From Sat. June 18, 2022 Moberly Monitor Index, WINONA WHITAKER, Managing Editor
MOBERLY — When Dale Brockman's aunt read a story in the Moberly Monitor-Index last month about Ira Bailey, Randolph County's first soldier to die in World War II, she reminded her nephew that her brother died the same month, on the same ship, in another battle. That article is printed on Ira's page.
Dale Brockman, now of Paris, was born and raised in Moberly as was his father, Earl, and Earl's five siblings. Clarence was the first-born, and Dale's aunt, Betty Alexander, was the youngest.
Dale heard no war stories growing up, he said. His father served with the Army Air Corp in the European Theater from 1943-1945, but he didn't talk about the war.
About 1997, Dale's aunt told him about his Uncle Clarence's death. "She must have been going through some stuff," said Dale. A veteran himself—he served with the Army from 1971-1973 and spent 18 months in Germany but never deployed to Vietnam-—Dale had some interest in history. Not so much the European part of World War II, he said, "but I liked the Japanese part of it.
Dale began researching his uncle and the USS Houston. "I guess just because it's a family member you're interested in it," he said. He has his uncle's portrait, medals and a couple of certificates of recognition on his wall.
A purple heart engraved with the name Clarence A. Brockman rests reverently in its case.
Dale searched the internet and the USS Houston's website. He copied pages from the book "Banzai!" that tell of the battle in which Clarence lost his life.
Allied ships that survived the encounter with the Japanese Feb. 26, 1942, made their way to Batavia (now Djakarta) or Surabaya. The Perth and the Houston tried to escape through the Sunda Strait, which was scarcely 14 miles wide, according to "Banzai!"
"They plunged full steam into a Japanese armada."
Just before midnight, the Japanese sank the Perth. "Now it was Houston's turn. She had already been damaged by a torpedo, and the big guns of the cruiser Mikuma were finding their target. Fifteen minutes after midnight a salvo ripped into the American cruiser's after engine room, scalding everyone to death."
As the bugle sounded abandon ship, a 5-inch shell exploded on the bridge, killing the captain, the book says. "Houston lay dead in the water. … Finally, at 12:45, the ship shuddered and dived out of sight.
"Of Houston's 1,000 men and Perth's crew of 680, fewer than half were still alive, and many of those would perish in the oily waters."
A ship's roster compiled by W. J. Weissinger Jr. in July 1983 lists Brockman killed or missing March 1, 1942. But what happened to the sailors wasn't known for months, not until survivors who had became prisoners of war and used as slave labor were rescued and could tell their stories.
"Moberly sailor listed 'missing,'" says a newspaper article among Dale's research papers. "Navy says Clarence Brockman may be prisoner of the Japs."
"Mr. and Mrs. Grover Brockman, route I, Moberly, have been notified … that their oldest son, Clarence, is missing in action on the Pacific Ocean. Brockman, who enlisted in the Navy three years ago, was a member of the crew of the Houston, sunk off the coast of Java in March.
"It was on the Houston that Ira Bailey, son of Mrs. B.H. Bailey, 301 Collins Street, lost his life," the article says. "Bailey has been listed as Randolph County's first casualty in the present war."
A letter from the Navy told the Brockmans that Clarence had either been killed or was prisoner of the Japanese.
Brockman had not been home since his enlistment, the article says, but the family had received mail from him regularly. "Their last direct word of him was news of wounds sustained in Pearl Harbor on January 9, but they were not told details in that letter."
Clarence was born Oct. 20, 1918 in Randolph County and died Feb. 28, 1942 at the age of 23. There are no remains, said Dale, but a memorial plaque honors his memory in Memorial Park Cemetery in Moberly.
MOBERLY — When Dale Brockman's aunt read a story in the Moberly Monitor-Index last month about Ira Bailey, Randolph County's first soldier to die in World War II, she reminded her nephew that her brother died the same month, on the same ship, in another battle. That article is printed on Ira's page.
Dale Brockman, now of Paris, was born and raised in Moberly as was his father, Earl, and Earl's five siblings. Clarence was the first-born, and Dale's aunt, Betty Alexander, was the youngest.
Dale heard no war stories growing up, he said. His father served with the Army Air Corp in the European Theater from 1943-1945, but he didn't talk about the war.
About 1997, Dale's aunt told him about his Uncle Clarence's death. "She must have been going through some stuff," said Dale. A veteran himself—he served with the Army from 1971-1973 and spent 18 months in Germany but never deployed to Vietnam-—Dale had some interest in history. Not so much the European part of World War II, he said, "but I liked the Japanese part of it.
Dale began researching his uncle and the USS Houston. "I guess just because it's a family member you're interested in it," he said. He has his uncle's portrait, medals and a couple of certificates of recognition on his wall.
A purple heart engraved with the name Clarence A. Brockman rests reverently in its case.
