Attack Transport U.S.S. Hinsdale

My dad was on the USS Hinsdale for the invasion of Okinawa. On April 1, 1945 a Kamikaze plane hit the ship, killing 14 of the ships crew members and another 18 injured. In addition to the ship's crew, 30 Marines on board for the invasion was also injured. The quick reaction of Petty Officer James Perry, who saw the aircraft approaching, allowed the deck in the immediate vicinity of the aircraft trajectory to be cleared, minimizing casualties. The aircraft hit mid stern Port side, right at the water line, it was carrying three bombs, two of which exploded, the third a dud. The Marines on the deck were moved to the Starboard side of the ship, causing the hole to life out of the water long enough that the Marines were able to be offloaded and the flooding area to be sealed off. Some of the Marines were offloaded to another ship and held in floating reserve, some went ashore as planned. HQ Battalion, 8th Regiment of the 2nd Division went ashore. My dad was in the battalion. Between the trip from Saipan to Okinawa, the ship survived two enemy attacks, both of which were near misses for my dad, one attack killing a friend of his when an enemy aircraft managed to get through the picket and dropped a bomb on the ship, hitting one of the galley entrances. It was the entrance my dad always went through because it was closest to the berthing area. That morning, he decided to use the other door as he wanted to drop a letter off to mail home. His buddy was going out their normal hatch right as the bomb hit near it, killing him. If not for going to drop the letter off, my dad would have been at that hatch at the same time. This kit is actually the USS Montrose by Revell, but it is the same class ship and I will get markings to make it into the USS Hinsdale, in honor of my dad and the many Marines of the 2nd Division that participated in the invasion of Okinawa.