They were ordinary men in extraordinary times: They were sailors, they were shipmates, they were heroes. Battling through the maelstrom of the Second World War, they were the men of the USS Massachusetts.

Battleship Cove has collected their stories, presented publicly for the first time in this, the premiere volume of Veterans’ Voices. This episode from the Living History Library shares the stories of Orrin Dana, Norman Davison, John Garriss, Jack Gibson, Harold Nye, Olav Sande, George Southwick, and Robert Webster as “Big Mamie” slugged through 35 major engagements in the Pacific tropics and the steely Atlantic. Filmed at each sailor’s station on board Battleship Massachusetts, these interviews chronicle the story of the ship that fired America’s first and last sixteen-inch projectiles in battle during World War II.

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A former Cabinet member with special ties to Battleship Cove.

ANTHONY J. PRINCIPI: Anthony J. Principi served as an officer on board the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. prior to becoming President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and now the Chairman of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. In his former position, Principi directed the nation’s second-largest department, a responsibility he fulfilled as Deputy, then Acting, VA Secretary for President George H.W. Bush from 1989-1993. A decorated Vietnam veteran, this US Naval Academy graduate was awarded the Bronze Star, the Navy Combat Action Ribbon, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry while commanding a river patrol unit on the Mekong Delta.

Click here to hear a segment from Secretary Principi's Veterans' Voices interview.

THE SON ALSO RISES: If any man epitomizes patriotism, it is Senator John McCain. A distinguished veteran, statesman, and family man, this retired naval aviator has dedicated his life to national service, as his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, did before him.

Click here for the interview with Sen. McCain.