This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Sheila Rae Myers, HM3
to remember
Craven, John Harold, CAPT.
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Contact Info
Home Town Cape Girardeau, MO
Last Address McClean, VA
Date of Passing Apr 10, 2001
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 2 E-65 LH
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Captain Craven's miltary career began as an enlisted man in the United States Marine Corps. He enlisted in the Marines instead of going to college. He was trained at Parris Island, SC. Wanting to apply to the US Naval Academy and having been told any experience on ships would be helpful, he requested and was sent to the Sea School for Marines at the naval shipyard in Portsmouth, VA. He then spent 18 months on the USS New Mexico. While there, he gave more thought to attending college and, since he couldn't get into the Navy Academy so easily, the Marine Corps granted him a special discharge so he could attend the college of his choice.
It was while in the Marines he gave thought to the idea of going into the mnistry, so he went to various schools to reach that goal. He spent six years after his ordination - two while serving out his time in the US Marine Corps Reserve - as a civilain Baptist minister. As will be seen by reading other parts of this profile, his Marine Corps and shipboard training would come in handy once he joined the Navy as a chaplain. Most of his war time combat service was spent with Marine Corps.
In 1974, Captain Craven moved to Okinawa on a one-year assignment from the Foreign Missionaries Board of the Baptist Church. He then relocated to Virginia Beach. Until 1989, he was director of Christian Social Ministries for the Norfolk Baptist Association.
In 1995, Captain Craven returned to Iwo Jima to participate in dedication ceremonies for a monument to the Americans and Japanese who had fought there 50 years earlier. After leading a prayer, he embraced a former Japanese army captain who had since become a Buddhist priest. Later he wrote of the experience: "Before leaving the beach and the spot where our command post had been, I photographed a small green plant with a small red bloom. To me it represented the hopes and dreams for peace rising out of the blood-soaked sands of Iwo Jima."
Other Comments:
There are no current citations available for the medals listed. The Bronze Stars and Legion of Merit Awards are listed as part of the service record recorded in the digital collection of the William Madison Randall Library as part of the Military Chaplains in the USA collection. The Silver Star is listed at the arlingtoncemetery.com web site.
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
2 × 5 in (127 mm) / 38 cal guns (2 × 1)
8 × 40 mm guns (4 × 2)
20 × 20 mm guns (20 × 1)
Mount Olympus departed the east coast in early July, arriving Hawaii via the Panama Canal 23 July. With Commander, 3d Amphibious Force, embarked, she was underway from Hawaii 29 August. She arrived Leyte Gulf 20 October, serving as the afloat headquarters for the invasion force. The landing force was subjected to constant air attacks but its survival was assured by the American naval victory in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which destroyed the Japanese Navy as an effective combat force.
The flagship departed for Hollandia, New Guinea, via Peleliu, in preparation for the next assault on the Japanese occupied Philippines. The ship was involved in numerous combat actions: After invasion rehearsals in Huon Gulf, New Guinea, the assault on Lingayen Gulf 9 January 1945. called at Ulithi and sailed for overhaul at San Francisco, arriving 11 February and leaving 22 April for Hawaii and Guam.
In September she was made flagship for Operation Highjump, the US Navy Antarctic Expedition. .After an overhaul in Norfolk from December to March 1953, when a helicopter deck was installed, she served in the Atlantic Fleet until 5 January 1955, when she sailed for the Panama Canal and San Diego.
The ship participated in exercise “Surfboard” off the coast of Washington in February, Mount Olympus proceeded to Arctic waters as part of Project 572 in support of DEW Line operations, While underway from Point Barrow to Point Hope, Alaska, she became icebound, but was freed by the icebreaker Burton Island. Having sustained damage to structural bulkheads from the ice pressure, the ship was repaired by Current in Point Hope. Mount Olympus returned to San Diego on 29 September and on 31 October 1955 proceeded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for inactivation.
United States