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There are maybe 10 of them left now, 66 years after they survived the sinking of their two ships during World War II in what some say was the largest naval battle ever fought.
Although the years continue to dwindle their numbers, these elderly men gather every year to remember those who died in the Battle off Samar and those who have died since the engagement that marked the fulfillment of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's pledge to return to the Philippines.
This year, members of the USS Johnston-Hoel Association — named for their two ships that sank — gather in Salt Lake City on the 66th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, of which the Battle off Samar was part.
Bountiful native Glenn Parkin will be among them.
Now 88, Parkin was 22 and aboard the USS Hoel when it was sunk by the Japanese navy Oct. 25, 1944.
The difficult years of the Great Depression led Parkin to join the Navy before the U.S. became involved in World War II.
Before Samar, Parkin had been remarkably close to major events in the Pacific Theater. He was on duty at a firing range on land about five miles from Pearl Harbor when the Japanese launched their surprise attack Dec. 7, 1941, and he arrived there to help fight fires and clean up.
He also was with the task force that took the planes close to Japan and launched the bombers that carried out the Doolittle Raid on the Japanese home islands April 18, 1942.
In November of that same year, Parkin survived the sinking of the Northampton near the New Herbrides Islands. He was shipped to San Francisco and used the time on the mainland in 1943 to marry his sweetheart, Clarie Platts. Then he was reassigned to the USS Hoel.
In October 1944, the Hoel and the USS Johnston were made part of a task force to provide support for MacArthur's invasion of Leyte Island in the Philippines.
Bitterness still sounds in Parkin's voice when he describes how Admiral William Halsey was lured away by a Japanese trick and left the San Bernardino Strait unguarded, allowing a Japanese fleet to sail in to be confronted by the much smaller Hoel and Johnston, and other severely outgunned escort ships and small carriers.
The Japanese force included the world's largest battleship, the Yamato, which had gun turrets that by themselves were heavier than Fletcher Class destroyers such as the Hoel and Johnston.
Severely outmatched, the two ships fired torpedos to little effect, set up a smoke screen to try to hide the smaller carriers in their group and fired their outmatched guns. The battle went on for 2 ½ hours.
All these decades later and now bent by age, Parkin can only manage one word to describe the battle.
"Terrible," he says, his eyes glistening.
The Hoel took numerous hits, but the shells failed to explode because they easily penetrated its thin outer steel skin. But after nearly two dozen broadsides, which disabled the ship and caused numerous casualties, the Hoel sank.
Parkin was hit by shrapnel but was not among those with the worst wounds. The remaining crew abandoned the Hoel and floated in water for several days.
"It's the ones you don't see" that are deadly, he said of the sharks that circled the men. "What is bad," he added, pausing a few seconds, "is when a person dies. We lost five that first night. You take the dog tags off and just let them float away. But they float away just 5 feet, and then they get ripped to pieces."
Parkin and other survivors were rescued after 53 hours in the water.
The Japanese fleet that had attacked them never pressed its advantage, and the tide of war remained with the U.S. and its allies. Members of the task force received a Presidential Unit Citation.
Now, nearly seven decades later, Parkin goes three times a week to the Veterans Administration Hospital, where he talks to survivors of the most recent wars.
But having seen repeated engagements in a declared war, Parkin has a strong opinion about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I don't think we should be there in the first place."
Parkin, other survivors and family members will gather Monday at Hill Air Force Base chapel to remember those who died 66 years ago to the day and those gone since.
Reunion details
What: 2010 reunion of the USS Johnston-Hoel Association
Where: Little America Hotel, Salt Lake City
When: Oct. 23-26
Information: ussjohnston-hoel.com