Howard Lee King

Howard Lee King

RDM2C

I was born in Marion, Illinois on November 14, 1924 to Robert S. King and Joyce (Bond) King. I was the third oldest of seven children. I had one brother and five sisters. I attended schools in Marion from first grade to high school. My dad was a coal miner for about 53 years. We raised a hog or two, and had a big garden in order to survive the Depression years. I did not finish high school before I jointed the Navy on September 12, 1942. I did finish school after I got out of the Navy in 1946.

I was sworn in the Navy in St. Louis, Missouri on September 12, 1942. I was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas where I went through Boot Camp under the direction of a Marine Sergeant. Upon completion of Boot Camp, I stayed and was assigned guard duty in the hangers and ramps. The base was also a training base for pilots of PBY planes and T-33 trainers.

We shipped out of Corpus Christi by troop train in July of 1943. We went to San Diego and North Island until August, when some of us went aboard the Nassau that was leaving for Samoa. This was when they were training pilots for carrier duty.

I was assigned duty as a Radar Operator, until the end of W.W.II, on the Nassau. I advanced to the rank of RDM 2/C.

In January 1943, I received news that my brother was aboard the cruiser, Chicago, when she was torpedoed six times in the Solomon's and sunk. Fortunately, he survived. He was taken to New Caledonia and assigned to the U.S.S. Arided, where he spent the rest of W.W.II. He never came back to the states until the war was over. I was proud that I was an important part of the war. I really think we were. We had an important part in the war by keeping the bigger carriers supplied with replacement aircraft.

After I was transferred off the Nassau, early in August 1945, I spent a week on Treasure Island. I was given a 30-day leave, and ordered to report in to the receiving station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I was on my way to Chicago, when we got word that Japan had surrendered. I had a great time that night in Dwight, Illinois. My uncle owned a tavern there, and needless to say, I was well supplied with drinks.

After I reported in Philadelphia, I was transferred to Newport, Rhode Island Naval Base to wait until I had enough "points" for discharge. In January 1946, I was sent to Great Lakes for discharge. I was discharged on January 23, 1946, after which I worked for Pontiac Motors in Pontiac, Michigan for about 3 months.

In November 1946, I decided to re-enlist in the Navy. Because I had been out over 90 days I couldn't re-enlist at my discharge rank. I went to the Army recruiter and they offered me a rank equivalent to RDM 2/C, which was Staff Sergeant. I had to go through Boot Camp, again, in San Antonio, Texas. After training in West Palm Beach, Florida, I was sent to Fairbanks, Alaska. I was assigned to the 59^th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. I was a Radar Operator on a B-29. We flew from Fairbanks, to the North Pole and back, to chart the weather in that region. Later, we had a flight to Tokyo, Japan, and back to Fairbanks. I was discharged for the AAF on the 10th of November, 1949, and settled in Kansas City, Missouri.

I married my wife, Marilyn (Stratemeir) on October 19, 1956. We raised three children. Our oldest son, Kevin, was adopted, and is married with five children. Kevin works as a roofer. Our daughter, Karen, works for KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Missouri in the accounting department, and has moved up to a better position within the same company. She graduated from Central Missouri State University with a degree in Accounting. Our youngest son, Kyle, graduated from the University of Missouri in Kansas City, and works for Mid-Continent Library in Independence, Missouri. He was a degree in Political Science and History.

I retired from the Pipe fitters Union Local #533 in November 1987. Marilyn and I have our house paid for, and enjoy our retirement and life in general. We don't take many trips, anymore, as we are all getting older. I'm 76 and she is 69.

I think, possibly, that my most memorable event was the first trip into Pearl Harbor, and seeing how vulnerable Pearl Harbor was at the time of the attack on December 7th. A number of battleships, cruisers, and others were "almost" destroyed, but yet were raised and repaired, by a great number of people, to live and fight another day. I doubt if any other country had the will and know how to accomplish this type of feat. This showed the determination of the people of that era. Can it be duplicated? I doubt it.

I know there were many, many more people in WW II who did more than we did on the Nassau, but we did what we were assigned to do, and I think we did it proudly.