DOCSLIB.ORG

Ray Bowden Oral History Interview BRUCE PETTY

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ray Bowden Oral History Interview BRUCE PETTY Ray Bowden Oral History Interview BRUCE PETTY: Today is Thursday the 8th of March, the year 2000. I’m interviewing Mr. Ray Bowden in Vacaville, California. (break in audio) RAY BOWDEN: I was born in Bradley, California, 1921. BP: Where is that? RB: The same as [Omar?]. BP: Is it up north? RB: No, it’s down by (inaudible). It’s right where Camp Roberts used to be. Camp Roberts is just a little bit north of that. I was raised on a dairy farm in Fresno County. As a side note, I was born in the same house my dad was born in. So I’m a fourth-generation Californian. BP: So they’ve been out here since the early days. RB: Yeah. I went in the Navy in 1938 in Fresno. I wound up in San Diego on the 11th of November, 1938. BP: Is there a special reason why you went in the Navy? RB: Well, (laughs) in a way. I’d been working out in the field. It was hot. I had a cousin who had just come over for a visit. He was a cook in the Navy. He was on the (inaudible) destroyer. And it seemed so refreshing to me. My dad had been in the Navy, too, in World War I. And so 1 it was hot out there (inaudible) working in the hayfields. And (inaudible) my mother was standing underneath the shade of a tree. And I said, “I think I’ll join the Navy.” She said, “What do you mean?” I said, “At least it’s not this hot, I don’t think.” Anyway, we went into Fresno a couple weeks later and wound up at the recruiting station. We happened to be driving by, and there it was. So we stopped and went in. That was the beginning. (inaudible) went to San Francisco and they enlisted me in the Navy. San Diego, on Armistice Day, I was picked up by a (inaudible) chief petty officer to take me to a training station. I remember our chief petty officer was the company commander of the company I was put in. He says, “Right now, you may be cussing me and everybody else around here. But in later years, you’re going to look back and this is going to be the best time in your life (inaudible).” He was right. I wound up as a recruiting instructor (inaudible) at San Diego. (laughs) Anyway, I went aboard the Oklahoma in March of 1939 in San Francisco. And I was a Navy seaman for a while. Then I made coxswain. They call it third class boatswain’s mate now. I had charge of a boat. I ran a Liberty boat. Then on the 7th of December we had the duty (inaudible) I had to make a [church?] run at 8:00 a.m. (inaudible) understand that the (inaudible) by the rudder 2 (inaudible) would clean up (inaudible) Marines (inaudible) color. And all of a sudden, I hear a machinegun and then an airplane. I didn’t think too much of either one of them, because the Army and the Navy had been dogfighting for months out there. So hearing a plane dive was nothing new. About that time the plane flew (inaudible) and I saw meatballs on the wing. And I told my crew, “Get the hell out of here. This ain’t no drill.” So we went to the battle stations. And then my battle station was (inaudible) out there in the antiaircraft battery. I got up there over the bridge, (inaudible). (break in audio) RB: Ran up there and went into the (inaudible). There’s two of us up there (inaudible). And we couldn’t do anything with the (inaudible) because there wasn’t any power. I looked out the door and I saw men leaving the ship. And I told my buddy, “It’s time to go. Let’s go. Let’s get out of here.” BP: Had you been hit by torpedoes? RB: Yeah, the Arizona was tied up astern of us. And they offboarded the Tennessee. They took the first torpedo and then we took seven more. Bang, bang, bang, bang, just about as fast as they could drop. BP: Seven right into the Oklahoma. 3 RB: Yeah. So anyway, the ship (inaudible) didn’t have a chance to counter-flood. It happened so fast. (inaudible) I got down on the signal bridge and tried to go down the ladder. It was at an angle like this. I thought about going off on the portside. And I thought, “No, this ain’t (inaudible) if I do.” So I started for the starboard side. BP: It was rolling to port? RB: It went to port. I got to the starboard side. It was (inaudible) straight up and down. We got to the (inaudible), standing on the side of the ship, looking down at the bottom. And (inaudible). And (inaudible) just looking right at it when it blew up. And it seemed to go up in the air and up out of the water, come back down, and sit at an angle like this. BP: The Arizona was forward of you? RB: It was astern of us. BP: And you were far enough away that none of the pieces came down on top of you. RB: No. The (inaudible) onboard of the Arizona, they had been doing repair work on it. The blast to the Arizona blew the skipper of the Vestal clear off the ship. And the (inaudible) or one of the officers, anyway, thought they were sinking. So they ordered abandon-ship. BP: Was the skipper killed? 