For the final update of production from 2024, we will go back to the Alameda shoot that we conducted in July. In addition to filming at the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum, which you can read about in Update #19 on this website, we conducted an interview with a USS Franklin veteran family member, Don LaVigne, who is the grandson of Commander Joseph Franklin Taylor. Taylor was the Executive Officer of the Franklin when the ship was bombed on March 19, 1945.
A 1927 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Taylor was a two-time recipient of the Navy Cross (among other citations) prior to joining the Franklin. Both medals had been awarded to him in 1942 for his actions during combat as skipper of Torpedo Squadron VT-5 on the USS Yorktown (CV-5). In February of 1944, during the Franklin’s shakedown cruise, Taylor was the ship’s Air Officer and was the first pilot to land a plane on her deck, a TBF Avenger.1 In December of 1944, Taylor was moved into the position of Executive Officer on the Franklin, making him second in command on the ship.2
Taylor was awarded his third Navy Cross for his actions on the day that the Franklin was bombed, March 19, 1945. The citation read:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Second Gold Star in lieu of a Third Award of the Navy Cross to Commander Joseph Taylor, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Executive Officer of the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. FRANKLIN (CV-13), which was striking the Japanese home islands in the vicinity of Kobe, Japan, on 19 March 1945. When his ship was hit and severely damaged by enemy air attacks and rocked by violent explosions of her own ordnance, Commander Taylor supervised and directed the efforts to save the ship, controlling raging fires, flooding magazines and personally leading and participating in the jettisoning of heated live ammunition and bombs, some of which were extricated from amidst the wreckage of burning aircraft and were so heated and damaged it was impossible to defuse them. With utmost disregard for his personal safety, he visited all sections of the badly damaged ship, leading, inspiring the crew in the gallant and successful effort to salvage the drifting and erupting carrier. In the face of further enemy attacks and explosions of the carrier’s own arms he took charge of the towing operations which resulted in getting his ship underway. His cool, calm determination and outstanding leadership were an inspiration to all officers and men, and contributed greatly to the ultimate saving of the ship. The conduct of Commander Taylor throughout this action reflects great credit upon himself, and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
The movie Battle Stations is a fictionalized account of chaplain Father Joe O’Callahan and his time on the USS Franklin. At 1:16:27 in the film, there is a brief scene (screenshots below) where two Navy officers and a Marine are watching the damaged carrier pull into Ulithi. The officer on the right is Joe Taylor who says, “By all the rules of the game, she should be at the bottom of the sea.” Glenn Ross pointed out to me that on IMDb, Taylor is listed as a technical advisor and cast member for the film.
(See Glenn Ross’ informative website about the USS Franklin here.)
Joe Taylor retired from the Navy in 1950 as a Rear Admiral and lived in Southern California. He and his wife Frances had one child, their daughter Barbara. Sadly, Taylor was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away in May of 1963 at the relatively young age of 56.
I’ve been in touch with two of Taylor’s three grandchildren, and although they were fairly young when he passed, they were still old enough to have fond memories of him.
The oldest, Teri LaVigne Malinak, lives in eastern Washington state. She has generously taken her time to search for her grandfather’s documents and any Franklin-associated materials in the belongings she inherited from her mother, but we have not yet had an opportunity to interview her for the documentary.
Her brother Don LaVigne generously drove up from the Central Coast area of California to be interviewed for the film. We were set up in a suite in a funky old resort motel in Alameda.
As a child, Don did not understand the full depth of what his grandfather experienced on the Franklin until years after Taylor’s death, but he did paint a portrait of a loving grandfather whom he knew at the time to be a Navy officer and a war hero.
This is the final update for the filming we did in 2024. In 2025, there should be some interesting updates about the rights and recording of music for the film, shooting at the upcoming Franklin reunion to mark the 80th anniversary of the bombing attack on the Franklin, hopefully the end of the production phase of the project, and possibly a couple surprises that are currently in the works.
Sources of information referenced above:
1Springer, Joseph A. (2012) Inferno : The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II. Zenith Press, Minneapolis
2Bowman, Lt. Marin K. (1946) Big Ben the Flat Top: The Story of the USS Franklin. Albert Love Enterprises, Atlanta