Oral history interview of Henry M. Powell, Jr.

Collection:: Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
Title:: Oral history interview of Henry M. Powell, Jr.
Creator:: Lowance, David
Powell, Henry M., Jr., 1925-
Date of Original:: 2004-08-02
Subject:: World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Brewster, William R.
Block, Frank
Allen, William Henry, 1878-1951
Powell, David
Georgia Military Academy
Emory University
Georgia Institute of Technology
APL-54 (barracks ship)
Waikiki Beach (Hawaii)
Location:: Panama, Portobelo, 9.5006933, -79.6106622058413
United States, Florida, Hillsborough County, Tampa, 27.94752, -82.45843
United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan Area, 33.8498, 84.4383
United States, Hawaii, Honolulu County, Waikīkī, 21.2855, -157.83594
United States, South Carolina, Charleston County, Charleston, 32.77657, -79.93092
United States, Texas, 31.25044, -99.25061
Medium:: video recordings (physical artifacts)
mini-dv
Type:: Moving Image
Format:: video/quicktime
Description:: In this interview, Hank Powell recalls his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He describes learning of the attack on Pearl Harbor and his entry into the Navy and the V-12 program. He was sent to the Naval Supply Corps School in Sampson (N.Y.). He describes sailing from Tampa through the Panama Canal to Hawaii. He recalls the end of the war and how they wondered what would happen with General Douglas MacArthur, the Russians and the Chinese; they hoped they would be able to go home before they would have to go to war again. He describes conditions aboard ship and compares it to what it was like on the home front. He discusses current events and compares them to the time of World War II.
Hank Powell was in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Henry M. Powell, Jr. Veterans History Project Atlanta History Center With Dr. David Lowance August 2, 2004 [Tape 1, Side A] Interviewer: …the second, 2004. We're at the Atlanta History Center, part of the World War Two veterans project. We're interviewing Mr. Henry Powell this afternoon, who's a native of Atlanta. Graduated from Georgia Military Academy [GMA], which is now Woodruff Academy. Attended at various and sundry times in his life Emory University, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. And he's gonna tell us his story about what is was like to grow up in Atlanta during the Depression era, what is was like to be a student at GMA when the war was breaking out and what it was like then that after going to the military to have an incredibly glamorous job. Not everybody got to talk them, including how the ships were put together and how they supported the troops overseas. He's been an engineer with Owens… Powell: Illinois. Interviewer: …Illinois in his professional life since coming back to Atlanta and married one of my neighborhood girlfriends when he returned to Atlanta. I always looked up to her. She was a patient of my father's and we've had a close, warm family relationship for… Powell: Many years. Interviewer: Close to sixty years now. So Hank, free associate. Powell: All right. Well as I started to think about how I would approach sixty years plus of history, I guess my really first thing that was most impressive to me was obviously December the seventh and Pearl Harbor and hearing it over the radio and all the news and how unbelievable it was. As David mentioned, I was a student at GMA, Georgia Military Academy. And that following Monday morning, December eighth, Colonel William R. Brewster, who was president, superintendent of the school, had us all in the gymnasium. And we had a…there was radio hookup of Franklin Roosevelt, President Roosevelt's declaration of war. I know that one of the first things that ran through my mind was, “Here I am, fifteen years old. Gosh, the whole thing will be over before I'm old enough to be in it.” Well, time marched on and in 1943, I did graduate from high school. As David said, I attended Georgia Tech. I applied for the Naval B-12 training program and was accepted and then sent to Emory University, where I was involved with the Naval B-12. And…oh, I've forgotten exactly the date. Interviewer: It's not important. Powell: I've forgotten exactly the date, but I was transferred to a Naval supply corps school in Sampson, New York, and from there I was assigned to the USS APL-54 in Tampa, Florida, that was being built at the Tampa ship building company. But I've almost got to go back for a second, because while I was a Emory, a relative, my uncle, who I had never met, he was regular Army and had been all over the world, lived in the Philippines and what have you, had been assigned to Fort Benning as head of the infantry school. So I called him on the telephone and I told him that I wanted, since he was back in this country, I wanted to meet him. So he invited me to come to Columbus, Georgia and to Fort Benning. And if you could imagine in 1944, with all the activities going on in Fort Benning with this number of soldiers and up walks a sailor in his sailor hat and suit. It was a little