4 RB: No. BP: Just blown off. RB: These guys started leaving the ship. And this oily apparition came back aboard ship and said, “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” “We’re abandoning ship, Sir.” “The hell you are. Man your battle stations. Prepare to get underway.” BP: Do you remember his name, that captain? RB: No, I don’t. I think I got a picture of him around here somewhere. (break in audio) RB: He got his men back to the battle stations, cutting (inaudible) lines. And then we got off to where (inaudible) Navy yard. BP: Did you tell me the name of that ship (inaudible)? It was a smaller vessel, right? RB: Vestal. BP: It was a fleet tug? RB: No, I think Geronimo was the tug (inaudible). BP: I’ll look it up. RB: Anyway, I went on down into the water and swam over to the island (inaudible) walked back to the quarterdeck and up over the life lines and up to the boat deck where the antiaircraft-fire guns were, because that was (inaudible) 5 where my station was aboard ship on the Oklahoma. So (inaudible) guys and (inaudible) gunner off the Oklahoma. And they didn’t man the gunners. They were waiting for electricity and air. So they (inaudible) flare. And this one-gun crew off the Oklahoma, they pulled the guys (inaudible) and started (inaudible) by hand. And the Navy rammed (inaudible). BP: What do you mean “rammed it”? RB: Rammed the shell. BP: By hand. RB: Yeah. The shell from a five-inch 25 antiaircraft. It was like a big 22 shell. BP: And they shoved it in by hand. RB: Yeah. They weigh about 50 to 75 pounds apiece, depending on what kind of charge they got. Anyway, from there, (inaudible) my battle station, which was above the bridge. (inaudible) there and the officer in charge said, “(inaudible) look out.” There was a lieutenant and me and another guy over here next to me, standing there. We were watching the planes coming in and what have you. Anyway, the Nevada was trying to get out of the harbor. She (inaudible) hospital (inaudible). They started trying to sink her. (inaudible) and one of them tried to get in (inaudible) too many (inaudible), I guess. So we saw the 6 Maryland over there all by itself. Couldn’t get out. Couldn’t move. They went for her. And they dropped a bomb on -- I was standing there, watching. I watched the bomb fall. It looked like it was going to land right between my feet. All I could do was stand there and watch it. It landed on (inaudible), which was about probably 100, 150 feet away. And the anchorage (inaudible) shrapnel all over the place. And the officer right next to me, it killed him. This guy over here, he got a big chunk here. And a piece hit me here, in the chest. BP: The left chest, under the arm? RB: Yeah, right there. BP: The officer to your right, who was he? Do you remember him? RB: His name was Crow, Lieutenant Crow. BP: And the guy to your left who was hit? RB: His name was -- he was off the Maryland. I don’t remember what his name was. Lieutenant Crow was on the Maryland, too. But it just so happens that I knew his parents. I knew him from a picture I had seen. BP: He got killed. RB: Yeah. BP: He got hit in the chest? 7 RB: In the throat. And they had passed out (inaudible) bunch of guys on there from Okinawa and different places. They (inaudible) so they passed out (inaudible) rifle and ammunition. (inaudible) on the Maryland and dropped this bomb, it was going off like (inaudible) wham, wham, wham. (inaudible) action 30-06. BP: People were shooting at a boat (inaudible) 30-06 from World War I? RB: (laughs) Yeah.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • THE JERSEYMAN Remembering USS UTAH
    Remembering USS UTAH... 2nd Quarter 2009 "Rest well, yet sleep lightly and hear the call, if again sounded, to provide firepower for freedom…” THE JERSEYMAN 7 Years - Nr. 62 USS UTAH (BB-31/AG-16) Ship’s bell on display at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City Keel laid down March 1909 at New York Shipbuilding, Camden, N.J. Sunk during Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor - Dec 7, 1941 Photo courtesy of RMCM William Hughes, USN/Retired Grand Prairie, Texas (Radioman 3/c crewman aboard USS UTAH - December 7, 1941) 2 The Jerseyman The Music of World War II... For those of us that remember the big bands of the 1940‟s, and stirring World War II songs with lyrics we could actually understand, you may want to check out this website: http://www.6thcorpsmusic.us/ Vera Lynn - “Land Of Hope and Glory”, Jimmy Durante - “I‟ll Be Seeing You”, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”, “Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover”, “Joltin‟ Joe Dimaggio”, and “Bless „em all” by Bing Crosby... they‟re all here. To hear what the German side was listening to during the war, you can find a powerful “Panzerlied”, and “Lili Marlene”. More than 200 songs, and all are downloadable at no cost. Marion Chard, who‟s father served in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), put together these musical memories in honor of her father and his World War II service with the VI Corps - 540th Combat Engineers. We ask readers to please let Marion know if you enjoyed these songs.
