1942--John Alexander and USS Northampton
A Military Life
Copyright 2002 Gilbert Gia
John H. Alexander was one of 16 million Americans who served in World War II. I discovered him after finding his diary in an old antique shop. He'd written it in 1936 as a teenager attending a one-month Civilian Military Training Camp at Presidio Monterey. I found out later that in WWII he'd been through three historic battles-- and served in the Korean Conflict. But first his diary.
Civilian Military Training Camps (CMTC) were operated by the Army between 1921 and 1940, but are little remembered today. After WW I the camps were part of the Army's effort to maintain readiness for war. On June 4, 1923 the Bakersfield Californian explained the program like this, "The boy from Kern County who goes to the camp will learn about the great outdoors, horses, radio, stables, messes, camps, how to shoot, how to live, how to break down narrow prejudice, how to make his will fit in with that of others, how to get results through team play, how to become a real leader, how to recognize and respect authority, and he will acquire patience, obedience and love of country…. The army assures him a ‘good time’ with abundance of amusements, sports, and athletes. The war department pays all expenses, including transportation." Kern County's quota that year was 15. The description must have attracted much interest because a month later the Californian printed a plea from the Army reminding parents to please not sign up their 15 and 16 year old sons.
When John attended Porterville High he'd been a member of the California Cadets, a military class sponsored by the California State Militia. In the summer of 1936, 16 year-old John Alexander was selected for a month's course at CMTC, Camp John P. Pryor, Presidio of Monterey. By that time CMTCs had been around for about 16 years, and several well-known names were associated with it-- John J. Pershing, George C. Marshall, Harry Truman, Douglas MacArthur and later, Ronald Reagan. Most of the leaders brought WW I experience to the program, but more important to the nation was what the camps produced--a readiness for military duty that hundreds of thousands of CMTC alumni had under their belts at the outbreak of WWII.
The CMTC program got its start shortly after WW I, but by 1921 many of them were in progress throughout the country. Donald M. Kington's 1995 book Forgotten Summers: The Story of the Citizens' Military Training Camps, 1921-1940 noted that in the late 1920s, at the height of the program, more than 40,000 young men attended some 50 summer camps. Kington and others estimate that during the lifetime of the CMTC program between 400,000 and 500,000 men went through military training.
Kington interviewed 93 men who'd attended CMTCs years earlier, but he told me he'd never seen a CMTC diary. After I read Forgotten Summers and compared it to John Alexander's diary, I felt that his experience wasn't all that different from what the older men told Kington.
So what did John do at camp that summer? Here are selections from his 1936 diary:
"Monday, July 6. Arrived at camp at six o'clock, got acquainted with tent mates… Thurs: Got up at 5 had physical exercise drilled, marched around in squads, cleaned guns-- afternoon played baseball-- at 4 o'clock, had a parade…Friday: Had drill instruction all morning, learned how to fix my pack also had first aid instruction, laid around all afternoon, had a review at 4:30. We won the camp ribbon, went to show in the evening…Sunday, July 12: Got up at 6:30 cleaned up the tent, sat around and read papers all afternoon, had roast corn, gravy, potatoes and salad for dinner, went to show afternoon, ate little supper. Stomach ache…Monday, July 13:Got up rather late today, caster oil worked, had instruction on shooting this morning, laid around 'til four o'clock, then we had a parade…Thursday, July 16: Had instruction on the different methods of firing a rifle and had a parade at 4:40. Laugh in ranks, get Pit detail tomorrow morning…Friday: Was in rifle pits all day, not work hardly at all, 4:40 saw a cavalry and artillery parade, ever since supper we had been clearing up the company street, field tent laid out for inspection, everything has to be perfect…Saturday, July 18: Had latrine duty today, passed inspection 100% also had a rifle inspect of rifle. Roy came over this afternoon but we couldn’t leave, laid around and slept all afternoon…"
"Monday, July 20: Went out on the range, waited until 3 o'clock to fire, was tired as the dickens. Hell is raising, guys are trying to wreck one another's tents and bed, things are really going to pop tonight…Friday, July 24: Went on 11 mile hike today, wasn't so bad going out, coming in my feet got very tired…Saturday, July 25: New officer, field equipment inspection, laid around all afternoon, played corny joke on Tiny…Friday, Jul 31: Went on a hike bivouac, got rather tired, laid around all afternoon, 3:30 had a parade. I'm tired out this evening…Saturday, Aug 1: Visitors day, laid around all morning until 3:30 then had our last parade…Sunday, Aug 2: Got up at 6:30 fixed up tent, bought morning paper. Went to church, laid around and read all morning, in afternoon went down town, saw Japanese boat, missed supper…Monday, Aug 3: Got up this morning, monkeyed around until 4 o'clock when we went on a hike 5 miles, then in the afternoon we got on civvies, changed and handed in the clothing."
