My Cooter's History Blog has become about 80% World War II anyway, so I figured to start a blog specific to it, especially since we're commemorating its 70th anniversary and we are quickly losing this "Greatest Generation." The quote is taken from Pearl Harbor survivor Frank Curre, who was on the USS Tennessee that day. He died Dec. 7, 2011, seventy years to the day. His photo is below at right.
Saturday, July 30, 2022
The U.S. Navy in WW II and Afterwards-- Part 1
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Chief Pharmacist's Mate James Cheshire Died on the USS Oklahoma
From the July 25, 2022, WHSA 11 ABC News "Pearl Harbor sailor from Nelson County laid to rest 80 years later" by Brooke Hasch.
Of the 429 sailors and marines killed on the USS Oklahoma during the attack, 394 had been buried as unknowns. He was one of them.
James Cheshire joined the U.S. Navy at age of 18 and made a career of it for the next 22 years. He had just reupped in 1940 so had he chosen not to continue his career, he wouldn't have been on the ship that fateful day.
As a pharmacist's mate, he would have been way down in the ship at his medical station where he rendered aid to the wounded. Down there, he had almost no odds of escaping as the USS Oklahoma was hit at least five times, capsizing in 12 minutes.
He was buried this last weekend at Arlington National Cemetery.
Two of his cousins were on board the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor that day and both lost their lives.
--GreGen
Friday, July 22, 2022
Family Says Kentucky Sailor Killed on USS Oklahoma Is Finally Getting the Honor He Deserved: James Thomas Cheshire
From the July 18, 2022, WDRB News.
Eighty years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, remains of those killed are still being identified.
James Thomas Cheshire, better known as "Tom," is one of them. He was on the USS Oklahoma at the time. His remains were recovered, but identification could not be made.
Captain Robert McMahon is the director of the Naval Casualties unit and has been busy identifying those who lost their lives and were classified as unknowns.
Cheshire was born in New Hope, Kentucky, then moved to Louisville, where he enlisted in the Navy at age 19 in 1919. He went on to reach the rank of Chief Pharmacist Mate and was serving on the battleship USS Oklahoma.
He was finally identified in 2018, using DNA from family members. He received a full military honor burial Friday, July 22, at Arlington National Cemetery.
Navy Casualties said that there are still 33 USS Oklahoma sailors who remain unidentified, but work will continue until as many as possible are known.
--GreGen
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Where the Remaining Battleships Are Located
From the Complete Pilgrim.
USS TEXAS (BB-35) Houston, Texas (New York-Class launched 1912)
USS NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55) Wilmington, North Carolina. (North Carolina-Class launched 1940)
USS ALABAMA (BB-60) Mobile, Alabama (South Dakota-Class launched 1942)
USS MASSACHUSETTS (BB-59) Fall River, Massachusetts (South Dakota-Class launched 1941)
USS IOWA (BB-61) Los Angeles, California (Iowa-Class launched 1942)
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) Camden, New Jersey (Iowa-Class launched 1942) Launched December 7, 1942, on the one year anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
USS WISCONSIN (BB-64) Norfolk, Virginia (Iowa-Class launched December 7, 1943, the second anniversary of Peral Harbor).
USS MISSOURI (BB-63) Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (Iowa-Class launched in 1943) Located by the wreck of the USS Arizona.
--GreGen
Monday, July 18, 2022
USS Iowa-Class Battleships-- Part 3: Saving One of Those Big Guns
There is yet another reasoon why we won't be seeing these warships returning to active duty again and that is a serious lack of spare parts. Warships require specialized parts and to maintain the USS New Jersey museum, workers have to travel over to the nearby inactive fleet in Philadelphia Navy Yard to scavenge what they can find.
And, there us also the fact that the Navy continues its policy of getting rid of equipment it doesn't need.
OVER A BARREL
Storing and maintaining equipment from retired warships can be costly, but recently it was reported that a nonprofit group managed to save several battleship barrels (cannons) produced for the U.S. Navy during World War II. One that had been destined for a scrapyard will now get a new lease on life in Virginia Beach.
The Coast Defense Study Group was able to acquire a 120-ton barrel, one of nine that had been stored in Chesapeake. These were capable of firing a projectile weighing between 1,900 pounds and 2,700 pounds for up to 24 miles.
It was manufactured during the war for the Iowa-class battleships.
--GreGen
Friday, July 15, 2022
USS Iowa-Class Battleships-- Part 2: A Tale of Eight Battleships
Another factor against their coming back is that there is no longer any U.S. Navy facility large enough for such an undertaking.
Today, there are eight retired U.S. Battleships that have been maintained as floating mseums. In addition to the role of service each played, the elements have not been kind to these old warships.
The USS Texas is currently undergoing repairs as her hull is leaking. (It is also the oldest battleship, havong taken part in World War I.) Significant restorations were necessary to save the South Dakota-class USS Massachusetts. A special cofferdam had to built to do work on another South Dakota-Class battleship, the USS North Carolina.
The other non-Iowa-class battleship is the USS Alabama.
The four Iowa-class battlewagons, which were the last battleships launched by the U.S., are in better condition, but the USS New Jersey recently underwent its first major replacement of its wooden decks in decades.
--GreGen
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Will the USS Iowa-Class Battleships Ever Come Back?-- Part 1
From the July 12, 2022 1945 site "U.S. Navy Iowa-Class battleships broke all the rules (But stop asking for a comeback)" by Peter Sucio.
The Iowa-class battleships were the best warships of the battleship era. They were the largest ever built in the United States. That would be the USS Iowa, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Missouri.
There are still some who call for their return. And for some, including me, there is just something too much about seeing one or more of our big gun fast battleships in service again. And, they have all been preserved intact so it is possible for them to return to duty.