unusual, particularly when I got to the front gate and asked to see Colonel Passleg [phonetic] and was asked who I was and so forth and so on. But anyway, I finally got in. But I did that evening, I looked up a friend of mine who was at Fort Benning by the name of Frank Block. Interviewer: Henry, I'm gonna block you out just for a minute here to let people see a picture of Hank Powell with his Navy uniform on the right and his friend on the left who was in the Army. I'm not sure I would recognize Hank if you didn't tell me that's who he was in the picture now. This is what he looked like in 1944. Powell: Thank you. But anyway, that was, I thought, sort of an unusual experience to go to a large Army base being the only sailor on hand. But I was at Sampson, New York, I went through this Naval supply corps school and was assigned to Tampa where the USS APL-54 was being built. I had no earthly idea what an APL, an auxiliary personnel living ship, was and I didn't realize until I got there that it was a flat-bottom barge that had no propulsion at all. It had one deck below water, below the water line, and three decks above. So it was sort of a floating cork and when we were in heavy seas it would…you would almost have to hold on to a table if you wanted to sit. But anyway, the ship was commissioned and we set sail in June of '44. I think that was the date. No, excuse me. Of '45. We set sail in June of '45 with the APL-53 and a thing called a YB or a yard barge. So if you can imagine a sea-going tug, a yard barge, APL-53 and an APL-54. From the bow of the barge to the fantail of the 54 was almost a mile. So it was strung out quite a distance. Interviewer: Got a picture of the… Powell: Yes. Interviewer: One of them. Powell: Yes. This is a picture of the [paper rattling]… Interviewer: That's a picture of the barge at the bottom and then it's got a [inaudible] barracks on top of it. There were two or three of three pulled behind a tug, an ocean-going tug? Powell: Yes. And this gives you a little idea. Although these are similar craft that were being…two of them were being pulled by a sea-going tug. So anyway, our mission as a barracks ship was to be assigned to a group where they needed to house usually probably sailors and we could probably hold somewhere around three hundred and fifty enlisted men and a much lesser number of officers. But the ship had three decks above water and we had a soda fountain, we had a barber shop, we had a fabulous mess hall, we had huge amounts of refrigeration because we didn't have any motors to take up space. We were capable of making our own water. We had evaporators where we could make water out of the sea water. And literally they say, although we never had to do it, but they say we could have sat somewhere for two years and never been supplied because we had sufficient fuel to maintain the ship in a livable condition. But we left Tampa and if you can imagine this flat-bottom barge with the fantail, or the rear end of it, about two and a half, three feet out of the water and going at a top speed maybe, top speed of three knots, maybe four. So what did we do? Most of the time we fished, we trolled. And we had wonderful fishing. There were bonita and shark and tuna. First time I'd ever eaten fresh tuna was onboard this ship and it was delicious. Interviewer: Caribbean tuna or was it Pacific tuna? Powell: No, this was Caribbean. Well, we probably caught some in the Pacific, too. But the ones I happen to remember the first time we ate it…great big devil. And the chef…the chef. The cook, the Navy cook, cut it up and served it that way. But anyway, we went from Tampa to the canal. And I think one of the funniest experiences happened. There was a little inlet north of the canal and as I recall the name, I think it was Portabella. But it was a nice area where we could pull in. And this convoy of sea-going tug and the APL and the YB sort of made a great big circle. And we were awaiting smaller tugs to come where they would hook up with each one of us individually, so that they could take us through the canal. And as we were sitting there waiting, unfortunately a little bit of wind came up and although we had our anchors out, the back ends started going towards each other and did a reasonable amount of damage while we were waiting for the tugs. So we finally got the tugs on, set down to head to the canal. I recall so well looking and seeing these ships similar to a seagoing tug pulling the nets, the submarine nets away from the mouth so that we could go through. So we got in and docked on the Atlantic side where we were repaired. We probably spent…oh, I guess almost two months being put back together. It wasn't all that serious but they did spend time getting us fixed back together. We were then taken through the canal, which I thought was just a fabulous experience. [inaudible] Lake and then being raised up to the lake level and going across and then being back lowered to the Pacific level. And we spent a few days there. And then we started for Hawaii. The most uneventful trip. Anytime that we had a bad storm anywhere near us, we