Army noncoms occasionally grumbled about the lenient "play camp" atmosphere at CMTCs. And from the standpoint of old soldiers that was probably justified. What happed was the young men were being given exposure to military life, but tempered by time for play and rest--John's diary shows that rest was exactly what this 16-year-old wanted. Apparently the 1923 Bakersfield Californian description of CMTCs was still mostly accurate, even by 1936. John's diary also shows he took his CMTC experience in stride and probably liked what he saw of army life.
In 1940 John enlisted in the Navy, was trained as a turret gunner's mate and assigned to the 600-foot armored cruiser CA 26, USS Northampton. On the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1941, USS Northampton was at sea, but John was not with his ship. That morning he'd been detailed to check anchor chains at Honolulu, about 15 miles southeast of Pearl. According to his sister, he and his buddy had 100 rounds in their machinegun, and used them all. When it was over, John was uninjured but more than 2,400 died that morning. One of them was Lt. William G. Sylvester of the 97th Coast Artillery killed while driving across Hickam Field. In 1942 a new minelayer was christened 1st Lieutenant William G. Sylvester in his memory. Sylvester was the first Kern County man to die in WWII.
War headlines in Bakersfield were bad for months. But a secret, payback air raid on Tokyo was in the works and the first encouraging headlines came in April. Early in the month the Northampton had joined Halsey's Task Force Sixteen and aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to sortie with her newly built aircraft carrier, CV-8, USS Hornet. The job of the Northampton was to provide screen against torpedo attacks, which meant the Northampton and others would "take" any torpedoes before they hit the aircraft carriers. The weather, however, was another matter. John's shipmate Mike Morico, who now lives in Palmdale, told me that from one of Northampton's gun turrets he could see waves breaking over the B-25 Mitchell bombers on the carriers' decks.
Seven hundred miles out from Tokyo-- 200 miles further than was safe to launch -- the Japanese sighted Task Force Sixteen, and Halsey ordered the 80 airmen to their planes. Joel Shepherd wrote in his history, "Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle's own bomber was the first to rumble down Hornet's pitching flight deck. Between the forward velocity of the carrier, and the winds churned up by the stormy weather, he and the other pilots had the benefit of a 50-mph headwind. Still, with less than 500 feet of open flight deck to take off from, many of the planes nearly stalled on take-off, and hung precariously over the high seas for hundreds of yards before finally gaining altitude."
Doolittle's raid of April 18, 1942 restored American's confidence, but the balance of power was still with the Japanese. In July American planes spotted a new Japanese airfield being laid down on Guadalcanal. August 7th, US 1st Marine Division stormed the island, and for the next six months bloody hand-to-hand combat and deadly naval engagements took place as the Japanese struggled to reinforce their troops and regain control of the strategic island airfield. The tide finally turned between November 13th and 15th when the Japanese lost two battleships, one cruiser, three destroyers and 11 troop transports. By the end of November the US Army was relieving the Marines, and Americans it seemed everything was over except a mopping up action. But for the USS Northampton, and gunner's mate 3/C John Alexander, it was just starting.
Near midnight on November 30th, Capt. W. A. Kitts and the Northampton crew of more than 1,100 were in a cruiser-destroyer group racing to intercept Japanese convoys determined to resupply their troops hiding in Guadalcanal jungles. Protecting the transports were several new ships of the Imperial KAGERO class built in the late 1930s that were first-line destroyers of the Empire. Just two days earlier Lt. Commander Higashi Hideo was placed in command of the Oyashio, a destroyer half the size of the armored cruiser Northampton. Hideo would be decorated for what happened next.
A fierce naval encounter was about to erupt as the Northampton and task forces closed in on the Japanese convey. John's shipmate Darrell Blair of Oakland, CA wrote, "We knew something big was on. That day we pumped all of our aviation gasoline over the side [for fire prevention]. Just before dark, we launched our spotting planes from the cruisers. At 2335 hours on November 30, we opened fire. All cruisers. God, what a sight--shooting near point blank."
