It’s just about May and this heralds’ observations of many important days. Graduations take place and so does Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. I don’t know where we will hold the Memorial Day ceremonies this year, in the cemetery or at the school’s auditorium, but the date is May 30. Stay tuned. But speaking of Memorial Day I think of some of the heroes of my own heart. One of them is from Texas but he was sort of local to me.

In the Navy I served aboard a rather battlescarred old Destroyer Escort (A DE) named Johnnie Hutchins. Who was this guy Hutchins I wondered? I figured he must have been an old guy who fought in some long-ago war, but I was wrong. Johnnie Hutchins died fighting in WW-II — he was the teen helmsman on an old LST that was in the invasion of New Guinea. The Landing Ship was bearing down on the Jap infested Island and under a veritable hail of fire, but it held its course toward the beach when two things happened. One, a torpedo pierced the surf and bore down on the attacking LST. Before the helmsman could steer clear a bomb struck the pilot house, blowing helmsman Johnnie Hutchins from his station.

The ship sped unguided as the torpedo continued on its deadly path. Helmsman, Johnnie Hutchins was mortally wounded but being fully aware of the peril of the situation quickly grabbed the wheel and used the last of his strength to turn the ship, causing the torpedo to miss. He died, still clinging to the helm. His final thoughts were only concerned with saving his shipmates.

The bomb killed seven other sailors that day. Fourteen others were seriously wounded. For his actions, Hutchins was awarded the Medal of Honor. Hutchins was eventually buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Eagle Lake, Texas. During that time U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt was greatly alarmed at our Nation’s inability to curb the Nazi U-Boats slaughter of hundreds of ships on our East Coast. We were very short of Destroyers, and it took a while to build one. So, the Destroyer Escort program was born.

The new DE’s were fairly small, 309 feet long, and could be powered by plentiful big diesel engines. The fast boats, equipped with the latest electronics, were good sub killers. Some of the boats were equipped with steam engines which gave them greater speeds of 33 knots (about 40MPH). On May 2, 1944, one of these new DE’s was launched in Orange, Texas. Its sponsor was the heroic Johnnie Hutchins’s mother. This DE was loaded with the highspeed steam engine and all the bells and whistles. The ship conducted convoy duties and helped finish the clearing out our East Coast of the Nazi intruders.

The most visible result to me of all this, was that coffee and sugar from South American almost instantly reappeared on my dad’s grocery shelves in Centrahoma. But soon, the Johnnie Hutchins was sent to the Pacific war and participated in the liberation of the Philippines and sank two Jap subs and damaged another. The ship’s crew received The Navy Unit Citation, spent two more months on occupation duty in Japan. Then to China to help stabilize that turbulent situation

Back state side the Hutchins was used as a training ship. It eventually was sent back to the East Coast to Boston. The ship was placed in heavy use for the next few years both as a reserve training ship and for missions of patrol. By 1957, the ship was like an old car. Full of dents and scars — worn out. And by that time, I was a part of its “Ships Company.” One cold day, on my birthday, I was part of the decommissioning ceremony. Speeches were made and a lot of memories were recalled before the colors were struck to the sound of taps. She stayed there in moth balls until February 5 ^th 1974, when the gallant little ship was towed away and cut up for scrap.

I still keep in touch with some of the survivors of the Johnnie Hutchins. Like one that remains, like Harry Sheldon up in New York State.

Have a good week and be sure and go to church Sunday.

Wayne Bullard, DPh cwaynebullard@gmail.com