Wasp buries WW II shipmate - Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 1st Class Clarence G. Leggett buried from Wasp aircraft carrier - Brief Article

Naval Aviation News, March-April, 2003 by Derrik M. Ingle

SM3(SW/AW) Derrik M. Ingle,

With bowed heads and a 21-gun salute, shipmates paid their last respects to a Wasp (CV 7) Sailor and veteran in November 2002. Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 1st Class Clarence G. Leggett, 79, was buried from Wasp (LHD 1), 60 years after serving aboard the carrier.

The highlight of the 12-year veteran's service was a three-year deployment in the southwest Pacific. During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, Wasp was sunk, and a destroyer rescued Leggett from the sea. A year later, while flying with a bomber squadron, Japanese planes shot down the plane in which Leggett was riding. The pilot died, but Leggett managed to open his raft, and after four days of floating, the same destroyer saved him once more.

Leggett always had a special bond with Wasp and the Navy. He toured the ship when she was first commissioned, and when he died he left a large portion of his estate to the U.S. Naval Institute for public education. The crew of the tenth Wasp felt privileged to help put to rest a veteran from their namesake ship.