Memorial Stone
CHECOTAH - Peggy Carr Dodd had this fantasy that her brother, Paul Henry Carr, was on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. "I just knew we'd eventually find him on some island and he'd come home," Dodd said. "He never did." On the day the U.S. Navy commissioned the USS Paul Henry Carr, nearly 41 years after he died, Dodd finally realized he would never come home. "One of the executive officers walked me over to the ship," Dodd said. "He let me touch it. That made it a reality." Nearing the 50th anniversary of Paul Henry Carr's death in one of the bloodiest and most noted sea battles in the history of the U.S. Navy, the USS Carr is a tribute to one of Oklahoma's war heroes. "It took 40 years for me to realize he was really gone," said sister Irene Carr Schultz of Muskogee. "The day they named the ship for him was so emotional for all of us. Then, when they erected the monument here in Checotah a few years later, I felt like he had finally come home." His family treasures the few mementos received from the ship's crew. "We never received any personal effects after he died," Dodd said. "There weren't any. He had gone down with the ship." The USS Carr, a guided missile frigate based on the East Coast, is one of the few ships in the U.S. Navy named after an enlisted man. It is one of only three currently named for an Oklahoman or an Oklahoma town. "The day they commissioned the ship, there were eight sisters, his wife and 125 relatives there for it," said sister Katie Carr Peterson of Checotah. "They said they'd never seen so many relatives for a ship's ceremony. They had to get a bunch more chairs for everyone." Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Paul Henry Carr of Checotah died in the Battle of Leyte Gulf off the island of Samar on Oct. 25, 1944. Naval historians consider it one of the most gallant and deadliest battles in history - 1,130 dead and 913 wounded. Aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts, Carr was the gun captain of a 5-inch mount. An explosion left Carr literally "torn open from neck to thigh." Twice he was ordered to abandon ship but he kept trying to lift and load a 54-pound projectile into the gun. When finally pulled from his mount, he was dead. "I remember the day we found out he was dead like it was yesterday," Dodd said. "It was Nov. 19, 1944, a Sunday. A telegram had been delivered to the train station here in Checotah. There were so many people dying that it took a while to get the word out to the families. The lady at the train station brought it out to us. We were living about three miles east of town. No one could believe it. None of us wanted to believe it." "They wanted to hold a memorial service for him at the high school but my mother wouldn't allow it. She just wouldn't believe he was gone." Paul Henry Carr was the only son among nine children of Thomas Henry and Minnie Mae Austin Carr. He graduated from
Checotah High School in 1942 and worked for a year on the family farm before enlisting in the Navy. "He didn't have to go," Dodd said. "He could have gotten a deferment because he was the only son. But he wanted to go. He was proud of his country and felt it was his duty to serve during the war. "So he went down to enlist with his best friend, Glenn Price, who now lives in Coweta. Then, he was gone." He completed basic training in San Diego, married his high-school classmate Goldia Lee Jamison, and returned home on leave. "That was the last time we saw him," Dodd said. "He got married one October and the next October he was killed." Goldia Carr Bensilhe, now of Riviera, Ariz., later remarried. She was the ship's sponsor at the commissioning. Carr loved "to ride horses and play football," Dodd said. "He was a good football player (honorable mention All-State as a senior center). He also liked to play his guitar. "But when the war started, he felt like he had to serve." He's remembered in Checotah by a "Paul Carr Drive" and a monument at the town's museum, both dedicated in 1990. A memorial stone is located on the family plot at Greenlawn Cemetery in Checotah. In her letter to the crew of the USS Carr upon its commissioning, Carr's widow remembered the crew of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. The USS Roberts was just 6 months old when it was sunk during the battle. "In addition to an extended family, the many USS Samuel B. Roberts survivors will be pursuing your accomplishments with great interests," the letter reads. "May heritage, courage and achievement passed to you by the men of USS Samuel B. Roberts serve as an inspiration as you embark on future ventures." Besides the USS Carr, the sisters keep in touch with survivors of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. Next year they will attend the 50th anniversary reunion of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
(Tulsa World, John Klein, Sept. 19, 1993)
