Samuel Lawrence Kelley was born June-2 1921 in Parks Camp an oil field boom town 7-miles south of Breckenridge Texas in Stephens, County. He was the oldest of 4 children born to Lawrence Pike and Gracey Jewell(Johnson) Kelley. In 1927 Samuel and his parents along with his little brother Jiggs moved to Breckenridge,Tx. He was a graduate of Breckenridge high school. He attended the University of Texas A&M as an undergraduate in electrical engineering, but with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and USA entering WWII, his college education was cut short for what turned out to be one of his greatest educations in life with the United States Navy.
Samuel was a veteran of WWII, second class radio gunners mate serving in the United States Navy on the Aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill. He was a rear gunner on the Curtiss SB2C-HellDiver bomber, manning the radio and armament of twin 30 caliber M~1919 Browning machine guns in the rear cockpit. He flew on bombing missions with The Carrier Bombing Squadron #17 with Task force-58 from Rabaul to Tarawa in the South Pacific. The book "Helldiver Squadron" by Robert Olds attests to Sam's experiences.
On Dec.26 1941 Samuel married Ella Lee Henry also from Breckenridge,Texas. They shared 50-years of marriage together.They had two Children Ronald Nelson "Flip" and Regina Lee "Rocky".After the war Sam,Ella Lee and Flip moved to Hobbs,New Mexico where he worked as a Electrician until retirement and resided in Hobbs the rest of his life.
Samuel was a veteran of WWII, second class radio gunners mate serving in the United States Navy on the Aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill. He was a rear gunner on the Curtiss SB2C-HellDiver bomber, manning the radio and armament of twin 30 caliber M~1919 Browning machine guns in the rear cockpit. He flew on bombing missions with The Carrier Bombing Squadron #17 with Task force-58 from Rabaul to Tarawa in the South Pacific. The book "Helldiver Squadron" by Robert Olds attests to Sam's experiences.
On Dec.26 1941 Samuel married Ella Lee Henry also from Breckenridge,Texas. They shared 50-years of marriage together.They had two Children Ronald Nelson "Flip" and Regina Lee "Rocky".After the war Sam,Ella Lee and Flip moved to Hobbs,New Mexico where he worked as a Electrician until retirement and resided in Hobbs the rest of his life.
Samuel Lawrence Kelley was born June-2 1921 in Parks Camp an oil field boom town 7-miles south of Breckenridge Texas in Stephens, County. He was the oldest of 4 children born to Lawrence Pike and Gracey Jewell(Johnson) Kelley. In 1927 Samuel and his parents along with his little brother Jiggs moved to Breckenridge,Tx. He was a graduate of Breckenridge high school. He attended the University of Texas A&M as an undergraduate in electrical engineering, but with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and USA entering WWII, his college education was cut short for what turned out to be one of his greatest educations in life with the United States Navy.
Samuel was a veteran of WWII, second class radio gunners mate serving in the United States Navy on the Aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill. He was a rear gunner on the Curtiss SB2C-HellDiver bomber, manning the radio and armament of twin 30 caliber M~1919 Browning machine guns in the rear cockpit. He flew on bombing missions with The Carrier Bombing Squadron #17 with Task force-58 from Rabaul to Tarawa in the South Pacific. The book "Helldiver Squadron" by Robert Olds attests to Sam's experiences.
On Dec.26 1941 Samuel married Ella Lee Henry also from Breckenridge,Texas. They shared 50-years of marriage together.They had two Children Ronald Nelson "Flip" and Regina Lee "Rocky".After the war Sam,Ella Lee and Flip moved to Hobbs,New Mexico where he worked as a Electrician until retirement and resided in Hobbs the rest of his life.
Samuel was a veteran of WWII, second class radio gunners mate serving in the United States Navy on the Aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill. He was a rear gunner on the Curtiss SB2C-HellDiver bomber, manning the radio and armament of twin 30 caliber M~1919 Browning machine guns in the rear cockpit. He flew on bombing missions with The Carrier Bombing Squadron #17 with Task force-58 from Rabaul to Tarawa in the South Pacific. The book "Helldiver Squadron" by Robert Olds attests to Sam's experiences.
On Dec.26 1941 Samuel married Ella Lee Henry also from Breckenridge,Texas. They shared 50-years of marriage together.They had two Children Ronald Nelson "Flip" and Regina Lee "Rocky".After the war Sam,Ella Lee and Flip moved to Hobbs,New Mexico where he worked as a Electrician until retirement and resided in Hobbs the rest of his life.
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