Elma Residents Anxious About Sons in Hawaii, December 15, 1941

From the July  29, 2021, Quad-City (Illinois/Iowa) Times "Closure at last:  North Iowa family says goodbye to Pearl Harbor victim after 80 years" by Jared  McNett.

This article from the Waterloo (Iowa) Courier was reprinted in yesterday's paper.

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ELMA RESIDENTS ANXIOUS ABOUT SONS IN HAWAII

Elma, Iowa.

Several  Elma families have been quite anxious over sons and relatives at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, including  George Sullivan, son of  Mr. and Mrs. Frank Sullivan;  Dean Garrett, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Garrett; Francis Duluhery, son of Mr. and Mrs. Duluhery; Duane Hayes, son of  Mr. and Mrs. George Hayes, Luverne Murphy, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Murphy; and John Mulick, son of John Mulick.

The last named was on the U.S.S. Oklahoma, bombed by the Japanese.

Ray M. Evans, son of Mr. and Mrs.  Tom Evans, arrived  here Wednesday from Pensacola, Fla., where he has been stationed for six months, and left  Thursday for his new station at Seattle, Wash.  He is an army bomber pilot.

Russell Schroeder, seaman, has completed a 15-day furlough at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Homer Schroeder.

And, John Mulick did not return home,  He died on the USS Oklahoma.

The War Strikes Home This Early in a Small Iowa Town.  --GreGen

According to Wikipedia, the population of Elma in 2010 was 546.  In the early 1900s, it was around 1500.  Elma is 17 miles northeast of Charles City.

USS Fulton (AS-11)-- Part 1: Five Ships By This Name in U.S. Navy

Last month, I wrote about four previous USS Fultons that served in the U.S. Navy in three of my blogs.

USS Fulton (USS Demologos), designed by Robert Fulton, launched in 1815.  steam frigate in my Not So Forgotten" War of 1812 blog.

USS  Fulton (1837)  A sidewheel  steamer carrying four cannons.  Captured by the Confederates in 1861 and destroyed by them at Pensacola, Florida, to prevent capture in 1862.  This was in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog.

USS Fulton (AS-1).   The first purpose-built submarine tender launched in 1914 and reclassified as a gunboat in 1930 in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

USS Fulton (SP-247) a tugboat converted to a patrol boat 1917-1919.  In my Cooter's History Thing blog.

And this is the last U.S. ship by that name and a submarine tender which was in World War II and served until 1991.  At the time of decommissioning, it was the third oldest U.S. Ship, behind the USS Constitution and USS Vulcan.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivor Melvin Heckman Dies in Wyoming

From the February 13, 2018, Sheridan (Wtoming) Press  "Heckman leaves a lasting legacy in Sheridan" by Michael Illiano.

Melvin Heckman died last week at age 94.  He was 17 and based at Ford Island as an aviation machinist serving on the firefighter staff when the attack came. While he and others were rushing to a firetruck, a bomb landed 20 feet away, and he received shrapnel in his back but continued fighting, later receiving a Purple Heart for it.

After the attack, he was transferred to Palmyra, an atoll a thousand miles south of Pearl Harbor.  One day while there, he was assigned to escort a group of Naval officers around that island.  He got into a talk with one and said he would really like to be a pilot.  A moth later, he was transferred to Naval Flight School at Pensacola, Florida.

The officer he had been talking to turned out to be Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

At Pensacola, he completed Officer Candidate School and after more training, became a pilot, but by then the war had ended.

In later years, he was the chairman of the Wyoming Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivors Honored at NAS Pensacola

From the April 14, 2016, WUWF.org by Sandra Averhart.

The four were honored Friday, April 15.  All are in their 90s.

Frank Edmond, 97, was from Pawtuxet, Rhode Island and on the USS Pennsylvania.
Cass Phillips
Jay Carraway
Bill Braddock, 93, from Louisiana and a Marine on Ford Island.

Always Nice to Write About Pearl Harbor Survivors When It Is Not About Their Deaths.  --GreGen

One of Last Pensacola Pearl Harbor Survivors Dies, James Landis

From the Jan. 7, 2015, Pensacola (Fla.) News-Journal "One of the last Pearl Harbor survivors passes" by Troy Moon.

James Landis was 21 and a Navy machinist mate on Ford Island and about 500 yards from the planes parked near the USS Utah, the first battleship sunk in the attack.

He ran to a plane but jumped in the wrong side.  A bullet went through his hand as he reached to open the canopy, but he managed to return with weapons from it and began firing.  He didn't even know he was wounded.  Mr. Landis went on to serve 30 years in the Navy, serving also in the Korean and Vietbnam wars  and received three Purple Hearts.

He died Nov. 24, 2014, at age 94.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivor Louis Conter

From the Jan. 9, 2014, redlands Daily Facts.

Louis Conter was quartermaster on duty on the USS Arizona that day and he was the one who sounded the call to battle stations.

He managed to get off the ship and he and another sailor spent the next two days in longboats patrolling the harbor and picking up other survivors.

Afterwards, he was sent to the NAS Pensacola Flight School and flew a PBY in the Pacific rescuing downed flight crews and looking for Japanese submarines.

He also flew jet fighters in the Korean War.

He was visiting the Arizona and took part in the placing of one of his shipmates' remains in the hull.

It Is Always Nice to Write About a Living Survivor With All of Them Dying Now. --GreGen

Doolittle Raiders Visit Pensacola-- Part 1

From the April 21, 2013, Pensacola (Fla) News Journal."Doolittle Raiders: Surviving WWII aviators greet fans at Naval Aviation Museum" by R. Johnson.

Two of the remaining four Doolittle Raiders were at the museum: Richard Cole, 97 and David Thatcher, 91.

Elizabeth Pelon waited in line for half an hour just to shake their hands.  She recalled the April1942 news flash and thought, "Hey, maybe we can win this war.

Cole said that the highlight of the attack for him was when he had to bail out of the plane, "The best thing was when my parachute opened."  I guess so.

Mighty Special People.  --GreGen