Rodney Stephen Steiger (April 14, 1925 â July 9, 2002)He enlisted on May 11, 1942, and received his training at the U.S. Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island. He first served on USS Benham (DD-397) as a Seaman 1st Class then joined the newly commissioned USS Taussig (DD-746) on May 20, 1944 as a Petty Officer 3rd Class. While serving as a torpedoman on destroyers, he saw action in the South Pacific, including the Battle of Iwo Jima.Steiger later commented: “I loved the Navy. I was stupid enough to think I was being heroic.” His experiences during the war haunted him for the rest of his life, particularly the loss of Americans during the Battle of Iwo Jima, as well as the sinking of vessels by the Taussig which were known to have women and children aboard. On December 17, 1944, off the coast of Luzon in the Philippines, Steiger and the Taussig encountered a severe typhoon, which became known as Halsey’s Typhoon, with winds reaching one hundred knots (115 mph) and 80 foot waves. As a result, three U.S. destroyers were lost, but the Taussig survived, with Steiger tying a rope to himself on deck and flattening himself as waves engulfed the ship.
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