Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Wednesday 19 February, about a thousand people gathered at the Darwin Cenotaph to pay their respects on the 78th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin. Among the crowd was Sam Logan. He travelled all the way from California to pay homage to his late father, a US naval officer Sam Logan Sr. Sam Logan Sr was stationed on a US navy vessel in Shanghai when Pearl Harbour was bombed. He was quickly captured by the Japanese and tortured but, with a mate of his, he escaped, made it onto a Dutch vessel and all the way down to the Philippines where he joined the USS Peary, a US destroyer that then steamed to Australia, fighting off attacks along the way. They got into Darwin Harbour before that fateful day, 78 years ago. During the bombing of Darwin, the USS Peary suffered the greatest loss of life, about 88 souls lost. Sam Sr survived because he was blown off the Peary. He was in the water, which was on fire. It was burning. He was evacuated south and recovered in a hospital in Melbourne. After the war, he said he would never forget the support he got from Australians. He was a veteran of the bombing of Darwin. I also want to acknowledge a veteran and Territorian here with us today in the gallery, Captain James Hook. Thank you for your service.