Dale searched the internet and the USS Houston's website. He copied pages from the book "Banzai!" that tell of the battle in which Clarence lost his life.
Allied ships that survived the encounter with the Japanese Feb. 26, 1942, made their way to Batavia (now Djakarta) or Surabaya. The Perth and the Houston tried to escape through the Sunda Strait, which was scarcely 14 miles wide, according to "Banzai!"
"They plunged full steam into a Japanese armada."
Just before midnight, the Japanese sank the Perth. "Now it was Houston's turn. She had already been damaged by a torpedo, and the big guns of the cruiser Mikuma were finding their target. Fifteen minutes after midnight a salvo ripped into the American cruiser's after engine room, scalding everyone to death."
As the bugle sounded abandon ship, a 5-inch shell exploded on the bridge, killing the captain, the book says. "Houston lay dead in the water. … Finally, at 12:45, the ship shuddered and dived out of sight.
"Of Houston's 1,000 men and Perth's crew of 680, fewer than half were still alive, and many of those would perish in the oily waters."
A ship's roster compiled by W. J. Weissinger Jr. in July 1983 lists Brockman killed or missing March 1, 1942. But what happened to the sailors wasn't known for months, not until survivors who had became prisoners of war and used as slave labor were rescued and could tell their stories.
"Moberly sailor listed 'missing,'" says a newspaper article among Dale's research papers. "Navy says Clarence Brockman may be prisoner of the Japs."
"Mr. and Mrs. Grover Brockman, route I, Moberly, have been notified … that their oldest son, Clarence, is missing in action on the Pacific Ocean. Brockman, who enlisted in the Navy three years ago, was a member of the crew of the Houston, sunk off the coast of Java in March.
"It was on the Houston that Ira Bailey, son of Mrs. B.H. Bailey, 301 Collins Street, lost his life," the article says. "Bailey has been listed as Randolph County's first casualty in the present war."
A letter from the Navy told the Brockmans that Clarence had either been killed or was prisoner of the Japanese.
Brockman had not been home since his enlistment, the article says, but the family had received mail from him regularly. "Their last direct word of him was news of wounds sustained in Pearl Harbor on January 9, but they were not told details in that letter."
Clarence was born Oct. 20, 1918 in Randolph County and died Feb. 28, 1942 at the age of 23. There are no remains, said Dale, but a memorial plaque honors his memory in Memorial Park Cemetery in Moberly.
From Sat. June 18, 2022 Moberly Monitor Index, WINONA WHITAKER, Managing Editor
MOBERLY — When Dale Brockman's aunt read a story in the Moberly Monitor-Index last month about Ira Bailey, Randolph County's first soldier to die in World War II, she reminded her nephew that her brother died the same month, on the same ship, in another battle. That article is printed on Ira's page.
Dale Brockman, now of Paris, was born and raised in Moberly as was his father, Earl, and Earl's five siblings. Clarence was the first-born, and Dale's aunt, Betty Alexander, was the youngest.
Dale heard no war stories growing up, he said. His father served with the Army Air Corp in the European Theater from 1943-1945, but he didn't talk about the war.
About 1997, Dale's aunt told him about his Uncle Clarence's death. "She must have been going through some stuff," said Dale. A veteran himself—he served with the Army from 1971-1973 and spent 18 months in Germany but never deployed to Vietnam-—Dale had some interest in history. Not so much the European part of World War II, he said, "but I liked the Japanese part of it.
Dale began researching his uncle and the USS Houston. "I guess just because it's a family member you're interested in it," he said. He has his uncle's portrait, medals and a couple of certificates of recognition on his wall.
A purple heart engraved with the name Clarence A. Brockman rests reverently in its case.
Dale searched the internet and the USS Houston's website. He copied pages from the book "Banzai!" that tell of the battle in which Clarence lost his life.
Allied ships that survived the encounter with the Japanese Feb. 26, 1942, made their way to Batavia (now Djakarta) or Surabaya. The Perth and the Houston tried to escape through the Sunda Strait, which was scarcely 14 miles wide, according to "Banzai!"
"They plunged full steam into a Japanese armada."
Just before midnight, the Japanese sank the Perth. "Now it was Houston's turn. She had already been damaged by a torpedo, and the big guns of the cruiser Mikuma were finding their target. Fifteen minutes after midnight a salvo ripped into the American cruiser's after engine room, scalding everyone to death."
As the bugle sounded abandon ship, a 5-inch shell exploded on the bridge, killing the captain, the book says. "Houston lay dead in the water. … Finally, at 12:45, the ship shuddered and dived out of sight.
"Of Houston's 1,000 men and Perth's crew of 680, fewer than half were still alive, and many of those would perish in the oily waters."