    [Show full text]
  • The Struggle for Port Moresby
    (Preview Version) Introduction to the book The Second World War is probably one of the most famous conflicts in human history, and it is probably one of the most covered by historical books. It shall be noted however that most of the publications cover, mainly, the European Theatre of Operations (ETO), that included the campaigns in North Africa, in Italy and in Western Europe. There are plentiful of publications also on the Eastern Front, where the two titans (Nazi Germany and Soviet Union) fought some of the bloodiest battles in history. Regarding the Pacific Theatre of Operations there are less documentations, except for “famous battles” like Pearl Harbour, Midway or the Philippines. In honour of all those who, regardless of the side, lost something or someone in some remote places of the Planet Earth, we have decided to dedicate our efforts in studying on one of those “almost forgotten” (at least in non-Australian literature) campaigns: The Kokoda Track Campaign (1942- 1943). This book is the result of the various researches that our team, of The Modern Warfare Historian (TMWH) channel, have done since March 2020. All the information included into this publication are, however, to be taken with a grain of salt. This is because, since no one of our team was personally on the battlefield, we must have to rely on other sources and sometimes, sadly, we have had to try and understand what was the reality when there were conflicting information. This is especially true in the Kokoda Track Campaign, as it was composed of a series of battles deep in the Jungle in one of the most inhospitable terrain of our planet, therefore there are instances in which we were not sure where the specific dispositions of units were.
    [Show full text]
  • Submerged Cultural Resources Study: USS Arizona Memorial And
    I 29.116:23/2001 .w. jed Cultural Resources Study FEDERAL ' USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL PUBLICATION and PEARL HARBOR NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK Advyan tnn7 R T Wtf wan Adoifsodaa oi ^ o v Oo DANIEL J K LENIHAN, EDITOR SUBMERGED CULTURAL RESOURCES UNIT NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/submergedcultura01ussa USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL AND PEARL HARBOR NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK This publication was made possible through a donation from the Arizona Memorial Museum Association. SUBMERGED CULTURAL RESOURCES STUDY USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL AND PEARL HARBOR NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK by Daniel J. Lenihan, Editor Principal Investigator Submerged Cultural Resources Unit James P. Delgado Maritime Preservation Program Bill Dickinson and Gary Cummins Former Superintendents USS Arizona Memorial Scott Henderson Naval Ocean Systems Center Daniel A. Martinez USS Arizona Memorial Larry E. Murphy Submerged Cultural Resources Unit Illustrations by Jerry L. Livingston Southwest Cultural Resources Center Professional Papers No. 23 Santa Fe, New Mexico 1989 Second Edition 1990 Third Printing 2001 Submerged Cultural Resources Unit Southwest Cultural Resources Center Southwest Region National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior IV 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST OF TABLES xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xv 1 I. INTRODUCTION Daniel J. Lenihan Accomplishments by Year 6 Research Design 8 This Report 1 13 II. HISTORICAL RECORD Daniel A. Martinez Pearl Harbor Attack 13 USS ARIZONA 24 USS UTAH 35 Pearl Harbor Salvage 48 Japanese Aircraft 57 Japanese Submarines 65 West Loch Disaster 70 III. ARCHEOLOGICAL RECORD 75 Daniel J. Lenihan and Larry E.
