HomeMy WebLinkAboutRoy W. Kelly, Brazos Valley Heroes �.
sir- ,
*
i rr
.
le, ....a: ,.' : \ ',
4 °q •i.°S" A '333 •- ti has +a`w#'n
s ir ne in a series of tributes tO r ; ()f "The Greatest
,t
,.; Generation" who sc rvf'c1 our country clt trit1g NVorlc1 War [[
t r ''
;yes: s 3.
Z; a
� .. It
pp
D
s'
�•
.j' 3•• fi n +^
S yr:
0
. W
`£ Kelly
Roy W. Kelly may have the most unique expe- and would travel for hours and hours and not see
rience of anyone who served in World War II. He anyone. When it came time for meals, the train
F. may be the only person who served aboard a sub- would stop in a clearing to prepare food. If you
.. ° marine and who also had a parachute jump, in liked mutton, you could eat a big meal. I didn't like '
combat conditions. mutton. ",
His story began in Houston, Texas on "What was amazing is, within fifteen minutes
December 15, 1941 when he enlisted in the Navy. after stopping the train, the Aborigines would
They sent us straight to boot camp in San Diego. appear from nowhere and would peddle their
When we got there, they marched us into this native wares and give boomerang demonstrations
'4.' fenced in area and a Marine drill instructor walked It was incredible what they could do with a
over, put a chain around the gate, locked it and boomerang."
said he was going to change our lives. He did." It was on one trip to get some parts and
Six weeks later Kelly and other newly trained materials that he achieved the rare, if not unique,
seamen were on a ship headed for Pearl Harbor. "It distinction of a submariner parachuting from an
was unbelievable what damage had been done at airplane. "We were aboard a B - that had been
' Pearl Harbor. When we sailed in, we just stared at stripped and was being used as a cargo plane. We
• all the damage and were quiet. We were off loaded were headed back to our base at Perth when we
l onto the dock and were lined up. The chief petty were attacked by two Japanese Zeros. Our plane gg
officer in charge sent 3 sailors there and 3 sailors was going down so we were told to chute up and lg
here, etc. and then said the rest of you report to pull our rip cord when we cleared the plane. I
the submarine base. And that is how I got volun- pulled it the second I left the door. Somehow the
teered for submarine duty." chute opened and I splattered into the sea. It
It wasn't long until Kelly was on his way seemed like forever but within an hour, we were
aboard ship to a sub base being located along the picked up by a PBY seaplane."
Australian coast. He finally was assigned to duty in Kelly is proud to have been a submariner and
°° Perth, Australia where he got his first introduction the job they did in the Pacific. "Of the 12 boats sta
. into submarines. On his initial shake -down cruise, tioned at our base, 6 were lost. We lost 52 boats
' he asked one of the sailors how deep they could during the war but the impact the subs had was
., dive. He was told, "It is designed to go to 300 feet tremendous. We just about destroyed the
' but the captain likes to go a lot deeper." Japanese Navy."
"A typical patrol would last between 30 and After the war Kelly returned to the Cy -Fair
40 days at sea but you could only stay out until area, got into the dairy business and then moved
a you ran out of torpedoes or food, whichever that dairy business south of College Station in
occurred first. If it was a long patrol, you used a lot 1958 near where the Ponderosa Motel is now
.' of body powder to keep the odor under control. located. For the last 20 years he has served as a e
Sometimes, guys were using the powder puffs so bailiff in the District and County Courts at Law in
much it looked like you had a fog inside the boat." Brazos County where he is currently serving as the mt
During the early months of the war in the bailiff for County Court at Law #1. ws
Pacific, Kelly and his ship mates had to do a lot of Roy Kelly's name can be found on the Brazos
repair and refitting work on the submarines and Valley Veterans Memorial. For more information
with three submarine bases around Australia, he to make a contribution, or to nominate a veteran
did some traveling across Australia for parts and contact the BVVM at www.veterans :memorial.org
gt material. "We would cross Australia on a railroad
Y The Eagle
'=- ' Here when you need us. ''
theeagle.com