A ship's roster compiled by W. J. Weissinger Jr. in July 1983 lists Brockman killed or missing March 1, 1942. But what happened to the sailors wasn't known for months, not until survivors who had became prisoners of war and used as slave labor were rescued and could tell their stories.
"Moberly sailor listed 'missing,'" says a newspaper article among Dale's research papers. "Navy says Clarence Brockman may be prisoner of the Japs."
"Mr. and Mrs. Grover Brockman, route I, Moberly, have been notified … that their oldest son, Clarence, is missing in action on the Pacific Ocean. Brockman, who enlisted in the Navy three years ago, was a member of the crew of the Houston, sunk off the coast of Java in March.
"It was on the Houston that Ira Bailey, son of Mrs. B.H. Bailey, 301 Collins Street, lost his life," the article says. "Bailey has been listed as Randolph County's first casualty in the present war."
A letter from the Navy told the Brockmans that Clarence had either been killed or was prisoner of the Japanese.
Brockman had not been home since his enlistment, the article says, but the family had received mail from him regularly. "Their last direct word of him was news of wounds sustained in Pearl Harbor on January 9, but they were not told details in that letter."
Clarence was born Oct. 20, 1918 in Randolph County and died Feb. 28, 1942 at the age of 23. There are no remains, said Dale, but a memorial plaque honors his memory in Memorial Park Cemetery in Moberly.
MOBERLY — When Dale Brockman's aunt read a story in the Moberly Monitor-Index last month about Ira Bailey, Randolph County's first soldier to die in World War II, she reminded her nephew that her brother died the same month, on the same ship, in another battle. That article is printed on Ira's page.
Dale Brockman, now of Paris, was born and raised in Moberly as was his father, Earl, and Earl's five siblings. Clarence was the first-born, and Dale's aunt, Betty Alexander, was the youngest.
Dale heard no war stories growing up, he said. His father served with the Army Air Corp in the European Theater from 1943-1945, but he didn't talk about the war.
About 1997, Dale's aunt told him about his Uncle Clarence's death. "She must have been going through some stuff," said Dale. A veteran himself—he served with the Army from 1971-1973 and spent 18 months in Germany but never deployed to Vietnam-—Dale had some interest in history. Not so much the European part of World War II, he said, "but I liked the Japanese part of it.
Dale began researching his uncle and the USS Houston. "I guess just because it's a family member you're interested in it," he said. He has his uncle's portrait, medals and a couple of certificates of recognition on his wall.
A purple heart engraved with the name Clarence A. Brockman rests reverently in its case.
Dale searched the internet and the USS Houston's website. He copied pages from the book "Banzai!" that tell of the battle in which Clarence lost his life.
Allied ships that survived the encounter with the Japanese Feb. 26, 1942, made their way to Batavia (now Djakarta) or Surabaya. The Perth and the Houston tried to escape through the Sunda Strait, which was scarcely 14 miles wide, according to "Banzai!"
"They plunged full steam into a Japanese armada."
Just before midnight, the Japanese sank the Perth. "Now it was Houston's turn. She had already been damaged by a torpedo, and the big guns of the cruiser Mikuma were finding their target. Fifteen minutes after midnight a salvo ripped into the American cruiser's after engine room, scalding everyone to death."
As the bugle sounded abandon ship, a 5-inch shell exploded on the bridge, killing the captain, the book says. "Houston lay dead in the water. … Finally, at 12:45, the ship shuddered and dived out of sight.
"Of Houston's 1,000 men and Perth's crew of 680, fewer than half were still alive, and many of those would perish in the oily waters."
A ship's roster compiled by W. J. Weissinger Jr. in July 1983 lists Brockman killed or missing March 1, 1942. But what happened to the sailors wasn't known for months, not until survivors who had became prisoners of war and used as slave labor were rescued and could tell their stories.
"Moberly sailor listed 'missing,'" says a newspaper article among Dale's research papers. "Navy says Clarence Brockman may be prisoner of the Japs."
"Mr. and Mrs. Grover Brockman, route I, Moberly, have been notified … that their oldest son, Clarence, is missing in action on the Pacific Ocean. Brockman, who enlisted in the Navy three years ago, was a member of the crew of the Houston, sunk off the coast of Java in March.
"It was on the Houston that Ira Bailey, son of Mrs. B.H. Bailey, 301 Collins Street, lost his life," the article says. "Bailey has been listed as Randolph County's first casualty in the present war."
A letter from the Navy told the Brockmans that Clarence had either been killed or was prisoner of the Japanese.
Brockman had not been home since his enlistment, the article says, but the family had received mail from him regularly. "Their last direct word of him was news of wounds sustained in Pearl Harbor on January 9, but they were not told details in that letter."
Clarence was born Oct. 20, 1918 in Randolph County and died Feb. 28, 1942 at the age of 23. There are no remains, said Dale, but a memorial plaque honors his memory in Memorial Park Cemetery in Moberly.
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