One Cool Cat

This is one of my uncles. On my father's side of the family, he was our closest relative although we didn't see much of him since we moved east in the mid '70s. He died a couple of weeks ago.

Paul was not exceptional. Plenty of people have led good lives before him and I'm sure there will be plenty after him. I'm posting this as a bit of historical whimsy in his honor. What follows is his obit, a slightly edited version of his hand written letter to me about his military service, and part of an e-mail my father sent to some family members after learning about Paul's passing.

Our last name has been omitted to protect the innocent.

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Leonard Paul was born on December 25, 1926 in London, KY to Archie David and Eva Pearl. He was one of eleven children. At the age of 83, Paul, as he was known to family and friends, went to be reunited with his loving wife Alice on Saturday, July 24, 2010. At the age of 18 he enlisted in the Navy and served as a radioman in the Pacific until the end of WWII. After leaving the Navy, while visiting relatives in the valley, he decided he liked the weather so much he settled in Visalia. Paul met Alice and February 16, 1963 they were married. Paul worked for the Gas Company for a number of years before going into the produce business, and was a co-owner of C&M Produce on the Lincoln Oval for many years. Paul was an active member of Visalia's Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 546 and had recently been recognized as a member in good standing for over 50 years. Although he will be sadly missed, we know he is at peace.

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I graduated from Bush High School in April of 1944. I had to wait until my 18th birthday before I could sign up for the draft. On that day, I volunteered for the first draft call from Laurel County, KY. The first call came on February 6, 1945.

One of my high school buddies volunteered for the same call. His name is Fay V. Honchell. We were bused from London, KY to Huntington, WV where we were inducted into the U.S. Navy the following day. They gave us a number and dog tags. I got number 929-48-44.

My company commander was a real prince of a guy. His name was Cox. He was a high school teacher and athletic coach. Cox appointed me to be his personal attendant and since I was the smallest man in the company, I was also selected to be the right guide for my platoon's marching drills. I loved it.

About half way through camp, I came down with a severe case of tonsillitis and was hospitalized. I rejoined the routine in five days and completed camp at the end of March. Before beginning additional training in Mississippi, we were given one week to make the trip from Chicago so, Fay and I went home for a few days.

The first week of April 1945, I began Radio Operator school in Gulfport, MS with a company of 50 people. At the end, I graduated in the top 10% of my class and was promoted from Seaman Second Class to Seaman First Class with pay raise. (While in training, Paul's older brother Tony was KIA on Panay Island.)

After VE Day, I left Gulfport for Biloxi and then to San Diego, CA. It was July 1945. We arrived two days later and I was assigned to the CVE USS White Plains bound for Pearl Harbor.

In San Diego I got my first sight of an ocean and, of course, my first voyage. I was seasick the first day. I always was sick the first day or two and then I was all right for days or weeks but, the first day, yuck. We stayed in Pearl Harbor for several days. In fact, I was at Pearl Harbor when the war with Japan ended. That's as close to action that I ever got.

I was shipped out to Okinawa shortly after VJ Day. Fay stayed at Pearl Harbor. We put in at Okinawa for several days and we were told to stay close to base because there were still some snipers back in the hills. Needless to say, I didn't stray far. I did see some of the bunkers and caves that were cleared with flame throwers.

From Okinawa, we were ordered to Shanghai, China. One day out, a big typhoon swept over Okinawa. The storm damaged several ships anchored on the eastern side of the island. Fortunately, we were on our way out and caught only the edge of it. We were expecting some rough water since the China Sea is know for this. The storm just made it more so. It was one hell of a ride. I was sick again.

I arrived in Shanghai about the middle of October. It's there I received my first permanent assignment. It was LCI 611. I was the sole radio operator so, I got my own little Radio Shack. However, I slept in the regular crew quarters amid ship. The crew was 25 enlisted and 5 officers. Some of the crew on 611 saw action in the Marianas and Okinawa. I felt like the greenhorn that I was.

This tour of duty was designated the Yangtze River patrol. Shanghai lies at the mouth of the Yangtze. The city was wall to wall people. I can't remember the population but, I'll guess some where around 4 million. Although we spent most of our time just tied up at the docks. I never saw so many people in the streets. Lots of them were in rags and begging for money or food. What a pity. In December, I was promoted to RM3C and got another raise. Wow!

At the time of promotion, we also learned of our long, long journey home. The first stop was Saipan, and island in the Marianas. We arrived there on Christmas Day, my birthday, and dropped anchor about 0900. It was my 19th birthday. Our executive officer went ashore and returned with several cases of beer for a Beer Bust to remember. The officers and crew alike proceeded to get bombed.:toast: Our captain and quartermaster were not drinkers so they monitored the ship.

<snip>

From Pearl, we were sent to San Pedro, CA. Good old American soil. We celebrated much like Christmas on Saipan.:beer:

It was the first part of June 1946 when I started my final journey. I was assigned to another LCI bound for Charleston, SC and decommissioning. We left San Pedro in a southerly direction, along the west coast of Mexico, through the Panama Canal and then north to New Orleans. What a city!. I was there for a few days. Canal Street, the French Quarter, Lake Pontchartrain, the river boats, it all seemed like a pleasure cruise. No hurry and not much to do except sightseeing. We stopped in Mobile, Al and then continued down the Florida coast, through the Keys and up the east side of Florida to Jacksonville. I don't remember why we stopped there but, I had some good liberties. We did some girl watching and silly stuff sailors do. (He didn't remember? I wonder why. :party:)

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As some of you know Paul came from a large family in eastern Kentucky. There were eight boys and three girls. There are four boys remaining from our of family of 11.

Being from a large family, by necessity, close bonds were required to relieve our parents from wearing out their arms or losing their minds handling the pressures raising a family that size. This is where Paul came to my rescue. He was 9 years older and he kept older siblings from taking advantage of me since I was next to the youngest. This was a pattern that was repeated with older and younger siblings in our family. I don't’ know if this is true for other large families but I sure appreciated my protector. He also let me help with his chores on the farm. When he would plow with horse drawn plow he would put me in front of him so I could hold the cross bar. That made me feel as big as anybody and I was so proud to say I had been plowing.

I'll miss Paul. And since he always called me little brother (a bit of joke since Dad was about 7-8 inches taller than Paul) I'll simply sign this,

Little brother Glenn :pals:

sorry for your loss