    [Show full text]
  • The Crew of the USS Abner Read DD-526 (Second Edition)
    Fort Hays State University FHSU Scholars Repository Monographs Forsyth Library 2021 Memories: The Crew of the USS Abner Read DD-526 (Second Edition) Mary Elizabeth Downing-Turner Fort Hays State University, [email protected] Michael Davis Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/all_monographs Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Downing-Turner, Mary Elizabeth and Davis, Michael, "Memories: The Crew of the USS Abner Read DD-526 (Second Edition)" (2021). Monographs. 28. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/all_monographs/28 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Forsyth Library at FHSU Scholars Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Monographs by an authorized administrator of FHSU Scholars Repository. Memories: The Crew of the USS Abner Read DD-526 Second Edition Edited By M. Elizabeth Downing-Turner, MLIS Rev. Michael Davis, MEd, MDiv This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 4.0 License First edition, 1992 Second edition, 2021 Memories: The Crew of the USS Abner Read (DD-526) Dedicated to the crew of the USS Abner Read, DD-526 and their families Memories: The Crew of the USS Abner Read (DD-526) ‘Lil Abner Author Unknown You’ve heard of ‘Lil Abner. Well, We’re the Abner Read. They sent us off to the fighting zone To help the Yanks succeed Our trip was sort of rugged, And the cruising kind of rough, But everyone, from stem to stern, Kept their sleeves above the cuff. When we reached the neighborhood, The commandos were released, Our boys stood by to let lead fly At the dug-in Japanese Soon from the beach, The word was passed, “Calling Abner, Calling Abner,” Start to blast.
    [Show full text]
  • INSTRUMENT of SURRENDER We, Acting by Command of and in Behalf
    INSTRUMENT OF SURRENDER We, acting by command of and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, hereby accept the provisions set forth in the declaration issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, China, and Great Britain on 26 July 1945 at Potsdam, and subsequently adhered to by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which four powers are hereafter referred to as the Allied Powers. We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under the Japanese control wherever situated. We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated and the Japanese people to cease hostilities forthwith, to preserve and save from damage all ships, aircraft, and military and civil property and to comply with all requirements which my be imposed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by agencies of the Japanese Government at his direction. We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Headquarters to issue at once orders to the Commanders of all Japanese forces and all forces under Japanese control wherever situated to surrender unconditionally themselves and all forces under their control. We hereby command all civil, military and naval officials to obey and enforce all proclamations, and orders and directives deemed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to be proper to effectuate this surrender and issued by him or under his authority and we direct all such officials to remain at their posts and to continue to perform their non-combatant duties unless specifically relieved by him or under his authority.
    [Show full text]
  • Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor Recipients)
    D A Y O F I N F A M Y A T r i b u t e t o t h e V e t e r a n s a n d H e r o e s o f P e a r l H a r b o r By C. Douglas Sterner Table Of Contents Preface – "Welcome to Paradise" ....................................................... a Introduction .......................................................................................... c Paradise Lost ............................................................................................. 1 Tora, Tora, Tora ........................................................................................ 5 USS Utah ........................................................................................................... 6 Requiem for a Little Girl .................................................................................... 9 The Day the Seas Burned ......................................................................... 10 USS Oklahoma ................................................................................................. 10 USS West Virginia ............................................................................................ 11 Into the Inferno ........................................................................................ 13 USS Arizona ...................................................................................................... 13 USS Vestal ........................................................................................................ 15 Doing the Impossible ..............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 75Th Anniversary National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration, December 7
    r^;,,—-—-^ 75TH ANNIVERSARY NATIONAL PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY COMMEMORATION DECEMBER 7, 2016 PEARL HARBOR - 'UNITING A DIVIDED NATION' Courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command At 6:00 a.m. on 7 December, six Imperial Japanese Navy carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes com­ prising torpedo bombers, dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese aircrews achieved complete surprise when they hit American ships and military installa­ tions on Oahu shortly before 8:00 a.m. They attacked military airfields at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The Navy air bases at Ford Island and Kaneohe Bay, the Marine airfield at Ewa and the Army Air Corps fields at Bellows, Wheeler and Hickam were all bombed and strafed as other ele­ ments of the attacking force began their assaults on the ships moored in Pearl Harbor. The purpose of the simultaneous attacks was to destroy the American planes before they could rise to intercept the Japanese. Of the more than 90 ships at anchor in Pearl Harbor, the primary targets were the eight battleships an­ chored there. Seven were moored on Battleship Row along the southeast shore of Ford Island while the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) lay in dry dock across the channel. Within the first minutes of the attack all the battleships adjacent to Ford Island had taken bomb and/or torpedo hits. The USS West Virginia (BB-48) sank quickly. The USS Oklahoma (BB-37) turned turtle and sank. At about 8:10 a.m., the USS Arizona (BB-39) was mortally wounded by an armor-piercing bomb which ignited the ship's forward ammunition magazine.