would head in the opposite direction. It didn't make any difference which direction that was, it was gonna be as fast as we could to get away from a storm because we were very vulnerable to being turned over because of heavy weather. But anyway, after…I'm not sure I remember accurately. But it was at least forty-five, maybe fifty days or something like that it took us to go from the canal to Hawaii. And as we pulled in, here comes this small choo-choo train of the seagoing tug and the yard barge and the 53 and the 54 as we pulled into the submarine docks. And I noticed that our signalman was up receiving a signal from the submarine base. And I watched him as he was taking this thing and writing things down. And as he was coming down he said, “That's about you.” And I said, “What do you mean ‘about me'?” “They want you to report to some,” I've forgotten the name of it. COM-SERPAC Pacific headquarters or whatever. And so when we got…we were docked out away from the land and we lowered a boat and they took me into shore. And I was told to go so-and-so and I went. And I was told to go see Chaplain…I don't have any idea what his name was. And I had all kinds of horrible thoughts. My parents were dead, my sister been killed or something. You can imagine being asked to come and see a chaplain. Well, when I got into his office, he was very pleasant, very nice and so forth. And he says, “Young man, you haven't written your mother.” [laughter] My father had a real good friend in the Navy by the name of Admiral Allen and through his…obviously, I'm sure, through his connections, they found where I was and got that little message. I did write my mother. I did that. But it took so long to go from one spot to another, that it did not really…it just seemed that forever was going by. Interviewer: Were you fully loaded with troops going over most of the Pacific or were you empty? Powell: No, we were empty. Empty to the extent that there was about seventy-five people onboard each one of these, the 53 and the 54 and there was nothing on the yard barge. It was all sealed up and I don't have any idea whatever happened to it. I assume, they told us that they had all kinds of machines, landing machines and [inaudible] and things of that nature that were probably used, taken somewhere and used. But we left it in Hawaii. And we stayed in Hawaii for a good time and that was an exciting thing for a young eighteen year old to go to see the tops of some of the mountains and you could almost see snow at one time and be on the beach the same day. So it was…I was a little disappointed in Waikiki Beach. I had visions of that being absolutely the most beautiful thing in the world and it turned out not to be quite so beautiful. Interviewer: What was your feeling when you saw Pearl Harbor for the first time? Powell: Well, you'd heard about all the ships. You'd seen pictures in the papers and things of the ships that were sunk and all of the damage and the horrible things that took place. And of course by this time, this was 1945, I think that's right, it'd been cleaned up and it was very presentable. But as you would go to take liberty and go into town, you had the feeling that there was still some animosity towards the Japanese and obviously we were still fighting a war with them. But there had been a lot of Japanese in Honolulu at the time of December the seventh. Interviewer: Sure. The Arizona Memorial hadn't been built, but could you see the [inaudible]? Powell: I don't recall seeing that at all. I don't. I don't recall seeing any… Interviewer: Any carnage or wrecks. Powell: Un-uh. Interviewer: The mess, the wreckage had been pretty much cleaned up by the time you got there? Powell: By the time we got there. But you could tell the long channel leading into the submarine base and into Pearl Harbor was very evident as we came in. Interviewer: And did the war end while you were in Hawaii? Powell: No, we had left Hawaii and we were headed…our destination, we thought, was Anawetok [phonetic], but we'd been out for--oh, I'm not sure whether it was a week or ten days; maybe it was longer than that; maybe three weeks—when we were turned around. And we came back to…the war had ended and we came back to Honolulu. Came back to Pearl Harbor. The war being over, there were just thousands and thousands of troops that they wanted to get back to the United States. So our call one day, a Navy commander came aboard and he looked at our ship and he says, “My gosh, this is an all-welded ship. You don't have any…where are you watertight hatches and where's you watertight bulkheads and so forth?” Well, we didn't have any. So he would not allow, or they did not allow, whoever did not allow anyone to ride with us. [laughter] But the seagoing tug, which normally held about seventy-five or eighty people, had over a hundred and fifteen on it when we started back. And we left…we retraced our steps through the canal and went up to Texas. Oh gosh, I've lost the name. But it was a port. Interviewer: Port Arthur? Powell: No, it wasn't Port Arthur. But anyway, we left the APL-53 there and then we were