Paul Henry Carr - I0029 - Individual Information - Austin Carr Rush Collings

Paul Henry Carr (I0029)

Name:
Paul Henry Carr

Gender: Male

Birth: 13 February 1924
Death: 25 October 1944 Samar Island, Letye Gulf, Phillipines

Personal Facts and Details

	Events of close relatives
Birth	13 February 1924 3632
Death	25 October 1944 (Age 20) Samar Island, Letye Gulf, Phillipines Cause of death: Wounds received in Naval combat
Burial	Samar Island, Letye Gulf, Phillipines Note: Lost at sea in battle with Japanese Naval Forces
Last Change	3 December 2006 - 18:34:32 by: reddirt2

Notes

Note

Source:
Book: Little Wolf at Leyte
Author: J. Henry Doscher, Jr.
Pages: 52, 53, 96-98, 124

The skipper LCDR Copeland, in his unpublished manuscript, related thedetails concerning the heroic action of Paul Henry Carr, gunners mate 3rdclass. Carr was the gun captain of the aft 5-inch/38 gun, known as gun52. During the battle, it had kept firing, even when enemy shells hadcaused serious mechanical problems in the gun mount and the ammunitionhoist from the magazines. When Goheen, a petty officer, went to check onthe gun mount, just prior to abandoning ship, he discovered what hadoccurred. As the skipper related.

Goheen had to go across a deck covered with burning oil. He went into thegun mount and found a very pathetic condition there. A lot of the men hadbeen completely obliterated...what had happened was this: The gun hadfired roughly over 300 rounds when, because of hits, it no longer had anypower ramming so the men had to ram by hand. Then at the last seven oreight shots the air injection system went out, and the gun was so hotthat apparently the 324th round "cooked off" before the automatic breechwas completely closed, blew the breech off the gun and the rear end outof the gun mount, and killed most of the men. When Goheen got in there hefound Carr, who was ripped clear from his neck to his groin. He had aneighty-four pound projectile in his arms and begged Goheen to help himload it and get it off. He didn't realize that the gun was incapable offiring, and he was still so devoted to duty that he wanted to load thegun. Goheen took it away from him and laid him down...(Goheen thenassisted another badly wounded man)...went back (in the gun mount). Carrhad gotten that shell and was trying to load it! Goheen picked up Carr,carried him out, and Carr died there on the deck. Carr reallyspark-plugged that gun crew, and we have recommended him for a posthumousaward.

The Navy awarded the Silver Star Medal, posthumously, to Paul Henry Carr,and the citation accompany this award appears in the appendix.

In Memorial to Paul Henry Carr

Paul Henry Carr, gunners mate 3rd class, United States NavalReserve. Born 13 February 1924 on a farm near Webber Falls, Oklahoma. He,his eight sisters, and his parents later settled at Checotah, Oklahoma.Killed in action 25 October 1944 on board the USS Samuel B. Roberts(DE-413) off Samara during the battle of Leyte Gulf, sometimes known asthe Second Battle of the Philippines. Graduate of Checotah High School,May 1942, where he lettered in football and baseball, and was active inthe Future Farmers of America. After employment by Swift & Company for ayear, he enlisted in the Navy as an apprentice seamen 27 May 1943.Completing boot camp at San Diego and granted leave, he returned toOklahoma and married Goldie Lee Jameson on October 1943. They returned toSan Diego, where he entered six weeks course of instruction in navalschool for gunner's mates. Upon completion, he was promoted to gunner'smate, third class, and transferred to Norfolk as part of thedecommissioning detail for the Roberts. He was one of the men who madethe long troop train trip to Houston under Ensign LeClercq, and thusbecame a member of ship's company for the Roberts when it wascommissioned on 28 April 1944. He was the only son of Thomas Henry Carrand Minnie Mae Austin Carr. He was awarded the Silver Star Medal,posthumously, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity during battle. Hewas also awarded the Purple Heart and the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaignmedals.

In 1985 the navy named a new guided missile frigate in his honor,the USS Carr (FFG-52), which was christened by Mrs Goldie Carr Bensilhe,the widow of Paul Henry Carr, at the 1984 launching ceremony held at ToddShipyards in Seattle. At the later ceremony in Seattle on 27 July 1985when Carr was commissioned, many former shipmates of Paul Henry Carr werein attendance, along with Mrs. Bensilhe. At the commissioning ceremony,Mr. Jack Yusen, representing the survivors of the Roberts, addressed thecrew of the Carr, and his closing remarks: "If you must fight, fight withcourage, will and determination...we pass the legacy, the torch toyou...sail Carr with pride and honor."

Born of battle, bearing a hero's name and honors, on 27 July 1985,the USS Carr (FFG-52) joined the fleet

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