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Contact Info
Home Town East Hartford, Connecticut
Last Address Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
Date of Passing Apr 14, 2003
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Captain Francis J. Chester, U.S.N. World War II, Iwo Jima & Okinawa and Atomic Tests At Bikini Atoll
Service Dates from 30 June, 1943 to 30 June, 1979.
Captain Chester was born in East Hartford, Connecticut on September 2, 1923, to Raymond and Josephine Chester. His lifelong ambition was to join the Navy, which he did in 1943 on the V-12 program at Tufts College and was commissioned at USWRMS Columbia University in 1944. He obtained his B.S. degree from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut in 1947.
During World War II, he commanded landing crafts that took the first waves of troops ashore at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His craft also landed the first elements occupation forces (Army's 98th Division) at Wakayana, Japan in September 1945.
In 1946, he was a boat group commander at the atom bomb tests on Bikini Atoll. Other important assignments included duty as Assistant Chief of Staff, logistics on the Staff Commander, second fleet commander Striking Fleet Atlantic (STRIKFORNATO); and duty at Naval Stations at Subic Bay, Puerto Rico and Guantanamo, Cuba.
He retired on June 30, 1979. Capt. Chester was a member of MOWW, Retired Officers Association, Life Member of D.A.V., Navy League, Army-Navy Club, Washington, DC, Halifax River Yacht Club. He loved music, dancing swimming and traveling.
Military Honors for Captain Francis J. Chester, United Statea Navy, (retired), were held at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
Other Comments:
TUFTS UNIVERSITY V-12 PROGRAM
Tufts and the V-12 Program: "Leadership for a Lifetime"
This is the fourth exhibit at Tisch Library chronicling the Navy's relationship with Tufts, from 1941-1972.
Tufts and the U.S. Navy had a close and productive relationship from 1941 to 1972. It began when President Leonard Carmichael fought for the establishment of a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program at Tufts. The first 100 enrollees were from the entering class of 1945, while the second class of entering students, the class of 1946, doubled the size of the NROTC. The standards were high, both mental and physical, paralleling those required for entrance to the United States Naval Academy.
NROTC students were placed in class V-1, USNR on inactive duty and took one course each semester in Naval Science and Tactics as the NROTC "department" was called. In addition, there was a weekly drill day where the uniforms of NROTC midshipmen were worn and practical naval activities, such as signaling, gunnery, and shiphandling, as well as military drills, were practiced.
The NROTC was a vital program to Tufts prior to the war. With the start of World War II, life on the Tufts campus changed dramatically. Large numbers of male students left for military service, while some finished their remaining semesters before being commissioned for active duty.
Tufts' campus was largely transformed into a Naval Training Center, altering its dormitories, dining, and athletic facilities to accommodate the new students.
In the spring of 1943, the Navy Department announced a new nationwide officer training program. Tufts College was once again among the institutions selected. The School for War Service was established and facilitated the Navy College Training Program. The Tufts USNR class V-1, including the NROTC, were to be put on active duty and incorporated into the V-12 program on July 1, 1943.
Visitors' DayV-12 students sent to Tufts from other universities and enlisted sailors from the Atlantic and Pacific fleets were also placed on active duty in the United States Navy on the Tufts campus. Initially, the U.S. Naval V-12 regiment consisted of over 1,000 men. When the active duty program ended in June 1946, over 2,000 officer candidates had been trained at Tufts.
NROTC students were commissioned as ensigns in the USNR or 2nd Lieutenants in the USMCR (Marines), while V-12 students were commissioned after Midshipman?s School or Flight Training. They were sent to the fleet as commission officers.
Many V-12/NROTC students were assigned to the Amphibious Navy, including to Landing Ship Tanks. Tufts students were well represented in major battles across the Pacific such as Lingayen Gulf on the island of Luzon, Saipan, the invasions of the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa and in the occupation of Japan. Some also served in the Atlantic, in Europe at Normandy in 1944, and other battle sites. Almost half of the members of the classes of 1945 and 1946 had some involvement at Okinawa, one of the most fiercely fought battles of World War II.
Most of the V-12/NROTC students were separated from the Navy with the end of the World War II after Japan's surrender on August 15 of 1945 and returned to Tufts to complete their interrupted educations. Some did not end the relationship with the regular Navy and had involvement with the Naval Reserve. Several retired from the Navy as lieutenant commanders, commanders, and one as admiral. For example, Peter Merenda, Fran McCarran, Dick Rome, Warren Jackson and Francis Chester attained the rank of captain in the Naval Reserve.
Many enlisted sailors who were serving in the Fleet prior to the creation of the V-12 in 1943, entered into the program after World War II. After being commissioned as officers, they were called to active duty during the Korean War. John W. Rogers, A47, after serving as an enlisted quartmaster second class in the North Atlantic and the South Pacific in the Solomon Islands and Peleliu in 1942-44, was recalled in 1950 for service again in the Korean War.
Members of the V-12/ NROTC also established families and built their careers in many different areas. Some earned Master?s and Doctoral degrees. After distinguished careers most, today, have retired. Some are still at it, vowing to continue working as long as they remain in good health.
The wartime V-12/NROTC graduates echo a common theme: the profound and positive influence of their Navy experience on their lives. Early leadership experience on campus and in the fleet, ?hands-on? ship operations and the ability to think and act under stress had a powerful impact on both their careers and personal lives.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Okinawa Gunto Operation
From Month/Year
March / 1945
To Month/Year
June / 1945
Description The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg. was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces.
The battle has been referred to as the "typhoon of steel" in English, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or ("violent wind of steel") in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and to the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Based on Okinawan government sources, mainland Japan lost 77,166 soldiers, who were either killed or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered 14,009 deaths (with an estimated total of more than 65,000 casualties of all kinds). Simultaneously, 42,000–150,000 local civilians were killed or committed suicide, a significant proportion of the local population. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki together with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria caused Japan to surrender less than two months after the end of the fighting on Okinawa.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
March / 1945
To Month/Year
June / 1945
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories During World War II, Francis Chester commanded landing crafts that took the first waves of troops ashore at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His craft also landed the first elements occupation forces (Army's 98th Division) at Wakayana, Japan in September 1945.
