired in pitch dark on two enemy cruisers and a destroyer. Sadly, as she sought other targets she inadvertently opened on the USS Atlanta, killing Admiral Norman Scott and most of their crew on the bridge. Amid the fighting, Johnny's ship began receiving heavy fire from a Japanese battleship, cruiser, and a destroyer. Casualties mounted all around Johnny as he kept his gun firing throughout the night. As the battle ended, 77 sailors including Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan were dead aboard the San Francisco including 105 wounded. The ship had taken 45 hits requiring them, along with the USS Helena and Juneau to sail for Espiritu Santo for repairs. Unexpectedly at 0400 hours, the Juneau was hit by an enemy torpedo and the ship absolutely disintegrated along with 597 men and 100 in the water. As Johnny watched, they left them to their fate with only ten surviving the sharks and thirst after eight days. Five of those dead were the "Sullivan Brothers." As the story goes, their father was preparing for work one morning when three men in uniform approached his door. "I have some news for you about your boys," the officer said. "Which one?" asked their father with great apprehension. "I'm sorry," the officer replied. "All five." The movie "Saving Private Ryan was partially inspired by this horrible incident.
Afterwards, Johnny had many other battles to fight such as Tarawa, Kwajalein, the Philippine Sea, Saipan, Guam, Luzon, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. A naive, young boy went to war, but an experienced warrior came home to his family and friends having served his nation with great courage and honor. He would retire from Southern Bell after over thirty years of service before starting his own telephone business for the next ten years. He would pass away on June 15, 2016 and was buried in Bayview Cemetery.
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