taken from there to go to Charleston where we were brought into port and became part of the fleet decommissioning of destroyers. And in May of 1946, I had sufficient points to be discharged. Interviewer: Do you remember what you felt like on V-J Day when you found out about it or whenever you found out about the bomb? Powell: It was an unbelievable feeling. We all celebrated and talked about how wonderful it was and that the war was gonna be over and that we could go back home. But the interesting part, as we were going back retracing our steps and getting closer and closer to Charleston, it was all the confusion going on as far as MacArthur and the Russians and the China business. I remember a number of us said, “Well, I certainly hope we get out for a little while before we have to go back in again.” But anyway, we did go back, come back to Charleston. Interviewer: I think you must have had friends who were lost overseas. Powell: I think the most significant one that I remember was my first cousin, David Powell, who…we had grown up together. We were fairly close. David was maybe a year, year and a half older than I and he had volunteered for the Marines and was killed in Guadalcanal. And that was a very tragic day in our family. But yes, we had, I'm sure as everyone had, any number of friends, acquaintances, children of my parents [sic] who were killed during the second World War. And it's… Interviewer: Do you remember growing up in Atlanta when you were at GMA if you were even aware or cognizant of what was going on in Europe at the time or was it so far removed that… Powell: No. I don't think it was quite that far removed because you heard so much about ships, merchant ships being sunk by the German submarines. In fact, outside of Tampa, I believe, there was a spot that they called “Torpedo Junction” where a lot of ships were sunk. And it was a time when rationing…of course the war was well-established by the time I got in it. But there was…you had the different stickers on you car for the what amount of gasoline you'd have. There was an “A” card and a “B” card and “C” card, I think were the three. And shoes were rationed and sugar and meat and all the other things. And I think that we in the service probably did not have it nearly as tough as some of the people left at home who had the rationing much more so than we did. Interviewer: Were you scared when you went over the Pacific? The war was still going on when you were going at three knots an hour. Did you fear that a Japanese submarine might you out there ever? Powell: No, I often thought that they probably wouldn't waste a torpedo over an APL. [laughter] No, I really can't recall ever really having any great fear. It seemed that it was the thing to do. It was the thing to be involved with. It was that thing. Interviewer: You just did it. Powell: You did it. Interviewer: No questions asked. Powell: No. Obviously, as you sit here talking and thinking about it, you think about…like when we got to Panama. Each ship had to put so many people on shore patrol. So I happened to be selected to go in with a group and it was…we were assigned…we went to a building and we just sort of sat there and listened to the radio and things of that nature and all of a sudden, lights would come on and it was time for us to get on a bus and we were taken to where there was a small riot between the Navy and the Army and the Merchant Marines. And I remember we took some people and put them and took them to the local jail and it was one of the worst places I've ever seen or remember seeing in my life. Interviewer: You put somebody in instead of getting put in by yourself? Powell: Well…[laughter]. No, some of the people who were very inebriated and so forth. Interviewer: Oh. Powell: They were put in and let them sleep it off and so forth. Interviewer: Can you think of any humorous incidents that occurred during your stint in the military other than fishing for tuna? Powell: Well, I'm not sure, David, that I could think of any right off hand. As I say, on board this ship, on board the APL, it was really a very…we had every convenience that we could possibly imagine. Interviewer: Was it the Ritz-Carlton? Powell: Well, it wasn't quite the Ritz. I'd say Motel 6 might be a little closer to it. But anyway, when you stop and think of some of the people who were in trenches and things of that nature, that was a very easy life compared to that. Interviewer: I think you're very articulate and I appreciate you talking freely and that's one of the things I wanted to ask you. How did you feel? Did you feel like they were cheated, you were cheated or did you feel that it was just the luck of the draw that you got barge duty and somebody else got sent to the infantry on D-Day? Powell: Well, no. I was very pleased, wanted to be involved, to be accepted in the Navy. I did not think of it as being anything more than what I really wanted to do. And the fact that I was…I really had been told by some of the older people that APLs were ships that had been luxury yachts and small ocean liners that had been taken over at the beginning