CHECOTAH - Peggy Carr Dodd had this fantasy that her brother, Paul Henry Carr, was on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. "I just knew we'd eventually find him on some island and he'd come home," Dodd said. "He never did." On the day the U.S. Navy commissioned the USS Paul Henry Carr, nearly 41 years after he died, Dodd finally realized he would never come home. "One of the executive officers walked me over to the ship," Dodd said. "He let me touch it. That made it a reality." Nearing the 50th anniversary of Paul Henry Carr's death in one of the bloodiest and most noted sea battles in the history of the U.S. Navy, the USS Carr is a tribute to one of Oklahoma's war heroes. "It took 40 years for me to realize he was really gone," said sister Irene Carr Schultz of Muskogee. "The day they named the ship for him was so emotional for all of us. Then, when they erected the monument here in Checotah a few years later, I felt like he had finally come home." His family treasures the few mementos received from the ship's crew. "We never received any personal effects after he died," Dodd said. "There weren't any. He had gone down with the ship." The USS Carr, a guided missile frigate based on the East Coast, is one of the few ships in the U.S. Navy named after an enlisted man. It is one of only three currently named for an Oklahoman or an Oklahoma town. "The day they commissioned the ship, there were eight sisters, his wife and 125 relatives there for it," said sister Katie Carr Peterson of Checotah. "They said they'd never seen so many relatives for a ship's ceremony. They had to get a bunch more chairs for everyone." Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Paul Henry Carr of Checotah died in the Battle of Leyte Gulf off the island of Samar on Oct. 25, 1944. Naval historians consider it one of the most gallant and deadliest battles in history - 1,130 dead and 913 wounded. Aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts, Carr was the gun captain of a 5-inch mount. An explosion left Carr literally "torn open from neck to thigh." Twice he was ordered to abandon ship but he kept trying to lift and load a 54-pound projectile into the gun. When finally pulled from his mount, he was dead. "I remember the day we found out he was dead like it was yesterday," Dodd said. "It was Nov. 19, 1944, a Sunday. A telegram had been delivered to the train station here in Checotah. There were so many people dying that it took a while to get the word out to the families. The lady at the train station brought it out to us. We were living about three miles east of town. No one could believe it. None of us wanted to believe it." "They wanted to hold a memorial service for him at the high school but my mother wouldn't allow it. She just wouldn't believe he was gone." Paul Henry Carr was the only son among nine children of Thomas Henry and Minnie Mae Austin Carr. He graduated from
Checotah High School in 1942 and worked for a year on the family farm before enlisting in the Navy. "He didn't have to go," Dodd said. "He could have gotten a deferment because he was the only son. But he wanted to go. He was proud of his country and felt it was his duty to serve during the war. "So he went down to enlist with his best friend, Glenn Price, who now lives in Coweta. Then, he was gone." He completed basic training in San Diego, married his high-school classmate Goldia Lee Jamison, and returned home on leave. "That was the last time we saw him," Dodd said. "He got married one October and the next October he was killed." Goldia Carr Bensilhe, now of Riviera, Ariz., later remarried. She was the ship's sponsor at the commissioning. Carr loved "to ride horses and play football," Dodd said. "He was a good football player (honorable mention All-State as a senior center). He also liked to play his guitar. "But when the war started, he felt like he had to serve." He's remembered in Checotah by a "Paul Carr Drive" and a monument at the town's museum, both dedicated in 1990. A memorial stone is located on the family plot at Greenlawn Cemetery in Checotah. In her letter to the crew of the USS Carr upon its commissioning, Carr's widow remembered the crew of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. The USS Roberts was just 6 months old when it was sunk during the battle. "In addition to an extended family, the many USS Samuel B. Roberts survivors will be pursuing your accomplishments with great interests," the letter reads. "May heritage, courage and achievement passed to you by the men of USS Samuel B. Roberts serve as an inspiration as you embark on future ventures." Besides the USS Carr, the sisters keep in touch with survivors of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. Next year they will attend the 50th anniversary reunion of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
(Tulsa World, John Klein, Sept. 19, 1993)
Memorial Stone
