World War II Honoree

Howell Adams Yancey

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Oakland, Tennessee

Honored By

Kathryn & Jeff Breedlove

YEOMAN 3RD CLASS. SERVED ON THE USS SHADWELL LSD-15. ON JANUARY 24, 1945 A JAPANESE TORPEDO STRUCK THE USS SHADWELL JUST FORWARD OF AMIDSHIPS ON THE STARBOARD SIDE, TEARING A HOLE IN HER BOTTOM 60 FEET WIDE. THE USS SHADWELL WAS TAKING ON WATER BADLY AND SOON BEGAN TO SINK. THE CREW WORKED FRANTICALLY TO SAVE THEIR SINKING SHIP AND BY MORNING, THEIR EFFORTS WERE REWARDED. THE USS SHADWELL WAS STEAMING UNDER HER OWN POWER AND WOULD SOON RETURN TO ACTIVE DUTY. OF THE MORE THAN 500 MEN ABOARD, THERE WERE NO FATALITIES. HE RECALLED WHEN HIS SHIP WAS TORPEDOED IT KNOCKED HIM UP IN THE AIR AND WHEN HE HIT THE DECK, HE WAS A CHANGED MAN. IT WAS HIS JOB TO HAND OUT LIFE JACKETS IN PREPARATION FOR ABANDONING THE SHIP. WHEN THE JACKETS HAD ALL BEEN GIVEN OUT, HE SAW THERE WAS ONE LEFT AND HE SAID TO HIS CAPTAIN, 'SOME NUT HAS LEFT HIS LIFE JACKET HERE' AND THEN HE REALIZED IT WAS HIS, HE HAD NOT PUT ON HIS OWN. HIS CAPTAIN LOOKED AT HIM AND SAID, 'IF YOU WON’T TELL, I WON’T.' ON ANOTHER OCCASION, HE WAS INFORMED THAT THE USS SHADWELL AND THE USS MUSTIN DD-413, THE SHIP HIS BROTHER WAS SERVING ABOARD, WOULD BE CROSSING PATHS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THE CAPTAINS OF BOTH SHIPS MADE IT POSSIBLE THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN, THE 2 SHIPS WOULD STOP AND HE WOULD GO ABOARD THE USS MUSTIN TO VISIT HIS BROTHER. HE ALWAYS APPRECIATED THAT ACT OF KINDNESS BY THE 2 COMMANDING OFFICERS.