    [Show full text]
  • L1li ABENDROTH, Emerson Irvin -- PRESBY (USA) 471872 1St Mardiv, Aug 1946
    A l1li ABENDROTH, Emerson Irvin -- PRESBY Trenton, Jan 45 - Oct; USS PORTSMOUTH, (USA) 471872 Oct -. ReI, 27 Mar 46. 1st MarDiv, Aug 1946 - Ju147. ReI, 1 Jul47. Rec, Aug 1948; NAAS, Miramar, Calif, Res, 2 Mar 50. Aug - Apr 49; USS RENDOVA, Apr - Oct; MSTS-P, Oct - Jul 51; NAS, Moffett Field, ABUCEWICZ, John Alexander -- RC 503477 Calif, Jul -. Pro, LCDR, 20 Jul 45. Pro, CDR, 22 Nov 51. B, Lowell, Mass, 25 Jan 1920; Boston Coll, 39; St JOhn's Sem, Mass, 44; ord, Archbp ADAMS, Francis Paul -- RC 295481 R J Cushing, 10 Aug 44; asst p, Salem Mass, 44- 51. B, Phila, 30 Dec 1912; St Charles Borromeo Sem, Phila, BA, 40; ord, D Card Dougherty, Comm, LT(jg), ChC, USN, 24 Jan 1949; 18 May 40; asst p, Ch of St Peter, Coplay, Pa. indoc, 8 ND, Jan - Apr; 1st MarDiv, May ­ Feb 50; ComNavMar, Mar - May 51; NAAS, Comm, LT(jg). ChC-U(S). USNR, 5 Jun Whiting Field, F1a, June -. Pro, LT, 1 Apr 1943; CS, 14-43; NATTC, Corpus Christi, 52. Tex, Sep - Sep 44; USS RANDOLPH, Sep ­ Oct 46. ReI, 1 Dec 46. l1li ACKISS, Ernest Lee -- BAP (S) 27277 ..~ Rec, CS, 4b-1952; ComMinLant, Charles­ BuPers, Dec 1944 - Aug 47, (Act Dir, Chap ton, S. C., Sep -. Pro, LT, 1 Sep 44. Pro, Div, Jan - May 45; Asst Dir, May - Aug 47); LCDR, 1 Jul 51. Dist Chap, PRNC, Aug 47 - Sep 49. Ret, Sep 49. ## ADAMS, Garnet Oliver -- EVAN &: REF 445551 Rec, BuPers, Jul 51 - Mar 1953. Ret, Mar 53.
    [Show full text]
  • 226 Lawrence Dostanko: Uss Curtiss
    #226 LAWRENCE DOSTANKO: USS CURTISS Steven Haller (SH): My name is Steven Haller and we're here on December 8, 1991 at 4:30 p.m. at the Waikiki Park Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. And I'm pleased to be talking with Lawrence Dostanko. Mr. Dostanko was an apprentice seaman on the seaplane tender, USS CURTISS, at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. At this point he was twenty-one years of age. And Mr. Dostanko, I'd like to thank you for taking the time, sort of at the spur of the moment to come up and talk with us about your experiences that day. Lawrence Dostanko (LD): Roger. We commissioned the ship in Philadelphia Navy Yard. We were supposed to go to Alaska, and the [USS]ALBEMARLE was supposed to be stationed in Hawaii. They broke down. When they broke down, they sent, they told us to go to Hawaii. And we went through the Panama Canal and everything. We got to Hawaii, we traveled all over the islands, Fiji, Samoa, Marshalls, all over. We got done and we took on a bunch of planes in Hawaii, on a ship to Wake Island and Midway. Oh, they, I don't remember. I tell you, it's hard, it was a long time ago. But, when we were there, we saw a sub pop up. Okay. And we signaled it, no answer. We dumped everything, the gas, the dive bombs and all, both places, and we shoved off the next day, they even cut the lines down. They won't let nobody in the radio shack to see what's going on.
    [Show full text]
  • Ephemera Collection
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8qz2bz4 No online items Ephemera Collection The Unknown Librarian William H. Hannon Library Loyola Marymount University One LMU Drive, MS 8200 Los Angeles, CA 90045-8200 Phone: (310) 338-5710 Fax: (310) 338-5895 Email: [email protected] URL: http://library.lmu.edu/ © 2013 Loyola Marymount University. All rights reserved. Ephemera Collection 071 1 Ephemera Collection Collection number: 071 William H. Hannon Library Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, California Processed by: Unidentified Librarian Date Completed: Unknown Encoded by: Bri Wong © 2013 Loyola Marymount University. All rights reserved. Descriptive Summary Title: Ephemera Collection Dates: 1876-2005 Collection number: 071 Creator: Engh, Michael, S.J. Creator: Von Boltenstern, Werner Collection Size: 37 archival document boxes, 2 oversize boxes Repository: Loyola Marymount University. Library. Department of Archives and Special Collections. Los Angeles, California 90045-2659 Abstract: The majority of Collection 071 consists of leaflets, pamphlets, programs, photographs, brochures, broadsheets, and newspaper clippings, on a run of topics that ranges from travel and tourism to Roman Catholicism. Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English Access Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount University. Publication Rights Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.
