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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMartin Cleveland, Brazos Valley HeroesBy BiN llb~ Spacial ~o irlN iEayM Martin Cleveland, now of College Station, was one of six brothers from Cisco, Texas, who served in World War II. Frve survived the war. As Cleveland recalled when interviewed recently, "I was born on a farm and ranch about 10 miles north of Cisco in 1926. There were 11 boys and one girl born into my family. Two of my brothers died, one in infancy and one accidentally as a young boy. When the war broke out, six of the nine remaining boys served in World War II. My oldest brother wAs too old for service in World War tl and the two youngest were too young. One later served in Korea and the youngest served in Viet Nam. "I was a senior at Cisco High in 1943 when I joined the Navy. The War Department was drafting people when they turned 18. I didn't want to be in the Army, so iwo days before my 18th birthday on April 26, 1943, I volunteered for the Navy. "At that time, I had one brother who was a pilot in the Marine Corps, one brother in the Army Air Corps, one brother flying for the Navy and two brothers in the Army. "I was sent to San Diego for boot camp. But three weeks into my training, I was called in and was told my brother who was a Marine pilot had been killed and I could go home for the funeral. My brother was on a training exercise near our place at Cisco. He and some other. Marine pilots were circling our home waving to my parents. Both of my parents were in our yard waving back when the engine on my brother's plane stopped. He crashed into the hillside next to our house. My parents were the first to reach the crash site. Fortunately, the plane did not catch fire. I was the only brother then in the service that was able to come home for the funeral. "After the funeral I returned to San Diego and completed my training. I was assigned to the USS Alabama, a battleship, but had to go to Hawaii to board her. The Alabama would be my home for the rest of the war." Cleveland's duty station was serving as part of the fire control team for the nine 16-inch guns located on the USS Alabama. The duties of that team were to pick out the targets, adjust the rangefinders, determine the elevation the guns needed and communicate that to the gunners. In today's Nary, it would be akin to the computer control center. The USS Alabama held 48 40mm cannons, 60- plus 20mm anti-aircraft guns, 16 five-inch guns and nine 16-inch guns. That was a lot of firepower which could be used to bombard targets with its big guns or provide air defense with its cannons. As a result, the USS Alabama and its crew would earn nine battle stars in the Pacific Theatre. This meant that the USS Alabama and its crew were involved in every major U.S. engagement from late 1943 until the war ended. With the war's end, the Alabama would be in Japan for the _ _ -----._--- •--~ involved in all that happened. One of Cleveland's best memories is the time he got to share with his brother Jessie. "Jessie and I were the iwo from our family in the -Navy. Jessie was an officer and a naval pilot flying off the USS Monterrey. The Monterrey was part of our battle group and was usually nearby. Whenever we reached shore we would get together and visit, always hoping that at the next stop, we would get to do the same again. "Of all the battles we were involved in, probably the most dangerous was Okinawa. The Nary had more ships sunk there than at any other site. We later learned that at one point there were over 400 Japanese planes over our position, with most, if not all, Kamikaze planes. We were fortunate enough to never be hit, but the Alabama knocked out several planes that day and several more during the war. "Our greatest loss of life and injury aboard the Alabama occurred when one of our five-inch guns accidentally fired into another gun emplacement, killing five and wounding several more. With each trip you never knew if it would be a Japanese submarine or a Kamikaze pilot that hit you or a typhoon that would sink you, but we managed to survive all those. "When the war ended, I was able to go ashore in Japan and was able to see first-hand the type of destruction war can bring to a land. The Japanese people I encountered looked like they had been through all they could just about stand." Cleveland was discharged in 1946 and returned to Cisco, where he enrolled in Cisco Junior College under the G.I. Bill. He also attended the University of Oklahoma, but graduated from Texas Christian University in 1950. After a stint with the City of Abilene, he spent the next 35 years, until his retirement, with the West Texas Central Water Control District, which built Lake Hubbard and provided water to the surrounding town in the area, including Abilene. In 1964 the USS Alabama was donated to the state of Alabama, and it now resides in Mobile Bay as a state park. "Twenty years ago we had a reunion there. Out of more than 2,500 that served aboard the Alabama, almost 400 attended. There were a lot of old sea stories being told. The Alabama was the same as I remembered it. The USS Alabama was were I grew from ateen-age boy to a man." Martin Cleveland's name can be found on the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial. If you want to have a name added to the Veterans Memorial in time to have the name inscribed as part of the Veterans Day program this November, you must have the application submitted before August 15. For more information, to make a contribution, or if you know a World War ll veteran whose story needs to be told, contact the BWM at www. veteransmemoriaLorg or Bill Youngkin at (979) 260-7030.