But is that possible?
Not likely. Smaller and more mobile guided-missile destroyers are today able to do shore bombardment better. These ships would require massive crews and would simply be too inviting of a target in this era of hypersonic missiles and stealth aircraft.
And, then there would be the huge costs of modernizing them and operating them.
But Still Wishful Thinking. Those Were Beautiful Warships. --GreGen
Monday, July 11, 2022
33 Classic World War II Movies-- Part 3: "Flags of Our Fathers'
1998: "The Thin Red Line"
2001: "Enemy at the Gates"
2001: "To End All Wars"
2001: *"Pearl Harbor"
2004: "Downfall"
2006: *"Flags of Our Fathers"
2006: *"Letters from Iwo Jima"
2008: *Valkyrie"
2009: *"Inglorious Basterds"
2014: *"Fury"
2017: *"Dunkirk"
--GreGen
Sunday, July 10, 2022
33 Classic WW II Movies-- Part 2: 'Saving Private Ryan'
* Ones I've seen.
1969: "The Battle of Britain"
1970: *"Patton"
1970: *"Kelly's Heroes"
1970: *"Tora,Tora, Tora"
1977: "A Bridge Too Far"
1980: "Big Red One"
1981: *"Das Boot"
1985: "Come and See"
1987: "Empire of the Sun"
1992: "A Midnight Clear"
1998: *"Saving Private Ryan"
--GreGen
Friday, July 8, 2022
33 Classic World War II Movies from 'Stalag 17' to 'Dunkirk'
From the November 11, 2021, The Wrap by Beatrice Verhoevan.
* Means I've seen it.
1945: " Walk in the Sun"
1949: "Battleground"
1953: "From Here to Eternity"
1953: "Stalag 17"
1954: *"The Caine Mutiny:
1957: *"Bridge on the River Kwai"
1961: *"The Guns of Navarone"
1962: *"The Longest Day"
1963: *"The Great Escape"
1967: *"The Dirty Dozen"
1968: *"Where Eagles Dare"
--GreGen
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Sailor Killed at Pearl Harbor Coming Home to Mississippi: John Russell Melton
From July 3, 2022 Kicks 96 News.
In 1941, as the holidays approached, a Mississippi sailor from Liberty stationed at Pearl Harbor on the USS West Virginia wrote home to his family that he was looking forward to coming home for Christmas. But Seaman First Class John Russell Melton never made it.
He was among those killed on the battleship USS West Virginia when it was hit by at least seven Japanese torpedoes and two armor-piercing bombs on December 7, 1941.
His remains were never identified and were buried along with other unknowns in a grave in Hawaii. But, they were disinterred in 2017 and sent to a lab for analysis -- and his family contacted for DNA samples which led to his identification.
And, he'll be coming home to Mississippi this Wednesday, July 6. His remains will be sent to New Orleans and then a motorcade will head to his hometown where flags will be displayed and people will pay their respects.
Saturday there will be a funeral with full military honors. The family intends to have him buried in a church cemetery along side his parents.
GreGen
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Remembering Herschel 'Woody' Williams, Last WW II Medal of Honor Recipient
The Veterans Site Greater Good by Dan Doyle.
Died Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Known as a Marine's Marine. Sadly, also, he was the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor during World War II.
He was born in 1923 on a dairy farm in Weirton, West Virginia, the youngest of 11 children. When the war started, he tried to join the military, but was first denied because he was too short. That didn't stop him and finally joined the Marine Corps in 1943.
Two years later, he landed in Iwo Jima on February 25, 1945, as a demolitions man with the 1st Battalion, 21st Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. Two days later he would be in the fight of his life against entrenched Japanese machine gun emplacements that were devastating his unit.
He would go forward to those emplacements armed with a flame thrower and supported by four Marine riflemen, two of whom would be killed in action protecting Woody. Over the next four hours he would attack the machine gun nests, taking them out one by one.
He would go back to the rear several times to get more demolitions and refill the flame thrower. On one occasion, he charged a machine gun bunker, got on top of it, stuck the nozzle of the flame thrower through the portal, and silenced the gun.
For his actions that day, he was awarded the nation's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.
--GreGen
Sunday, July 3, 2022
USS Oklahoma Unknowns: Joseph W. Hofman and George Price
From the April 19, 2022, 10 WBNS Chillicothe, Ohio.
JOSEPH W. HOFFMAN
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has announced that the remains of U.S. Navy Musician 1st Class Joseph W. Hoffman were identified.
He was from Chillicothe and on board the USS Oklahoma that tragic day.
He is scheduled to be buried August 23.
***************************************
From the April 16, 2022, Herald-Whig Dallas City, Illinois.
GEORGE PRICE
Funeral service will be held May 4 in Dallas City, Illinois.
He was on the USS Oklahoma that tragic day.
--GreGen
Saturday, July 2, 2022
World War II-era Boat Emerges from Shrinking Lake Mead
From July 1, 2022, OPB.org. by AP.
A sunken boat dating back to World War II is the latest item to emerge from a shrinking reservoir that straddles Nevada and Arizona.
It is a Higgins landing craft that was originally 185 feet below the surface is now nearly half way out of the water at Lake Mead about a mile from the Lake Mead Marina and Hemingway Harbor. It was used to survey the Colorado River decades ago, sold to the marina and then sunk.
Higgins Industries in New Orleans built several thousand landing craft between 1942 and 1945. Around 1,500 "Higgins Boats" were deployed on Normandy on D-Day on June 6, 1944.
The boat is only one of a series of objects appearing because of the declining waters of Lake Mead, the largest human-made reservoir in the U.S. held back by the Hoover Dam. In May, two sets of human remains were found in the span of one week.
--GreGen