    [Show full text]
  • Young County Veterans Page 2 Honoring the Brave Wednesday, November 6, 2019
    Honoring the Brave Young County Veterans Page 2 Honoring the Brave Wednesday, November 6, 2019 Doyle K. Mullanax, PFC, December 1944. C. Frank Hodges, 1945, basic training. He William R. Kelly, U.S. Army First Sgt., 1944. PFC Jean Creel, October 1942. He served 1st Lt. Robert W. (Bob) Groves, 1942, Major Clarence A. Klenk, April 15, 1945, He received the Purple Heart, ETO, 3 Battle served with the U.S. Army Air Corps in World He served with the 110th Infantry, 28th with the 146th AAF Basea Unit, Selfridge shortly after earning his wings in the USAC Douglas, Ariz., USAF, just completed pilot Stars, Bronze Star, GCM, Victory and ATO War II on the Philippine Islands. Photo Division in Germany. He was awarded the Field, Michigan, as an airplane and engine (later the USAF). He fl ew 46 missions in training and promoted to 2nd Lt. Served as Ribbon. Wounded in Bastogne in 1944. courtesy of Shirley Hodges. Bronze Star Medal for heroic leadership mechanic. Photo courtesy of Melvin Gene B-24 with Jolly Rogers unit in the South an airplane mechanic and pilot during World Photo courtesy of Kay Mullanax. during the Battle of the Bulge. Photo Creel. Pacifi c. Later, he participated in the Berlin War II. He retired in 1966 as a major. Photo courtesy of Mary P. Kelly. Air Lift. He retired as a major. Photo courtesy courtesy of Clarence A. Klenk. of Janice Alsup. Berl Tiffi n joined the U.S. Army Air Corps Lester Joe Lankford, 1941, U.S. Army. Photo 1st Lt.
    [Show full text]
  • The Navy Vol 73 No 4 Oct 2011
    THE RAN’S CENTENARY ELECTRONIC RESURGENCE NIITAKAYAMA NOBORE’ THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY’S ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR THE UK SDSR2010-2011 PACIFIC MEANS BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL MARITIME EXPOSITION SYDNEY CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE 31 JANUARY - 3 FEBRUARY 2012 THE COMMERCIAL MARITIME AND NAVAL DEFENCE SHOWCASE FOR THE ASIA PACIFIC PACIFIC2012 International Maritime and Naval Exposition will be a unique marketing, promotional and networking forum. PACIFIC2012 will be a comprehensive showcase of the latest developments in naval, underwater and commercial maritime technology. PACIFIC2012 will also feature a number of timely and highly informative industry conferences and seminars. PACIFIC2012 will be the most comprehensive industry event of its type ever staged in the Asia Pacific region and will provide a focused and informed business environment. AUSTRALIAN SALES TEAM Bob Wouda T: +61 (0) 3 5282 0538 M: +61 (0) 418 143 290 E: [email protected] Penny Haines T: +61 (0) 3 5282 0535 M: +61 (0) 407 824 400 E: [email protected] MARITIME AUSTRALIA LIMITED PO Box 4095, Geelong VIC 3220, Australia T: +61 (0)3 5282 0500 www.pacific2012.com.au ag Volume 73 No.4 THE MAGAZINE OF THE NAVY LEAGUE OF AUSTRALIA FFEDERALEDERAL CCOUNCILOUNCIL SSOUTHOUTH AAUSTRALIANUSTRALIAN DDIVISIONIVISION Patron in Chief: Her Excellency, Patron: His Excellency, The Governor General. The Governor of South Australia. President: Graham M Harris, RFD. President: Dean Watson, RFD. Senior Vice-President: Rear Admiral Hon. Secretary: Miss J E Gill, 06 ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY DG Holthouse, AO, RAN (Rtd) PO Box 3008, Unley, SA 5061. Vice-Presidents: Telephone: (08) 8272 6435 CENTENARY AND 100TH Roger Blythman, RFD, Matt Rowe TTASMANIANASMANIAN DDIVISIONIVISION Hon.
    [Show full text]