It was quite the dramatic experience.”

Charles Meys on his time aboard the aircraft carrier USS Randolph during World War II.

PORTSMOUTH — It’s safe to say that Charles P. Meys has seen a few things.

Meys, a naval corpsman who moved up the ranks in his 33-year career, fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He was stationed on the USS Randolph, USS Adirondack AGC-15, and on the USS Aeolus ARC-3. 

On Nov. 7 he celebrated his birthday at Atria Aquidneck Place, where he lives, with his son, Mike Meys; granddaughter Jessica Murphy; great-grandchildren Solana Murphy, 12, Paul, 10, and Mateo, 7; Mike’s sister-in-law, Marielena Hincapie; and Atria friends. 

Solana read a poem written by her brother Paul during the brief ceremony, and Meys was also given a citation from Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos. 

Meys was stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Randolph, which was commissioned in October 1944 and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations. It had a crew of 3,000.

“As a corpsman, we took care of medical needs,” Meys said.

On March 13, 1945, the ship was at anchor at Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands when it was attacked by Japanese kamikaze pilots as part of Operation Tan No. 2 — the Japanese’s long-range kamikaze mission directed at the main Allied naval fleet anchorage during the Pacific campaign. The Japanese were trying to take the U.S. Pacific Fleet by surprise and sink or damage a large number of the fleet’s aircraft carriers or other large ships.

The attack, for which there was no advance alert warning, happened just after 8 p.m. as the men were watching a movie in the ship’s hangar deck.

“Three Japanese planes flew in,” Meys said.

One of them did the most damage when it slammed into the starboard side of the 27,100-ton carrier, hitting just below the flight deck.

“We lost 21 men,” he said. 

Later it was determined the attack had killed 26 men, including four reported missing and five transferred to a hospital ship, where they later died. Another 105 were wounded.

Meys was one of the crewmen asked to identify the deceased. He was just 19 years old at the time.

"It was quite the dramatic experience,” he said. “I knew two of (the deceased). I knew a chief’s gunner’s mate … and a signalman. I used to go up the signal bridge and keep him company up there as he communicated with the other ships at anchor.”

Wasn't finished

Even after that harrowing experience, Meys wasn’t done serving his country. In Korea, he was on the USS Adirondack AGC-15, an amphibious force flagship that acted as a floating command post with advanced communications equipment.

During Vietnam he served aboard the USS Aeolus ARC-3, a cable repair ship. 

Meys was commissioned as an ensign, made Navy chief, and retired as a commander in 2005. He said being promoted to officer was special — it allowed him to send his kids to college.

— With reporting by Richard W. Dionne.