William Ellis Clanton (1920-2009)
By: Maverick West
William Ellis Clanton was my great grandfather. He was in the
navy. He served in World War 2 from 1944 to 1948 and was a Seabee. Seabees went
to islands after a battle and built barracks and other buildings for the army.
He was stationed in the South Pacific Ocean and islands. His job rate was an
AS. The navy website states AS stands for “Aviation Support Equipment Technicians. Their job is to operate,
maintain, repair and test automotive electrical systems in ground equipment,
gasoline and diesel systems, and associated automotive, hydraulic and pneumatic
systems. They also maintain gas turbine compressor units, ground
air-conditioning units, perform metal fabrication, repair and painting of tow tractors
and other aircraft servicing units.
He told us some very interesting stories. One of the stories
he told was when he went to a loading dock to get ready to haul supplies. He
had to parallel park a flat bed truck. The thing that was really amazing was
that he parked it perfect the first time (He admitted it was luck). The Naval
officers were watching as he did his magic. Because of the perfect park he did,
he got a job to transport the officers every time they visited the islands.
The next story he told
us was something a lot of soldiers go through. One Sunday during the war he was
a little homesick. He was a Christian so he wanted to go to church. One Sunday
he heard some men singing a hymn. He followed the sound into a tent. In the
tent he found 5-6 men singing the hymns. After this occasion these men and he
met every Sunday and had church.
The last story I have to tell is a love story. He was in
Detroit Michigan in 1942 for training. He went to church one Sunday. After the
service the preacher and his wife invited him to their home for lunch. When he
arrived at the house he met the preacher’s red-haired daughter. Five years
later after he was discharged from the navy he met her again in Tulsa, Oklahoma
and they married in 1948. That marriage lasted sixty years until his death in
January 2009.
My great grandfather also served in the Korean War from 1950 through
1951. He was the first in Tulsa to be reactivated into service.
I want to say thank you to all veterans for sacrificing years
of their lives to help our country.
3 comments:
That was a great story. Good work Maverick. Robb, thanks for sharing. I love the stories, a couple were new to me like the hymn singing.
This is a great story about a really great man. I miss Uncle Ellis.
Ron Clanton
Thanks, Ron. Hope all is well.
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