CHECOTAH - Peggy Carr Dodd had this fantasy that her brother, Paul Henry Carr, was on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. "I just knew we'd eventually find him on some island and he'd come home," Dodd said. "He never did." On the day the U.S. Navy commissioned the USS Paul Henry Carr, nearly 41 years after he died, Dodd finally realized he would never come home. "One of the executive officers walked me over to the ship," Dodd said. "He let me touch it. That made it a reality." Nearing the 50th anniversary of Paul Henry Carr's death in one of the bloodiest and most noted sea battles in the history of the U.S. Navy, the USS Carr is a tribute to one of Oklahoma's war heroes. "It took 40 years for me to realize he was really gone," said sister Irene Carr Schultz of Muskogee. "The day they named the ship for him was so emotional for all of us. Then, when they erected the monument here in Checotah a few years later, I felt like he had finally come home." His family treasures the few mementos received from the ship's crew. "We never received any personal effects after he died," Dodd said. "There weren't any. He had gone down with the ship." The USS Carr, a guided missile frigate based on the East Coast, is one of the few ships in the U.S. Navy named after an enlisted man. It is one of only three currently named for an Oklahoman or an Oklahoma town. "The day they commissioned the ship, there were eight sisters, his wife and 125 relatives there for it," said sister Katie Carr Peterson of Checotah. "They said they'd never seen so many relatives for a ship's ceremony. They had to get a bunch more chairs for everyone." Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Paul Henry Carr of Checotah died in the Battle of Leyte Gulf off the island of Samar on Oct. 25, 1944. Naval historians consider it one of the most gallant and deadliest battles in history - 1,130 dead and 913 wounded. Aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts, Carr was the gun captain of a 5-inch mount. An explosion left Carr literally "torn open from neck to thigh." Twice he was ordered to abandon ship but he kept trying to lift and load a 54-pound projectile into the gun. When finally pulled from his mount, he was dead. "I remember the day we found out he was dead like it was yesterday," Dodd said. "It was Nov. 19, 1944, a Sunday. A telegram had been delivered to the train station here in Checotah. There were so many people dying that it took a while to get the word out to the families. The lady at the train station brought it out to us. We were living about three miles east of town. No one could believe it. None of us wanted to believe it." "They wanted to hold a memorial service for him at the high school but my mother wouldn't allow it. She just wouldn't believe he was gone." Paul Henry Carr was the only son among nine children of Thomas Henry and Minnie Mae Austin Carr. He graduated from
Checotah High School in 1942 and worked for a year on the family farm before enlisting in the Navy. "He didn't have to go," Dodd said. "He could have gotten a deferment because he was the only son. But he wanted to go. He was proud of his country and felt it was his duty to serve during the war. "So he went down to enlist with his best friend, Glenn Price, who now lives in Coweta. Then, he was gone." He completed basic training in San Diego, married his high-school classmate Goldia Lee Jamison, and returned home on leave. "That was the last time we saw him," Dodd said. "He got married one October and the next October he was killed." Goldia Carr Bensilhe, now of Riviera, Ariz., later remarried. She was the ship's sponsor at the commissioning. Carr loved "to ride horses and play football," Dodd said. "He was a good football player (honorable mention All-State as a senior center). He also liked to play his guitar. "But when the war started, he felt like he had to serve." He's remembered in Checotah by a "Paul Carr Drive" and a monument at the town's museum, both dedicated in 1990. A memorial stone is located on the family plot at Greenlawn Cemetery in Checotah. In her letter to the crew of the USS Carr upon its commissioning, Carr's widow remembered the crew of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. The USS Roberts was just 6 months old when it was sunk during the battle. "In addition to an extended family, the many USS Samuel B. Roberts survivors will be pursuing your accomplishments with great interests," the letter reads. "May heritage, courage and achievement passed to you by the men of USS Samuel B. Roberts serve as an inspiration as you embark on future ventures." Besides the USS Carr, the sisters keep in touch with survivors of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. Next year they will attend the 50th anniversary reunion of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
(Tulsa World, John Klein, Sept. 19, 1993)