Seven minutes later the startled Japanese finally returned fire. Inside of ten minutes three American cruisers had taken hits, began burning and retired from the battle. The Northampton, Honolulu and six destroyers continued the fierce action, scoring many hits. According to Blair, "This lasted for 25 minutes then all hell broke loose."
Just a minute before "all hell broke loose", Captain Hideo had fired the Oyashio's "Long Lance" 24-inch diameter, 30-foot long oxygen-powered torpedoes. The instant those 1,080-lb. TNT-Hexyl explosives hit the Northampton, her port-quarter bulkheads, decks and 107,000 HP engine room erupted in a deafening blast of steel and fuel oil. John's shipmate Ted Anderson, recalling that night more than 50 years ago, made the moment real when he said, "I was on the signal bridge and it seemed like the whole ship jumped three feet in the air." In minutes the Northampton was listing to port and her starboard screws were turning uselessly in the air. Said Anderson, "The skipper called for all hands that could to report to the quarter deck." With much good luck it was three more hours before the upturned 13,000-ton ship exploded inside itself and sunk into the Gulf of Tassafaronga.
Blair remembered being in the water, "It was dark, except for the light coming from all the burning ships -- the flames on our ship were leaping 300 feet in the air. We hit the water around midnight, wearing Kapok life jackets. We'd tested those jackets, so we knew that some would float but others would go right to the bottom. As we hit the water we were quite relieved that they held us up. The water was warm like bath water and there didn't seem to be any sharks. On a previous night, sharks got most of the sailors from another downed ship. We were about ten miles off shore, swimming towards Guadalcanal. There was anywhere from three to 400 of us swimming in groups together, joking and hollering like a bunch of young kids do." In the water, too, was nineteen year old radioman Jason Robards, who survived and went on to be a Hollywood actor.
By 3 AM, destroyer USS Fletcher Blair and other ships were pulling sailors out of the tropical waters. Ted Anderson who now lives in Lakewood, CA had been in the water about 45 minutes. "I was picked up by destroyer Draton. The waters were warm that night and the Draton's deck felt hot on my feet when they pulled me aboard." But some of the crew wasn't as lucky and they were still treading water at dawn. Gunners mate Mike Morico who now resides in Palmdale laughed darkly when I asked him if the water was warm. After a thoughtful pause he just said, "It was damn cold". Mike added he felt better when the sky lightened and he saw a "Duck" (an amphibious Grumman JF-1/J2F) overhead. He knew the Navy was still out looking.
The Marine Corps lists 1,242 of its own killed in action during the months of combat on Guadalcanal. The Navy also had losses, including 58 of John Alexander's shipmates who died that night. USS Northampton was on the bottom but she could boast six battle stars for WWII service. Thanks to Providence, more than 1,100 of her crew were rescued and transferred to San Francisco for eight weeks survivor leave. They were then deployed to other ships. John Alexander was among the last crew of battleship USS California before she was decommissioned in 1946.
And what became of Japanese destroyer Oyashio? Five months later while convoying troop ships southwest of Rendova at Lat 08-08S, Lon 156-55E, the Oyashio hit a mine, was attacked by aircraft, and went to the bottom. Ninety-one of her crew perished.
When John returned to California as a civilian, he enlisted in the Navy reserve, but he missed the military life and enlisted in the US Army. He served in the Korean War. In 1952 the Army discharged Sergeant John Alexander, and he promptly rejoined the Navy Reserve. At the time of the Berlin crisis he was 42. The Navy recalled him to active duty. John continued his reserve duty at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center in Bakersfield until the mid-1970s. That's when he finally hung up his long military career.
After I found John's old 1936 CMTC diary I tried to locate him. But he'd died in 1998. All I had was an obituary mentioning that when he wasn't in uniform he had a gardening service in Porterville. There were references to military service. I gathered bits of information about him from here and there, but as time went on I begin to realize there wasn't much more I could learn about the man who'd written the diary.
Then a letter came mentioning that John had been particularly proud that he'd donated to the Lone Sailor Naval memorial in Washington, DC. After I read about that monument, I knew why John felt as he did. What he'd been through in the war was more than his own personal experience--it belonged to all the Northampton crew. A retired petty officer once wrote about the statue, "You would want this guy at your battle station when it's not a drill. That statue looks like bronze, but there is plenty of salt, paint, sweat, fuel oil and courage stirred in." I'm sure that's the way John felt about his shipmates. --GG
(This article appeared in Los Tulares, Quarterly Publication of the Tulare County Historical Society, No. 221, June, 2003)