MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – It was the most unrelenting kamikaze air attack in history, and it happened 79 years ago this past Tuesday – on a ship that now sits in Charleston Harbor. The USS Laffey, “the ship that would not die,” now honoring and remembering the men who died for it. Kamikaze attacks on U.S. ships. It was Japan’s way of trying to change the outcome of World War II. A ship put into service just months before faced 22 kamikaze planes on April 16, 1945. That ship was the USS Laffey, and the attack was part of the Battle of Okinawa. Kenneth McCullough served on the Laffey from 1968 to 1969; he was present for a recent bell-ringing ceremony and a reading of named for the 32 sailors who died on the ship during that attack. “If you can't remember the ones that made the ultimate sacrifice, how can you remember what our country is for?” he said. “That’s what our country means. You fight for it, and you protect her honor. That’s what it means to me.” Along with the 32 crew killed, 71 others were injured. So, one-third of the USS Laffey’s crew were either killed or injured in a battle that lasted just over an hour. Six planes and four bombs hit that ship. “You had the planes coming at them and you had two choices: shoot down the planes or sink. But the Laffey actually shot down 11 of the 22 planes that attacked it,” said Leonard Singleton, who served in the US Navy for 23 years. 79 years later… the sound of freedom still rings out. Freedom earned through the ultimate sacrifice.