BATON ROUGE - Family, friends, and comrades gathered to pay homage to fallen heroes at the 74th anniversary of the kamikaze attacks on the USS Kidd destroyer during World War II.

"I would tell them to thank you for serving, also we respect them," said WWII Veteran, Garret C. Lynch.

Fighting on another ship, Lynch remembers the tragic day.

"It's really a hard psychologically to worry about the kamikazes, they just had in their mind they are going to die, and take somebody with them so it's pretty nerve-wracking, " Lynch said.

On April 11th, 1945, off the coast of Okinawa, one Japanese suicide plane hit the USS Kidd and killed 38 men onboard. 

Lieutenant William T. Barnhouse died on the ship. His granddaughter, Amy Ruddock was emotional as she learned of the events during the ceremony. She placed a flower in the Mississippi River for her grandfather and his friends who died fighting.

"It's a way of thanking and giving back to those who fought for our freedom," Ruddock said.

74 years later, the USS Kidd is a piece of history with fresh wounds. But for some, it's about keeping the memories of the men who fought alive.

After the ceremony, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome presented the unveiling the USS Kidd as a Purple Heart ship.