SOM2 Richard K.

Watson, US Navy, World War II, Carlisle PA

Researched and written by Macyn Rice, Cumberland Valley High School, completed 2011
If you can read, thank a teacher. If you can read in English, thank a soldier. This is one of my
favorite quotes, and I recently had a chance to meet and interview a man who makes this quote
real and true. His name was Mr. Richard Koser Watson. At first glance, he may seem like any
other man of his age. He loved to paint and repair clocks. These two hobbies of his decorate his
entire home. His paintings were mostly of birds and landscapes, some of my favorites being of
the beach and snowy days. He purchased old, broken clocks, repaired them, and place them
throughout his home. But there is something very special about Mr. Watson, something that
separates him from all the rest; he was a navy veteran in World War II.
He entered this world in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on August 31, 1923. It was here that Mr.
Watson also enlisted in the navy on December 1, 1943, while beforehand, he had worked as a
carpenter. He says that he enlisted because he knew he would be drafted within the next year. I
didn't want to be in the army, so I enlisted in the navy. From there he was sent to a boot camp
at Newport, Rhode Island, where he was trained in first aid and learned navy drills and how the
navy operates. It is here that he reports he nearly froze to death. After five days leave in
February, he was sent to a school in Key West, Florida and was trained to be a sonar operator,
so he could learn how to locate and detect enemy submarines with certain equipment he would
be using. He graduated as a sonar operator 3rd class in April of 1943. He was then assigned to
the U.S.S. Isherwood, DD520, a brand new destroyer, in the Brooklyn Navy Yard with a crew of
300 men and 20 officers. The ship was put in commission on April 12, 1943 and Easter Sunday
was spent loading ammunition and
supplies onto the ship and they left for
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He found during
his service that officers that went through
the major military schools, such as West
Point Army, were much better prepared
than the rest of us. He also found that his
training, on a scale of 1 to 10, was about
an 8 or 9. They couldn't quite train us for
the experiences we encountered. I guess
it can be compared to taking a test.
Sometimes, you just can't answer all the
questions.
USS Isherwood, Destroyer (DD) 520
Discipline
He believed the disciplinary practices to be fairly moderate. As can be expected, there were
punishments, mostly for breeches of discipline. The most common punishment was a loss of
liberties, which is the amount of time a military personnel has off from service. This punishment
did have to be used sometimes, but, for the most part the crew did what they were supposed to
do. It was inevitable that some crew members had deserted from the U.S.S. Isherwood. They
would get mad because of the way they were treated aboard the ship. Also, some would go on
leave and they never came back.
Segregation

Mr. Watson found that, at the time, the races were separated, especially in the navy. The navy
system was very segregated. The black members were only allowed to be cooks, bakers, or
officers' stewards. However, after the war was over, they did away with those limitations. Blacks
could take any position that they could rightly earn.
The War Begins
The schedule for the crew was four hours on duty and eight hours rest, non-stop. Mr. Watson's
specific schedule was two hours on the sonar machine, looking for enemy submarines, and two
hours at the helm, steering the ship. Those 15 days in
Guantanamo were spent testing the ship and running aground
in the harbor and then headed back to the US.
After repairs in Brooklyn, the USS Isherwood crossed the
Atlantic, convoying a group of supply ships and dropping many
depth charges on suspected German U-boats. They eventually
docked in Ireland for a few days. There, they joined the British
Home Fleet and chased after part of a German Fleet that
included their biggest battleship, the Von Tirpitz. Later on, a
German plane, seemingly coming from Norway, spotted them
and turned around. At this point, they made a U-turn and
sailed, as quickly as they could, back to Scotland. After two
months based in Scapa Flow, Scotland, patrolling the North
Sea and English Channel, they rested in Edinburgh, Scotland
and headed back home. This time, they convoyed the Queen
Mary, with Winston Churchill aboard, and sailed to a
conference with President Roosevelt.
Journal Deployment of the Isherwood
On December 27, 1944, Mr. Watson and his crew joined a 50 mile long convoy of invasion ships
headed for Luzon, a rather large island in the Northern Philippines. Again, there were suicide
planes and suicide boats. They shot down a few more planes
and were then struck by a torpedo. Fortunately it failed to
detonate. It was common for the kamikaze to come around
sunrise and sunset, and quite often in between. Thankfully, they
were at their battle stations most of the time. The USS
Isherwood participated in two smaller invasion landings near
Manilla and also had a part in the Philippine Sea battle with the
Japanese fleet, helping to sink a Japanese destroyer.
After about two months, they headed north for another invasion
in the Ryuku Islands, and, a week later, took part in the April
1stEaster Sunday invasion of Okinawa. The same day, Mr.
Watson was happily promoted to 2ndclass petty officer. The
suicide plane and boat threats there were worse than before,
with fleets of planes headed from Japan. One day, while firing
5 shells for ground support of the marines ashore, they
received radio information that Ernie Pyle (a famous war
correspondent) had just been killed by sniper fire in Le Shima.
Journal Invasion of Luzon

Mr. Watson kept "journals" throughout the time that he served and would put in entries at given
times and dates. He lent me some of these and I have scanned and made copies of the journal
entries and placed them here for you to see and so you can understand and live some of the
days in the navy as he did.
Two Purple Hearts
Almost three weeks of patrolling, shore bombardment, and air raid had passed until they were
sent out on radar picket duty 50 miles north of Okinawa. They were told to radio back early
warnings of Japanese planes coming in, as they were replacing a destroyer that had just
recently been sunk. They shot down four or five planes and, after four days, they returned to
Okinawa to replenish their fuel and ammunition. They were sent out on sub-patrol, and at dusk,
two planes chased after them. One was shot down, but sadly, the other crashed into their ship.
Mr. Watson was headed to his battle station when the plane hit directly above him. He received
severe burns, main from the ship's gasoline supply. The man beside him was killed as a result
of the crash. The ship did not sink, thankfully, however 46 were killed and 48 were wounded by
the fire and explosions aboard the ship. At
Okinawa, he was transferred to an Army Hospital
Ship known as the USS Pinkney for the treatment
of his wounds. Six days later, another plane
crashed into the hospital ship he was on, causing
him to receive more burns and some shrapnel.
Seven of the men from the USS Isherwood that
were currently on the USS Pinkney were killed. He
was then transferred to another hospital ship, the
USS Hope, and was taken to an Army Hospital on
the island of Saipan. A month later, he was able to
walk again and was flown to a Navy Hospital at
Pearl Harbor, where he had skin grafts and facial
surgery. After another two months, he was flown to
San Francisco, just in time to participate in the big
celebration of the end of the war. He was sent, by
train, to St. Albans Navy Hospital on Long Island,
New York for some more plastic surgery and
physical therapy. He then received 30 days leave.
This was his first time home in two years. It was
also when he met the love of his life, Shirley.
Navy telegram notifying family
Coming Back Home
He was discharged from the Navy on May 25, 1946 and then married Shirley on June 14, 1947.
He later received medals for the American Area, European Area, Asiatic-Pacific Area, Philippine
Liberation, two Purple Hearts, a Good Conduct Medal and a WWII Victory Medal. To most, he
may seem like an average man, in his hobbies of painting and collecting and repairing clocks.
However, to me, he will always be an idol. From Mr. Watson's story, it is easy to see how this
man is a true American hero and will be, for generations to come.

Mr Watsons Navy Service

Rank and Medals earned
Richard Watson and Maycn Rice
See also the web site that Maycn Rice created at: http://mrwatsonamericanhero.weebly.com/
Also see what she learned from this experience in her rellections essay at: <add attached pdf>