BORING, Ore. — A thin, blue hardcover book tells the story of a sailor who fought for American freedom in the Pacific during World War II. Grainy, black and white photos show uniformed men aboard a destroyer in the 1940s.
"That's me," Andrew Naylor said, pointing to a young, bearded man on the page. "I was born in ’24, I must have been about 20."
Naylor celebrated his 100th birthday this month.
"I’ve been very blessed," he says thoughtfully.
The photos, organized into a yearbook of sorts, take Naylor back over 80 years. He was just 17 years old when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
"They sunk our battle ships, gunned down all our planes, killed a bunch of our people and we were ready to go over there and get even," Naylor said. "I knew I was just like every other American boy; we were ready to go over there and kick some butt."
He traveled to Klamath Falls, Oregon to enlist. So did his father, who was 42 years old at the time.
"'My son's in and I want to back him up,'" Naylor recalled his father saying.
Naylor joined the Navy and was sent off to training in California. His father joined the army.
It wasn't long before the teenage sailor was working aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, a cargo ship bringing necessary supplies into the Pacific.
Less than a year later, Naylor was transferred to a destroyer, the USS Heermann.
"We had five guns on our destroyer," Naylor said. "Japanese fired a shell underneath and ruptured our powder room underneath the ship, flooded it."
He spent nearly three years on the ship as a machinist mate first class.
"He was almost in every major battle they had in the South Pacific," explained Mark Naylor, Andrew Naylor's son. "Can you imagine at the age of 17, being on a warship, fighting for your life and for your country and doing it with purpose?"
Mark Naylor began researching his father's naval career and the battle of Leyte Gulf about a decade ago. He said his father never talked much about his experience in the war.
"I realized there was more to the story, but he didn't really want to go in depth too much," Mark Naylor said. "Pretty humble guy."
He added that reading "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" helped him understand what his father was facing.
Naylor said during his time on the destroyer, he watched other ships go down and lost his best friend to a piece of shrapnel.
"It went right clear through him and killed him on the spot," Naylor said. "There were seven other guys who were killed the same way on my ship."
Looking back, Naylor said honoring those who lost their lives in service is a privilege.
"I was one of the lucky ones that made it," he said. "I don’t think I’m a good enough guy to really be worthy of it, but I am thankful."