Michael James Scepanski

“My wife and I had opportunity to visit the USS Texas (now a museum in the Houston harbor) with my father in 2006. It was fascinating to see the small area under the guns where he said he hoisted heavy bags of powder and then had to stretch out to avoid the recoil while holding his ears. He attributed some of his back pain and hearing problems in later years to that time.”

– Jordan Scepanski, former J. Murray Atkins Library Assistant Director and husband of H. Lea Wells ’73

Michael James Scepanski, remembered by his son, Jordan Scepanski

Seaman Michael Scepanski watched the original raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima.

Michael James Scepanski joined the U.S. Navy despite having a job that would have exempted him from service as well as a wife and two children, one an infant and the other a toddler.

He served as a seaman aboard the battleship USS Texas for approximately 15 months. During that time, he saw action at both Iwo Jima and Okinawa. During the former battle, he used binoculars to watch the original raising of the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi.

Although he primarily was a powder loader for the battleship’s 14-inch Mark 1 guns, Scepanski occasionally manned anti-aircraft batteries. He later recounted the story of a Japanese kamikaze plane that took aim at the USS Texas. The plane weaved through the air among the shells being fired at it, before ultimately diving and hitting another ship.