Joseph W. Lathan, Machinist’s Mate Third Class, USNR, Rockford, helped evacuate 219 recovered allied military personnel aboard his cruiser, the Biloxi, from the city that was the victim of the second atom bomb, Nagasaka.

The liberated men were principally Dutch and Japanese, with only a few English and Americans.

At the railway station near the dock, American hospital ships medical men attended stretcher cases.

The Biloxi had fought eight invasions and numerous bombardments for this satisfying task.