HURLEY-THOMAS

On Veteran's Day, November 11, 1942, 18 year old Thomas Robert Hurley and a group of his close friends went out to a formal dinner together to mark the day, celebrate their friendship, and to dedicate the event as possibly the last day they would spend with these close friends. As my Dad explained it to me, "The next day, we were all enlisting."

Tom Hurley completed training and in early 1943, he was assigned to service aboard the ill-fated SS RICHARD HOVEY, a Liberty Ship that repeatedly crossed the Atlantic Ocean delivering munitions to England. Tom Hurley served aboard the Hovey as a member of the United States Navy Armed Guard Gun Crew for all of 1943. He described the tight quarters aboard ship as "luxury digs" compared to the conditions faced by men serving in the infantry. "I had a cozy cot below deck, the gentle roll of the North Atlantic, and I slept beside the bombs." "The North Atlantic in winter was so cold, you could spit - and it would freeze before it hit the deck!" I still have the protective face mask that was issued to my father during this time, woefully inadequate for the job, but certainly better than facing the North Atlantic bare faced.

In December 1943, the SS Richard Hovey sailed into Chesapeake Bay and Tom Hurley was reassigned to additional training as a Gunner's Mate and transferred off the SS Richard Hovey. He was not pleased. "This was MY ship. These were MY men, and it was MY responsibility to protect them." Nevertheless, he took reassignment and received additional training to operate larger deck guns.

In late December, 1943, a very short leave was granted which allowed Tom to visit family and friends in the Bronx one last time. It provided Thomas' mother with a perfect opportunity to arrange for a professional photograph of her 19 year old son in his Navy uniform. It is among the most important treasures she passed down to us, and I am forever grateful for this wonderful photograph of my father and the photos she arranged for each of her five sons. Tom was reassigned to service aboard a Landing Ship Tank - LST 544 - which was built in and shipped out of Evansville, Indiana - one of America's most productive cities during the war. See USS LST SHIP MEMORIAL-   http://www.lstmemorial.org/

In spring of 1944, the crew of LST 544 was in port on the West Coast of the U.S. picking up hundreds of men in San Francisco for transport to their assigned service in the Pacific Theatre of operations. A newspaper article describing the horrific Japanese attack on the SS Richard Hovey was brought to Tom Hurley's attention. It was assumed all hands went down with the ship. Unknown to Tom, many had survived -- I learned of this crucial detail of the SS Richard Hovey's history on August 17, 1998 when some research material was delivered to my home. I knew my father would be thrilled with the possibility of a reunion with the remaining crew members of the Hovey. However, he had just left the house for a series of medical appointments.  Later that day, after receiving word of the accident that had taken his life, I realized Tom Hurley was already at a reunion with his shipmates, his best friends, and family... much more joyful than any I might have organized.

See excellent historical details here: SS Richard Hovey: a Tale of Japanese Atrocities and Survival by Bruce Felknor ( http://www.usmm.org/felknorhovey.html ).

Tom Hurley served as a Gunner's Mate aboard LST 544 from early March 1944 through December 1945. By summer of 1945, LST 544 had avoided Japanese submarines and air attacks and was transporting men from Pearl Harbor into the Pacific when the Japanese surrender was announced. My father’s eyes teared as he said "it was the most appropriate place to hear that announcement." I can’t imagine what it was like for them to clearly see the USS Arizona still under the water at Pearl Harbor. Thomas Robert Hurley received his Honorable Discharge from the United States Navy on December 26, 1945 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.