HomeMy WebLinkAboutJoe P. Hollingsworth, Brazos Valley HeroesloIII(
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Generation" who served our country during world War 11
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By Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
Not many people get to select their name, but Joe P.
Hollingsworth did.
"When I enrolled at A&M I was told I would need a
birth ceffificate, so I went to the county clerk's office
in Hillsboro and filled out my own certificate," he said.
"Since I had always gone by Joe and not Joseph, that is
what I filled in on my birth certifiGate."
Hollingsworth was bom in Mertens, Texas, in 1922
and graduated from high school in 1939. He was enrolled
at A&M in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
"I attended the free movie at Guion Hall that Sunday
afternoon and when ( returned to my room, everyone
was in one room listening to the radio. They informed
me that the Japs have bombed Pearl Harbor and we are
going to war. Going to war became even more personal
for me when I received my draft notice a few weeks
later.
"I saw an ad in the Battalion about joining the Navy
Midshipman Program. If you signed up, you could finish
school and then go into their program after graduation
and become a naval officeL That draft notice was all the
incentive I needed. I headed to Houston and signed up.
" I graduated in May of 1943 wit) an agricultural
engineering degree and the Navy sent me to Columbia
University in New York City immediately to enter the
Midshipman Program. The Navy had just about taken
over Columbia, as there were over 700 in my class.
At A&M the 'bust-out' course was freshman
chemistry. At the Midshipman Program it was
navigation, but because of my engineering background,
1 did real well. While at Columbia, people would visit
about various opportunities in the Navy. One guy who
was promoting the PT program had picture of palm
trees and pretty native girls. I decided that was what I
wanted, so I entered the PT program.
"After Columbia, the Navy sent me to schools at
Harvard and at Mrr. At MIT I was involved in the secret
radar school. We had really good teachers because
they had combed America to get the best. They were
not trying to flunk you out but were trying to educate
everyone in the room.
"I reported home before heading to the Pacific and
discovered on the flight from Dallas to San Francisco
thatl had motion sickness.Thereafterl gotsickonevery
plane or ship that I ever traveled on. I finally arrived in
New Guinea on Biak Island, Another of my classmates
from the MIT radar program arrived at the same time,
so we flipped a coin to see who would be assigned first.
I won and was sent to Morotai Island.
an air attack by the Japanese, so we circled away from
the island for two hours before landing. The crew of that
plane and I were both glad I disembarked.
"I became the radar officer for the PT fleet, which
was about 36 boats. One of my last jobs after the war
was over was to burn all papers deemed non-essential
records, and I was able to read President Kennedy's
after-action report written in his own hand. He had
already departed Morotai before I arrived, so I never
got to meet him. His incident occurred because he was
lost and his PT boat was accidentally run over by a
Japanese cruiser in the dark.
"Upon my arrival, I was also awarded the bunk of Al
Vanderbilt, another rich and famous person who had
just departed. That bunk had everything, including an
air mattress, a regular mattress, netting, etc. Morotai
was a staging area for bombing runs on the Philippines,
and we averaged more than 200 Japanese air raids
per month while I was there. You very seldom got a full
night's sleep, and I spent a lot of time in a hole in the
ground we dug next to our quarters.
'I went on a PT run to Sammar to swap a case
of whiskey for some now radar equipment that we
needed. I needed nine sets but was able to get a set
for every bottle of whiskey. We loaded 12 new radar
units for the return trip and everything was packed on
the deck of the boat. On the way back, we hit a really
severe storm. The PT boat became disabled and was
about to break apart, so we had to throw all that new
equipment overboard. "That night as we were adrift,
suddenly everything fit up. An Australian cruiser had
located us, but they didn't know who we were and they
had every gun on board pointed at us. I was lying on
the deck strapped to the railing by my bait when one
of the crew looked over the rail. I was able to point to
our flag flying at the back of the boat and they held
their fire. That flag probably saved our lives. The next
day one of our PT boats located us and towed us in,
empty-handed."
After the war Hollingsworth worked for the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, then went to Work for A&M in
conductng engineering research. Later he transferred
to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and remained
there until he rettred In 1978.
"I have been a flag-waver ever since that incident
with the flag on our PT boat. it really bums me up to see
people disrespect our flag."
Joe P Hollingsworth's name can be found on the
Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial For more information,
to make a contribution, or ff you know a World War H
Veteran whose story needs to be told, tacttheBWM
"it was a 400-mile flight on a seaplane that really at wWw.VeIeranSo?eM0ria1.0rg` or Bill Youngkin at (979)
had me being sick. When we got there they were under 260-7030.
The Eairle
Here when ym need us� �
Korean War Vert Scottie Reynolds will be the gue on
"Veterans of the Valley" this week.on KAMU-k J
Veterans of the Valley, hosted by VVTAW's Tom Turbiville, can be
seen Fridays at 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
Ch�M 15/1.