HomeMy WebLinkAboutElton Ford, Brazos Valley Heroes
One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest
, Generation" who served our country during World War II
-rl."" P~l~
Elton Ford, now 01 College Station, was and still Is a "big
guy". Growing up in Taft, Texas, alllt1e ~ds.caJled him "Big-Un."
When he attended college his nickname became "Ox. ~ Durtng his
service aboard It1e destroyer USS Charrette, he and his shipmates
eamed anolt1er nickname, "Jap Calt:her of It1e Reel"
"I was born In Capeland, Texas, in 1914 but spent most of
my youth on a farm near Taft, Texas. Wherll graduated in 1932.
tile Depression was in full swing. I V\IOrked at various jobs until my
Dad asked me to come back and help on It1e farm. When I went
bac~ a hail storm destroyed our whole crop and I went to work
as a press hand at a cotton gin. One Saturday, I was standing Ofl
a street comer in Taft when three of my friends drove by with a
mattress tied to the roof of their car.
"They said, 'Big-Un, we're going to Kingsvilfe to enroll at
Texas A&! and you should go.' They had found a house lt1ey could
rent for $16 per month, so ff I would go It1at would be $4 each. I
didn't have ttJe $4, much less money to enroll, but I got in the car
and headed toA&!.
"When we got It1ere, lt1ey were holding foottJall practice
across the street so I wandered over to watch. After a while, the
coach came by and looked me over like he was buying a horse. I
was 6 f..~ 2 W inelles fall and weighed 200 pounds. He asked ff
I had ever played football and I told him I had afTaft.
"He told me if t came out for the team and made the team,
he had 10 lobs he could give to new players. ~ was rough. We
were not only fighting for a position on the team, we were fighting
to aftend school and to be able to survive finandally. I have never
been so sore. I worked like hell until I made It1e leam and got one
of those 1 0 jobs. .
"By my senior year I was a tackle and co-captaln of the
team. We played MM while I was alA&!. There were only 18 01 us
and you played both ways for 60 minutes. Every time. I looked up,
there was another MM guy in a fresh uniform in front of me. Just
before lt1e end of It1e game,MM had a back break away and lt1ey
tied us 14-14, I koow It1e MM folks might not like to hear It1aI
It1ey tied us, but It1aI Is what happened."
In 1943, Ford was teaching vocational agriculture in Floresville
when he was contacted by the Naval Officer Procurement Group
about accepting a commission as a naval officer.
"The caJcll was I had to be 1A before It1ey could ofiei'me
a commission and my job gave me a 2A rating. I resigned my
, teaching job and when I gol It1e notice of my classffK:alion change,
I also got a draft notice from It1e Pmiy. I called It10se Navy guys
and told It1em lt1ey befter huny up or I was going to be in It1ePmiy.
They followed It1rough and I was sent to Hollywood Beaell, F~Iida,
to begin Naval Training ScI1ooI. Affer that I was sent to Norfolk,
Virginia, to be trained as a gunnery officer for a destroyer"
"I received my orders to report to It1e USS Charretfe and ftew
to Seattle to catell my ship. ~ had ~n;ady departed and I spent
the next 63 daYs chasing it allover the Pacific until I carne aboard
off the coast of the Philippines. The reason r know it took at least
63 days is because my wife wrote a letter each day and when I
boarded ship, 63 letters were waiting for me.
wWhen I am asked about my memories, two things stick out.
Dodging the attacks of kamikaze planes and riding out a Pacific
typOOon.1 didn't lt1ink I was going to be able to survive e~r.
wWhen we came under attack, I was in charge of the
stiutloard gun emplacement next to the bridge. During one
kamikaze attack, we could hear what was happening on the port
side and knew something was coming. They apparently hit the
kamikaze plane just enough so that it passed tJetlNeen the #1 and
#2 stacks of our ship in a steep bank. It took out our radio antenna
before crashing Into It1e sea. II rt had just f~wn a little more level,
I wouldn't be telling you this story.
wBefore the war ended, we captured a Japanese 'hospital
ship.' W. pulled ~ongside to board to checI< and see ff rt was
carrying contraband. If it was no~ we were to let it go on its
way. The ship was the Tachibana Maru. The officer selected to
go aboard and inspect was given a walkie-talkie"and told to use
the code word Mickey Ann if he discovered contrabaoct When he
went Into It1e hold of It1e ship, you could have heard him hollenng
Mickey Rnn wtthout any walkie-talkie.
The "hospital ship~ contained several hundred tons of ammo,
rifles, machine guns and mortars and 1,663 Japanese soldiers and
saHors. Ad<Ied to tf1e Japanese It1e Charrette had already captured,
this ran their total to 1 ,n6 Japanese prisoners. A coincidental but
appropnale number for It1e "Jap Calt:her 011t1e Reel".
When the war was over, Ford returned mme and worked
for U.S. Aid in South and Centra Amenca, pnncipally Panama and
Nicarngua, before retuming to It1e U.S. He retired In 1972 and has
lived in College Station for tf1e last few years to be near some '"
his children.
E~n Ford has lived and enjoyed Iffe to It1e fullest. But one of
his most fulfilling ex~riences was his time in the Navy.
"I was glad to have served, and ff I had It1e opportun~ I'd
do it again."
II you koow of a Wood War II veteran whose story needs to
be told, contact Bill Young~n at (979) 260-7030. II you would like
to add someone's name to the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial,
names must be submitted by August 15 in .order to be engraved
on the.memotial by this years Veterans Day observance.