Before Willie went aboard the USS West Virginia, the battleship had already been through the bombing at Pearl Harbor. During the repairs after that battle, the bodies of 70 sailors were found below on the ship where they had been trapped when the ship sank. The ship was ultimately taken to Puget Sounds Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington where it was totally restored and made ready to go out again. It took 2 years to make it ready for battle...but ready it was and on September 14, 1944 it set out for the Hawaiian Islands. They made landfall on September 23 at Oahu and by October 5th they were at Seeadler Harbor where they became the flag ship with Rear Admiral Ruddock joining the "Wee Vee" (as it was referred to) as Commander, Div 4. Being the flag ship meant that it was the lead ship in any battle they would face. Aboard that battleship was William T Tollison. Willie had been taught the fundamental skills that he needed to be a Seaman...but most of his training was on the job. He would be doing a variety of duties with his main one being to stand watch...in other words....a lookout! By October 12th Willie was seeing the first of many battles while aboard the Wee Vee. They were participating in the invasion of the Philippine Islands. By October 19th the West Virginia went to its assigned place in San Pedro Bay where they bombed targets in the Leyte Gulf. They went to bed for the night knowing that come morning they would be providing lots of gunfire on the Japanese near Tacoban. Yes...Willie was aboard the "Wee Vee" and it was directly involved in a major battle. They even had enemy planes that were flying over the landing area...the West Virginia fired at them but didn't take any down on that day. On the 21st while still giving fire support for troops going ashore...the West Virginia touched bottom and had some damage which would slow them down. If Helen knew how much danger Willie was actually in...she would be in a constant state of having knots in her stomach. Comments Your comment will be posted after it is approved. Leave a Reply |  Author
Paula Tollison Andrews Maupin I am married to Bobby and live in the Nashville, TN area, working as Executive Assistant to both the Director of Sales and General Manager of FOX17, MyTV30 & CW58 television I have 3 wonderful sons and daughters in
love (Brad & Holly Andrews, Bryan & Stacy Andrews and Brandon
& Ashley Andrews) from Tulsa, St. Louis & Springfield
respectively. They have given me 9 precious grandbabies. (Joseph,
Cooper, Margo, Sloan, Jonas, Nora, Everett, Lawson and Blythe & Gma
loves them so much) I also have 2 great stepsons and daughter in love
(Jonathan & Kathryn Maupin and William Maupin) from Lexington,
Kentucky.
As a lady who's lived through both good & bad circumstances in my life, I've learned and continue to learn a lot of "life lessons". Along the way I have been inspired to be a better me. God is faithful in ALL circumstances and His love covers all. My hope is that you will be inspired to be who you were meant to be. I have been writing this blog about my mom and dad since September of 2011. You can find their story from the beginning by going to the Stories link. Happy Reading!!!   ArchivesMarch 2012 |
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