CHECOTAH - Peggy Carr Dodd had this fantasy that her brother, Paul Henry Carr, was on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. "I just knew we'd eventually find him on some island and he'd come home," Dodd said. "He never did." On the day the U.S. Navy commissioned the USS Paul Henry Carr, nearly 41 years after he died, Dodd finally realized he would never come home. "One of the executive officers walked me over to the ship," Dodd said. "He let me touch it. That made it a reality." Nearing the 50th anniversary of Paul Henry Carr's death in one of the bloodiest and most noted sea battles in the history of the U.S. Navy, the USS Carr is a tribute to one of Oklahoma's war heroes. "It took 40 years for me to realize he was really gone," said sister Irene Carr Schultz of Muskogee. "The day they named the ship for him was so emotional for all of us. Then, when they erected the monument here in Checotah a few years later, I felt like he had finally come home." His family treasures the few mementos received from the ship's crew. "We never received any personal effects after he died," Dodd said. "There weren't any. He had gone down with the ship." The USS Carr, a guided missile frigate based on the East Coast, is one of the few ships in the U.S. Navy named after an enlisted man. It is one of only three currently named for an Oklahoman or an Oklahoma town. "The day they commissioned the ship, there were eight sisters, his wife and 125 relatives there for it," said sister Katie Carr Peterson of Checotah. "They said they'd never seen so many relatives for a ship's ceremony. They had to get a bunch more chairs for everyone." Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Paul Henry Carr of Checotah died in the Battle of Leyte Gulf off the island of Samar on Oct. 25, 1944. Naval historians consider it one of the most gallant and deadliest battles in history - 1,130 dead and 913 wounded. Aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts, Carr was the gun captain of a 5-inch mount. An explosion left Carr literally "torn open from neck to thigh." Twice he was ordered to abandon ship but he kept trying to lift and load a 54-pound projectile into the gun. When finally pulled from his mount, he was dead. "I remember the day we found out he was dead like it was yesterday," Dodd said. "It was Nov. 19, 1944, a Sunday. A telegram had been delivered to the train station here in Checotah. There were so many people dying that it took a while to get the word out to the families. The lady at the train station brought it out to us. We were living about three miles east of town. No one could believe it. None of us wanted to believe it." "They wanted to hold a memorial service for him at the high school but my mother wouldn't allow it. She just wouldn't believe he was gone." Paul Henry Carr was the only son among nine children of Thomas Henry and Minnie Mae Austin Carr. He graduated from
Checotah High School in 1942 and worked for a year on the family farm before enlisting in the Navy. "He didn't have to go," Dodd said. "He could have gotten a deferment because he was the only son. But he wanted to go. He was proud of his country and felt it was his duty to serve during the war. "So he went down to enlist with his best friend, Glenn Price, who now lives in Coweta. Then, he was gone." He completed basic training in San Diego, married his high-school classmate Goldia Lee Jamison, and returned home on leave. "That was the last time we saw him," Dodd said. "He got married one October and the next October he was killed." Goldia Carr Bensilhe, now of Riviera, Ariz., later remarried. She was the ship's sponsor at the commissioning. Carr loved "to ride horses and play football," Dodd said. "He was a good football player (honorable mention All-State as a senior center). He also liked to play his guitar. "But when the war started, he felt like he had to serve." He's remembered in Checotah by a "Paul Carr Drive" and a monument at the town's museum, both dedicated in 1990. A memorial stone is located on the family plot at Greenlawn Cemetery in Checotah. In her letter to the crew of the USS Carr upon its commissioning, Carr's widow remembered the crew of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. The USS Roberts was just 6 months old when it was sunk during the battle. "In addition to an extended family, the many USS Samuel B. Roberts survivors will be pursuing your accomplishments with great interests," the letter reads. "May heritage, courage and achievement passed to you by the men of USS Samuel B. Roberts serve as an inspiration as you embark on future ventures." Besides the USS Carr, the sisters keep in touch with survivors of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. Next year they will attend the 50th anniversary reunion of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
(Tulsa World, John Klein, Sept. 19, 1993)
Inscription
Petty Officer (Gunner's Mate) Third Class, USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), U.S. Navy (Naval Reserve), World War II
Silver Star, Purple Heart
