This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Shane Laemmel, MR3
to remember
MacPherson, James, CAPT.
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Contact Info
Date of Passing Jun 07, 1981
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
USS Sarasota (APA-204)
(at Lingayen Gulf, probably around 1 August 1945)
She was a Haskell-class attack transport ship that was part of the Invasion of Luzon, the Invasion of Okinawa. and the Invasion of Ie Shima (Considered a part of the Battle of Okinawa).
She suffered kamikazi attacks, saved thousands of lives, and earned 3 battle stars during World War II.
Other Comments:
James Ian MacPherson, Captain, USNR
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember CO aboard USS Carina (AK-74)
Memories The Carina departed from San Francisco Bay on 14 December 1942 laden with military cargo for Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal in the South Pacific Ocean. At Guadalcanal, she unloaded her cargo between 23 January and 4 February 1943, bringing invaluable support to the last phases of the bitter campaign for that island. Operating to aid in the consolidation of the southern Solomon Islands, she steamed between the main port of Espiritu Santo and Purvis Bay, Tulagi, Tongatapu, and Tagoma Point. On 3 March, while she was unloading at Tulagi, she endured two air attacks. Several near misses with bombs occurred, spraying her with shrapnel and wounding six of her crewmen.
After repairs at Espiritu Santo, the Carina resumed her cargo runs until May 1943, when she steamed to Australia, arriving on 30 May for engine repairs and to replenish at the ports of Townsville, Sydney, and Melbourne. She next carried cargo for U.S. Marine Corps units that were training in New Zealand, arriving at the port of Auckland in August. Next, she returned to her supply runs closer to the combat zone in the South Pacific. She added the Fiji Islands, the Russell Islands, New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands and Norfolk Island to her list of Pacific Island delivery ports. The Carina continued her cargo missions until 12 July 1943, when she departed from Espiritu Santo and steamed home for an overhaul and crewmen's leave at San Francisco, California.
