Once while in the Philippines, we were in a convoy to make a landing at Mindoro, when we got to Mindoro we began bombarding the town. I looked out the door and saw three Japanese planes coming down over an island right behind us. I notified our gun Captain, who notified the bridge that there were some Japanese planes coming in around behind us. We notified all the other ships and eventually shot them down. However, before they were shot down two of the planes came right at us. One flew directly overhead. This plane had so many holes in the gas tank that gasoline was leaking on our deck. The pilot dove to hit us but he missed and the bomb he had on board exploded right beside our ship, causing water to wash the deck and all the gasoline was washed away. General McArthur was one ship ahead of us in this convoy. A suicide bomber did hit his cruiser and several who were in the chow line were killed. We were in a convoy going to the main harbor into Manila, when one of the cargo ships sailed by us with a Japanese plane, sticking out of the side of the ship, above the water line. The Japanese plane, flown by a suicide pilot, had hit the ship. Our Captain talked to them and reported the Japanese pilot was still alive sitting in the cockpit. The pilot committed suicide with his pistol, even though they tried to talk him out of committing suicide. At Okinawa we were coming in with our convoy and a Japanese plane flew in right over the top of the water. The bullets were flying, they were everywhere, and we were even hit by bullets from other American ships. When the bullets finally ceased I was foolish enough to pull one of the 20 millimeter bullets out of the refueling hose that was stacked on the deck. Fortunately nothing bad happened. While at Okinawa we were firing at the Japanese airplanes and during a lull, my Gunnery Sergeant, who was in the turret with me, said, 'Look outside and see how many planes are out there'. I looked outside and said five. Those planes were just waiting on us. We finally ran out of ammunition. All of the planes were on fire. One plane went in between our stacks and cut a cable but didn't hit us. Another plane left a green streak from the paint of his wing that dragged across the deck. Another plane fired bullets that hit the bridge and killed six people. They were pretty effective when they were suicidal.