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SURVIVOR OF USS HELENA IS VISITING PARENTS HERE; IN MAJOR BATTLES PACIFIC AREABv PAUL MOORE Dally Sun Staff.Coxswain Thomas Gowan Jr., XT. S. navy, veteran of more than a half dozen major naval engagements In the Pacific, is spending a 30-day delayed order with his I,parents, /dr. and Mrs. Thomas ‘j Gowan, 004 North'Beaton street.The naval petty officer relates 'many experiences, but obviously is ‘ I withholding many stirring events J • in which he was involved- He is ' a survivor of the famous • i Helena, light cruiser, sunk In the Kula Gulf battle, uly 6, 194o, and L socnt three days In the water and ' li days cn a Jap-held island bc-1 fore being rescued by an American ‘ warship.I The good-natured sailor is ln-! tensely Interested In the Salerno. Italy, campaign as he has (U 1 I brother in the Thirty-Sixth Divis-; ion.Many Experiences.1 While talking about the Pacific 'cxuerionccs, battles, etc., he said .he could write a book about what he has seen when tno war is ovc-r, a3 he had been to plenty of places ' 'and had seen and experienced imany occurrences that he wasr/t allowed to disclose.An extensive article appeared In ; the August 23, 1943, issue of Life ■Magazine, showing a picture of !tho survivors, Including Gowan. A number of Chinese children and others were rescued from the Jap-held island on which the sailors dodged the Japs for 11 days before the U. S. destroyer rescued them. The horrible experinccs of the men on the naval life rafts, called ••doughnuts” by the naval personnel, was merely mentioned, but the petty officer showed by hi3 expression that it was an unforgettable experience, and mentioned some losing thoir reason during the ordeal and ethers dying before the land was reached.On Jap-Held Island.The 11 days spent on the Jap-held island also were fraught with danger. Unarmed, the U. S. boys dodged and tried to stay out of the hands of the Japs—and all did.A Japanese was captured and Gowan said the navy boys tried unsuccessfully for an hour to get him to smllo ns ris picture waa being taken—the picture appeared in the Life Magazine.«Gowan said ho lost 30 pounds during his 14 days in the sea and jungle, anj spent two months in a casualty camp aftor his rescue. He subsisted on green bananas And tara roots from the marshes.Speaking of the Japanese, Gowan asserted:The Jans are not half as spry as they used to be, ar.d are not as tough and suicidal as when they started,” intimating the Americans and other Allied Nations' pressure and performance against the Nips is changing the attitude of the Sons of the Rising Sun ”Coxswain Gowan Is now assigned to a new light cruiser, the Vicksburg, and will leave Corsicana Oct. 11 to report for active duty again.In Major Battles.Gowan was in the Coral Sea ar.d Midway battles and in a hall dozen or more major engagements.Mr. and Mrs. Gowan have three sens—ail in the U- S. armed forces-Other than Coxswain Gowan, are Sgt. Paul E. Gowan, Thirty-Sixth Division, Fifth Army, r.ow in S lerno, Italy, and Pfc- D. E. Gowan. USA, Camp Roberts, Calif.The family formerly resided in Northeast Navarro county before I moving to Corsicana several years ! ago. Coxswain Gowan attended i Corsicana High school before en- I listing in the navy three years . ago. !The father is an employee of j the l«one Star Gas Company.
Newspaper Details
Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana, Texas, US
Fri, Sep 17, 1943
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Annemarie H.
GA, USA 24 Sep 2017
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