of the war and used where people could live, barracks things. So I thought, “Well, now that would be very wonderful to sign up and do that.” So I signed up to be on an APL. I had no idea until I got to Tampa and saw this flat-bottom barge. What happened to the seagoing…what happened to the wonderful yacht that I thought I would be aboard? But that…it was quite an adventure to really leave Tampa, Florida and roughly two years later come back to Charleston via the Pacific. And it was quite a boat ride. Interviewer: You came back and you enrolled… Powell: After I got out of the Navy, I decided I wanted to go to the University of Georgia and I received my degree from there. Interviewer: And how many years did you work with Owens? Powell: I went to work for Owens of Illinois, not immediately out of school because I worked for another company by the name of Walker Manufacturing Company. But I had an opportunity to go with Owens of Illinois and I spent thirty-five years with them. And I was in Toledo, Ohio. We lived in New Orleans. We lived in Birmingham. We had fun moving around. Interviewer: You got an anniversary this year of being married to one of my neighborhood friends growing up. Powell: If all goes well between today, August the second, and this coming September the eleventh. I can't very well forget my anniversary, but nine eleven is pretty hard to forget after what happened a few years ago. But we'll be married fifty-one years. Interviewer: Congratulations. What is your feeling and what kind of thoughts did you have on your anniversary on nine eleven, '01, and how do you think the country in 1941 responded to Pearl Harbor compared to the way we responded to nine eleven now? Powell: Well, I think the country responded very similar on nine eleven, 2001, as it did so in 1941. There was a great pulling together of feelings of importance of our country and to see the horrible things that happened sixty years ago on December the seventh and how it brought the country together and then to have a similar, horrible action to have on September the eleventh. I notice and I still wear…after September the eleventh, people started wearing lapel pins of the flag. And I'm very proud to wear a lapel pin of the flag. And I simply hope that somehow, someway this horrible mess would be all…terrorists would be somehow controlled. I'm not sure how you control it. But it's a heck of a mess. Interviewer: It's a heck of a mess. There's no question. What would you like to impart as words of wisdom to younger generations? Cause people are gonna be looking at this tape long after you and I are gone. When I was growing up, I remember V-J Day as a five year old here in Atlanta and I remember the gas rationing and I remember the coupons at the grocery store and things like that. And I remember the blackout raids. But you were just enough older than I was to go into the military although you didn't see any combat action. But what lessons did you learn that you would like to leave to future generations and say to future generations? Powell: Well, I wish I had some wonderful words of wisdom. I'm not sure that I do. But I will say this, that we live in the most wonderful country in the world. It is certainly worth fighting for. It is certainly worth any sacrifices that need to be made, that needed to be made in December seventh, 1941, or 2001. Whatever it takes to have our country to continue to be a haven of freedom where people have rights and not…that you can go and do the things, to live your life as you would like to live it as a free person. I don't know how you could ask me anything more than that. Interviewer: That's a pretty nice thing to be able have for ourselves and we ought to… Powell: Be very protective of it. Interviewer: Well Hank, I think this country's better because of people like you. And I want you to know I appreciate you very much as a friend and as somebody who's willing to go to war so I could go to Miss Floodworth's kindergarten and E. Rivers [phonetic] school while you were floating around the Pacific barge and going through the Panama Canal. Powell: Well David, I want to thank you for asking me. It's a privilege and an honor for me to be here and to be able to relate just a very small portion of World War Two. Interviewer: It's a very important portion because some of you were willing to go and you never knew where you were gonna end up. Powell: No, you sure didn't. Interviewer: But you were willing to do it. Thanks so much. Powell: All righty. [end of tape] Notable Pages: p. 4—long line of barges p.7—Write your mother! p. 12—Just did it. p.15—“heck of a mess”, comparing 12/7/1941 with 9/11/2001
Metadata URL:: http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/295
Additional Rights Information:: This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
Extent:: 30:39
Original Collection:: Veterans History Project oral history recordings
Veterans History Project collection, MSS 1010, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center
Holding Institution:: Atlanta History Center
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