The previous post was about Jack Clabaugh, but since it was from 2012, I decided to look for a followup, and, sadly, as is all too often the case, I found out he had died July 18, 2013, at age 93.
From the La Mesa-Mount Helix Patch.
Mr. Clabaugh was born to a poor family in Iowa in 1920. His mother died when he was seven and he and his six siblings were sent to live at farms all over the state. Even so, he was able to finish high school and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Navy upon graduation in 1938.
He said, "Many of the other boys who enlisted had tears from leaving their loved ones but I had tears of joy. It was the first time in my life I had two pairs of clean clothes and three square meals."
After basic training in Virginia, he was briefly stationed in San Diego and fell in love with the area and met the first love of his life who he eventually married.
He was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked and spent most of the war in the foundry of the destroyer tender USS Whitney where he made the stars for Admiral Halsey's uniform. he later served aboard the USS Ajax.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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