Legacy
A number of ships were named after participants in the battle, and ships from that battle, including USS Copeland (FFG-25), USS Evans (DE-1023), USS Clifton Sprague (FFG-16), and USS Carr (FFG-52). When the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) struck a mine, her crew would touch a plaque commemorating the original crew as they struggled to save the ship.
While the battle is frequently included in historical accounts of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the duels between the destroyer and destroyer escorts and Yamato and the Japanese force was the subject of a Dogfights television program "Death of the Japanese Navy" That episode, as well as a History Channel documentary was based on The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, written by James D. Hornfischer.
The survivors formed associations which still meet annually, and raised funds to build memorials in San Diego near the current location of the USS Midway (CV-41) museum which contains a model of Gambier Bay.
In 2005, the memorial was vandalized with the bust of Admiral Sprague broken off the pedestal base. It was restored in June 2007.
Read more about this topic: Battle Off Samar
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)