Phillips, Lawrence C., St. Helena Parish, Louisiana File prepared by D.N. Pardue and submitted by Inez Bridges Tate. ************************************************ Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ From "St. Helena Vets Remember World War II: Personal Interviews With World War II Vets", published by St. Helena Historical Association, 1995. Compiled and edited by Inez Bridges Tate and reprinted with permission. Lawrence C. Phillips was born and grew up in the Pine Ridge Community in Ward 6. He graduated from Oakland High School in 1937 and attended SLU for a year. He worked for the Internal Revenue Service of Louisiana for a year. He was in the CCC's in Kentwood for about 13 months and did construction work with a neighbor helping to build Camp Claiborne near Alexandria and also another job near De Ridder. In August 1942 he volunteered for the Navy at New Orleans. He well remembers the ride on the troop train from New Orleans to San Diego. They were told not to bring extra clothing. It took six or seven days to make the trip and as the guys had the windows open on the train, the soot and dust blew in. Unable to stand the condition of his clothes any longer, he went into the rest room, washed them out and put them back on wet. Basic training was at San Diego, CA. While there he became ill and was hospitalized for ten days. During his stay in the hospital, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt visited the troops in the hospital. A cousin, Billy Phillips, came to visit him and Lawrence told Billy to have a good time for both of them. Billy, a Marine, died of wounds sus- tained on the Marshall Islands. Following basic, he was in electrical school for 16 weeks at Chapman College located across from UCLA and at the edge of Holly- wood. He recalled going to the Stage Door Canteen where he saw Loretta Young and other movie stars who were there to entertain the troops. At the end of this course he was promoted to Electri cian Mate 3rd Class. Lawrence was then sent to Treasure Island (a man-made island for the World's Fair of 1938) in San Francisco Bay where he was assigned to the USS Tennessee, a battleship that had been in dock for repairs after taking a hit at Pearl Harbor. They embarked on a shakedown cruise from San Francisco to Seattle then to the Alaskan Region - the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea. This was after the Japanese had been routed from the Aleutians by the Army. He recalls he spent his 21st birthdy on the Aleutian Islands on August 2, 1943. They returned to Bremerton, Washington, Puget Sound and on to the South Pacific via Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. He crossed the equator in October 1943 and has the certificate to verify he was made a "wet back." The Tennessee bombarded the Marshall and the Gilbert Islands with massive shells that were designed to explode over their target, scattering shrapnel and inflicting injuries and death on the enemy. He recalls one guy was killed from a shell fired from the beach while standing on the deck of the Tennessee. The ship then cruised the South Pacific. Lawrence recalls the ships were in a convoy of perhaps one hundred ships - oilers, destroyers and others. Lawrence returned to the United States to Asbury Park, New Jersey for additional training for six weeks. While there he went into New York City. He attended Tulane University for two semesters, then went to Norfork, Virginia for a while. From Norfork he was sent to Bremerton, Washington where he boarded the USS Gurke, a destroyer. Peace was declared and they traveled on to Tokyo, Japan. He was sent back to Okinawa where he traveled by troop ship back to San Francisco, then by train to Reno, Chicago and New Orleans where he received his discharge, January 21, 1946. Lawrence reflected that his tour of duty was not as hazard- ous as some but there were some scary times. He returned home and he and Miss Virginia Calmes were married on March 7, 1948. Lawrence received a BA degree from LSU in 1949 and later a Masters of Vocational Agriculture in Education. He taught school for 30 years, teaching at Pine Grove and at New Zion for one year. He and Virginia have three sons and five grand- children and are enjoying retirement. -------- Newspaper clippings: TWINS IN NAVAL SERVICE Lawrence Phillips, E.M.3/c and Clyde Phillips, Ph. M 2/c of the U.S. Navy, twin sons of Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Phillips of the Sixth Ward, are both at sea. Mrs. Clyde Phillips has returned from Stillwater, Ok- lahoma where she has been re- siding with her husband. 4 Aug. 1944 Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Phillips of the Sixth Ward had as recent guests their son, Lawrence Phil- lips, EM 2/c, and his friend, Lloyd Kelcher, EM 3/c, both of Asbury, N.J., who spent Sunday with them en route to New Or- leans. Mr. Phillips has been over- seas for two years and took training at Asbury, N.J. before returning to Louisiana. Mr. Kel- cher and Mr. Phillips will now be given a course at Tulane Univer- sity, New Orleans. 10 Nov. 1944 Mr. Lawrence Phillips, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Phillips of the Sixt Ward of St. Helena parish, is at home on a short leave. Law- rence has been in the Navy for two years and spent a year and a half in the Pacific. Because of his excellent record and proven ability he has recently been trans- ferred to the V-12 Division and is in school at Tulane University. * * *