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Last Address 316 Mt. Vernon Street, Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pa.
Casualty Date Aug 06, 1945
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery and Memorial - Manila, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates (cenotaph)
Military Service Number O - 165 861
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
USS Bullhead (SS-332) began her third and final patrol on 31 July 1945. The last contact with the boat was on 2 August. Post war Japanese records show that a plane depth charged and presumably sunk an American Submarine on 6 August, the same day the Atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Lieutenant Hackman was listed as Missing in Action and officially declared dead 23 August 1946.
Comments/Citation:
Lieutenant Earl Drissel Hackman, Jr. (10/19/1919-8/6/1945) U.S. Navy S/N O-165861
Earl Drissel Hackman, Jr. was born on 19 October 1919 to his parents, Earl and Marion Hackman, in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pa. His father, Earl D. Hackman, Sr. (1893-1964) was born in Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pa and by age of 16 was working as a machinist in a steel plant (1910). In 1918, he married Marion F. Headley (1894-1976) and started their life together living in Philadelphia. By that time, Earl had already started his long career as a clerk for the General Electric Company in Philadelphia. The couple had three children: Earl, Jr., Charlotte and Marion.
By 1927, the family had moved to Lansdale and lived at 411 Perkiomen Avenue, but by 1935, had moved to 316 Mt. Vernon Street. The family were members of Saint John’s Reformed Church in Lansdale. Earl graduated from Lansdale High School, Class of 1937, where he was class president of his class for three years, served on Student Council, the Debating Team, the Talisman, and participated in several theatrical productions. His hope was to attend Annapolis. He was also an Eagle Scout.
In May 1937, Earl was awarded the Franklin and Marshall College regional scholarship for Bucks and Montgomery Counties. He continued his theatric performances, and in the spring of 1939, was one of the leads in the play, “Androcles and the Lion”, where he did the pantomime part of the Lion. On 8 June 1939, Earl finally got his wish to enter the Naval Academy.
But after the Germans overran France in the spring of 1940, the Naval Academy went on a war time schedule. It was determined that starting with the Class of 1943, there would be an accelerated schedule to squeeze 88 percent of the four-year curriculum to permit graduation in three years.
On 19 June 1942, Earl graduated from the United States Naval Academy and was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. Following graduation, Earl Hackman married Amy Rena Michener (1924-1995) in Baltimore the same day. Amy grew up in Baltimore and was a graduate of Penn Hall College in Chambersburg, Pa.
According to his Pa. Veteran Compensation Application, Ensign Hackman attended the U.S. Preflight School at Chapel Hill, N.C. immediately following graduation in June 1942 until 15 Sept 1942. He was probably then assigned to the destroyer USS Ringgold (DD-500), which was launched on 11 Nov 1942 and commissioned on 30 Dec 1942. One of his positions was to serve as a gunnery officer on the destroyer. Earl was promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) on 1 May 1943. After its initial shakedown, it finally left on 21 July 1943 from New York City for the Pacific, transiting the Panama Canal on 27 July. During the transit, Ensign Hackman had a chance meeting in Balboa with his uncle, Merchant Marine Captain Willard L. Headly, of Brooklyn, NY, who was coming home with his transport ship from the Pacific Theater.
Once in the Pacific, the Ringgold became headquarters for the Commander of Destroyer Division 50. It deployed as part of a fast carrier force to Wake Island, Tarawa, then in 1944 took part in the capture of Kwajalein and Eniwetok Atolls in January and February. Earl was returned to the U.S. on 15 March 1944, where he attended the submarine school in Groton, Conn. for three months. Upon graduation in June 1945, he was then assigned to the submarine, USS Bullhead (SS-332), becoming the Torpedo and Gunnery Officer.
The USS Bullhead was launched on 16 July 1944 by Electric Boat in Groton and commissioned on 4 December 1944. After completing its initial training and trials, it was deployed to the Pacific, based at the Fremantle submarine base in Western Australia. She started operations there on 21 March 1945, completing two war patrols in the Java Sea, South China Sea and Gulf of Siam.
On 31 July, Bullhead left on its third patrol for the Java Sea [Netherlands East Indies], where it was to form a “wolfpack” with the Capitaine and Puffer. On 6 August, she reported passage through the Lombok Strait, which was the last message from her. She was later overdue and presumed lost. After the war, it was determined that one Japanese anti-submarine attack on 6 August 1945 may have sunk the Bullhead. A Mitsubishi Ki-51 from the 73rd Independent Chutai (squadron) of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force attacked a submarine with depth charges near the Balinese coast. The plane reported two direct hits with oil and air bubbles seen ten minutes after. The Bullhead was sunk the same day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
Earl’s son, Charles H. Hackman, had been born just five months prior to his death and he never had the opportunity to see him. His widow, Amy Michener Hackman and an infant son resided in Baltimore, MD.
Lieutenant Earl Drissel Hackman, Jr. would have been entitled to the following awards: Submarine Officer Badge, Submarine Combat Patrol Badge – 3 patrols, Purple Heart, the Combat Action Badge, the American Defense Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Pacific-Asiatic Campaign Medal with 1 silver star for the Central Pacific Campaigns (Air Strikes on Marcus and Wake Islands, Battle of Tarawa, Marshall Islands Operations (Kwajalein and Eniwetok Atolls), Southern Philippines Campaigns and the World War II Victory Medal.
Lieutenant Earl Drissel Hackman, Jr. gave his life in service to his country and should be remembered for his sacrifice and dedication to duty. Like the rest of his crewmates, his remains were never recovered and today is remembered on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila, Philippines.
Lieutenant Hackman and 32 other community members who lost their lives during the war were memorialized by the Borough of Lansdale in the Lansdale Memorial Park with two Monuments to the WWII Fallen.
The U.S. Naval Academy’s Virtual Memorial Hall has very informative page for Lt. Hackman. In the remembrance section, there is a note from the July 2017 issue of Shipmate written by Chuck Hackman, Earl’s son. He described is feelings traveling near the site of the wreck of his father’s submarine and being able to drop a wreath (https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/EARL_D._HACKMAN,_JR.,_LT,_USN ).
SBTS Project/Pennsylvania/Montgomery
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 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. "If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at jeoberho8@gmail.com.
LTC Jack Oberholtzer (SBTS Historian).
