Comments/Citation:
The USS West Virginia was one of the first ships targeted and sunk in the Pearl Harbor raid, succumbing first to torpedos and ultimately to bombs dropped from the Japanese zeroes. 106 of the crew, including its captain, Mervyn Bennion, perished in the attack.
After the war, the US military returned Howard's remains to his parents George and Iona (Chloe) Beasley Cromwell in his hometown of Linton, Indiana. He was buried in Linton Cemetery with full military honors.
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Howard D. Cromwell and his twin brother, Harold D. Cromwell, were born on 14 November 1921 in Linton, Greene County, Indiana. They were the sons of George H. Cromwell and Mary Iona Taylor, both Indiana natives. George and Iona lived in Greene County, Indiana, where George worked as a coal miner. The couple had one younger son.
Howard D. Cromwell graduated from Midland High School in Midland, Indiana in 1939. He enlisted in the Navy on 14 November 1939, his eighteenth birthday. After training at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois, he was assigned to the USS West Virginia, reporting for duty there on 17 February 1940. His time was divided between Hawaii and the naval station in Bremerton, Washington. Howard D. Cromwell served as a Carpenter’s Mate 2nd Class.
Howard’s twin, Harold, enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Honolulu, where he served as an MP.
On the morning of 7 December, 1941, two bombs hit the battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48), and at least 7 torpedoes, which blew two immense holes in her port side. She did not capsize but sank to the harbor bottom. When the attack was over, 106 of her crew were killed. She was salvaged, repaired, and returned to active service in July 1944. CM2c Howard D. Cromwell was killed in action.
CM2c Howard D. Cromwell is interred at the Fairview Cemetery in Linton, Indiana.
In 1944 it was announced that the War Mothers Auxiliary in Linton, Indiana would be named the Howard Cromwell Post.
Sources:
Indiana, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1907-1940. Ancestry.com
1930 United States Federal Census. Wright, Greene, Indiana; Page: 6B; ED: 0028
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor-raid/battleship-row-during-the-pearl-harbor-attack/uss-west-virginia-and-uss-tennessee-during-the-pearl-harbor-atta.html
Linton Daily Citizen. 16 Dec 1941. Page 1
Find a Grave. Memorial 17925050
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.
Stories Behind The Stars Contributing Author – Marilyn Murphy
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