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Mike Lester (Dirt), BT2
to remember
Miller, Clarence Irving, CWT.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Stoney Point, NY
Last Address Stony Point, NY
Casualty Date Oct 16, 1944
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Mount Rest Cemetery - Stony Point, New York
Wall/Plot Coordinates (memorial marker)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Onboard USS Huston, after having been torpedoed on 14 Oct and all engineering spaces having been abandoned due to flooding. The newly promoted Chief Water Tender was working with damage control parties to save their ship. The ship being towed by the USS Pawnee as part of Admiral Halesy's CripDiv-1 (AKA BaitDiv-1) was attacked again on 16 Oct. General Quarters having been sounded at 1348 Chief Miller was manning the aft 20mm gun when a twin engine "Frances" following Hustons oil slick launched it's torpedo. The result Huston was hit starboard side all the way aft at frame 145 in the aviation gasoline storage tank.The explosion blowing Miller and 9 others into the sea. Chief Miller was never seen again.
Ref:The Battle To Save the Houston By John Grider Miller chapter 7 page 94
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 2232275
Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign (1944)/Battle of Philippine Sea
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. The battle was the last of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces, and pitted elements of the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet against ships and aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mobile Fleet and nearby island garrisons.
The aerial part of the battle was nicknamed the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot by American aviators for the severely disproportional loss ratio inflicted upon Japanese aircraft by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. During a debriefing after the first two air battles a pilot from USS Lexington remarked "Why, hell, it was just like an old-time turkey shoot down home!" The outcome is generally attributed to American improvements in pilot and crew training and tactics, technology (including the top-secret anti-aircraft proximity fuze), and ship and aircraft design. Although at the time the battle appeared to be a missed opportunity to destroy the Japanese fleet, the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost the bulk of its carrier air strength and would never recover. During the course of the battle, American submarines torpedoed and sank two of the largest Japanese fleet carriers taking part in the battle.
This was the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history.
