JOHNNY L. McCARRON

Johnny L. McCarron of Leadwood served in the Navy during World War II.  The following information is one of the memories from Mr. McCarron's experience. 

In March of 1944, I entered the service and went to Great Lakes, Ill. for my "Boot Camp" training.  After boot camp, I was sent to Camp Bradford, at Norfolk, Va., for Amphibious training.  Next, I was sent to Solomons, MD for shipboard training.  Finally, when all the training was completed, we were put on a Troop Train and sent to Portland, OR., to pick up our ships. 

We were in Portland for about 5 weeks, helping install the engines, etc., and learning every little thing about our ship, an L.C.S.I. #39.  It meant: Landing Craft Support.  It was actually a little gun boat with 120 rocket launches on the bow of the ship, and twin 40mm guns on the bow of the fantail.  The port and starboard sides each had 20mm guns and 50 caliber machine guns.  The ship was only 157 ft. long, and 24 ft. wide.  The rear, or fantail, only drew about 4 ft. of water, and the whole ship had a flat bottom, but it looked like a little destroyer.  When the ship was finished, we sailed from Portland, OR to San Diego, Calif., then on to the South Pacific. 

Out of 23 months of service, 19 of them were overseas.  The only action I was in, was some radar picket duty at Iwo Jima.  Then I was in the biggest Easter Parade that the world had ever known. 

Easter Sunday, 1945, was the invasion of Okinawa.  My ship made three runs to the shore line shooting rockets and shelling the beach.  As we were coming out, the Marines were going in on the Amphibious Ducks.  For this action we received a golden arrowhead for being the spearhead of the invasion. 

Landing on the beach at Okinawa wasn't too bad, but landing at Iwo Jima was a different story because the Japs were holed up back in the hills.  After the first day, we did radar picket duty for seven more days.  We had trouble with suicide swimmers.  They would swim out and try to blow up the ships.  There was one ship that worked with us, it was L.C.S.I. #57.  No one was hurt too bad, but the ship's engine was ruined.   The only thing that saved it was that the ship didn't sit too deep in the water.  The Japs thought it was like a destroyer and sat deeper in the water.  Several suicide swimmers were killed there. 

On April 9, 1945, we were sent on radar picket duty with two destroyers and six ships like mine. We also had many Hell Cats and Corsairs for air cover.  We were working with the third amphibious fleet.  We were operating on the coast of Japan.  This action was to try and find out if any other troops or supplies were coming to the action on Okinawa. 

I'll tell you what happened to us.  I was in charge of the manual steering, in case the automatic steering was knocked out.  I had a helmet with phones in it and I was in touch with the officer in the ship in case I was needed.  Late in the evening we were attacked by the Japanese Air Force.  This action lasted way up into the night.  One of our destroyers took several plane in Mid-ship and was put out of action.   The ship was slowly sinking, but wouldn't have been sunk by day light.  They radioed out that there were 150 men trapped below the deck and couldn't get out.  They had the other destroyer to sink it with their 5" guns so that the Japs couldn't get our radar secrets.  There were men in the water swimming to other ships.  Two doctors swam for eight hours helping the wounded to get on other ships.   It was estimated that all together, we shot down 193 suicide planes.

April 10, 1945, we were returning to Okinawa, all of the other ships except ours and one other had survivors all over the deck.  This made us feel bad because we never got to help anyone.  Our Captain saw that we were upset, so he called us together and told us the reason for it and then we felt better.  He told us that our orders were to use our star shells to light up the water so that the survivors could be found.  We also had to use our spotlight to find the planes coming in.  In other words, we were one of the main targets for the enemy planes.  That explained why several planes just missed our ship and blew up in the water next to us. 

Our next action was after the war was over.  We were sent out with Mine Sweepers to clear the way into Tokyo Bay.  This turned out to be quite a hair-raising experience.  When the mines were cut loose, we shot and exploded them.  When the sea was rough, sometimes they would come pretty close before we could hit them.  These mines looked awfully big when they were floating towards you. 

We were at several places in Japan, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Sasebo, and Hiroshima.  When we first got to Tokyo, when you would get get on a bus or a train, the Japanese men would be sitting and women with babies in their arms would be standing.  It didn't take long for us American boys to change this.  After about three weeks, you couldn't find a Japanese man sitting, if there was a lady on board. 

When we were tied up to the dock in Yokohama, we saw little children climb into garbage cans like alley cats, and the adults would throw them out so they could eat.  We finally got to where, instead of eating our supper, we would take it out and dump it so the children could eat.  Then, if there was any left, we would let the adults have it.  We could always eat between meals. 

When we left Japan on Christmas Eve, we saw it snow, but the snow was pink.  I guess it was because of the radiation in the air. 

We took our ship back under the Golden Gate Bridge in January of 1946.  There was a sign painted on the rocks that said "Welcome Home - Well Done." 

When I went into the service, my baby girl, Jeronda Fay, was 13 months old.  When I was discharged at Lambert Air Field on February 25, 1946, she was 3 yrs. and 2 days old.  While I was in the service, my wife and baby went to Michigan and rented rooms from my older brother, Paul.   My wife worked in a defense plant making parts for the B-24 Bombers. 

In March of 1946, we bought a home in Leadwood, Mo., and started raising our family.  We had a baby boy in 1948, named John Ellis McCarron; in 1952, a boy named Rodney Wayne McCarron; in 1954, another little girl named Anna Maxine McCarron.   Since I've been home, I've worked 19 yrs. for St. Joe and 19 yrs. and 4 months for Meremac Mining Co.  We celebrated our 55th Wedding Anniversary on Jan., 6, 1995.  We are now retired and do whatever we want. 

I guess the Lord had a reason for letting me come back.  I now have eleven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and two more on the road. 

The DAILY JOURNAL, St. Francois County., Wednesday, April 26, 1995.

OBITUARY

Johnny L. McCarron, 82, of Leadwood, passed away March 19, 2002, at his residence. He was born Nov. 7, 1919, in Irondale, son of the late John and Anna (Wilson) McCarron. Also preceded by brothers: Paul, Robert and Billy Ray McCarron; sister, Naomi McCarron and daughter-in-law, Janice McCarron.

He was a member of the Leadwood Methodist Church; Mineral Area Community Elks 2583; Masonic Lodge #598 of Leadwood; Mineral Area Horseshoe Pitchers Association; Leadington VFW; member of the "Big River Boys Band," and served in the U.S. Navy in WWII aboard Land Craft Support LCL #39, AAM 2nd Class.

He is survived by his wife, Maxine (Gillam) McCarron of Leadwood; children: Jeronda Fay (Mrs. Jack) Bridges of Park Hills; John E. McCarron and wife, Amie of Leadwood; Rodney W. McCarron of Farmington; Anna Maxine (Mrs. Dwight Bradley Jr.) of Leadwood; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; brother, Cyrus Walter DeClue (Marie) of Herculaneum; step-mother, Allie A. (Huff) McCarron of Farmington.

Visitation 5 p.m. Thursday, VFW service at 7 p.m. and Masonic service following at C.Z. Boyer and Son Funeral Home in Desloge. Funeral services 11 a.m. Friday at C.Z. Boyer and Son Chapel in Desloge with Rev. Jim Frago and Rev. Dwight Bradley officiating. Burial, Leadwood Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Leadington VFW.
[DailyJournal/Thurs., March 21, 2002]