Project USS Strong DD467, an interview with Tammi Johnson (2024)

Tales From The Kentucky Room

Mariam sits down with Tammi Johnson, lead researcher and founder for the Project USS Strong DD467 website, to discuss her life’s work finding the ship her uncle Billy Hedrick served on in World War Two. The ship, the USS Strong DD467, was torpedoed in the battle of Kula Gulf in the Solomon Islands and sank, killing Billy and 45 other men on July 5, 1943. They talk about her work with David Mearns and Paul Mayer finding the ship, and her work with Stephen Harding on the book The Castaway’s War.

At the time of recording, Tammi had not yet taken the plaque to the South Pacific World War Two Museum on Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. She has made the trip now, and wrote about it on her blog on the Project USS Strong DD467 website.