Travis, Alton, St. Helena Parish, Louisiana
File prepared by D.N. Pardue and submitted by Inez Bridges Tate.
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Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives
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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.

     Alton Travis was born and grew up in the Pine Ridge
Community.  He attended local schools and worked on his mother's
dairy farm.  Alton enrolled in the CCC's, stationed at Kentwood.
He remarked that this was a good thing for the area, that these
soil conservation practices benefited the farms and still do
until this day.  It also provided badly needed cash income.

     Alton was drafted on January 28, 1944 and chose the Navy.
Basic training was at San Diego, Ca.  He saw his brother Clyde
Ray (Billy) and his cousin Fernie McMillan while in San Diego.
He was then sent to the U.S. Sub Base at Pearl Harbor where he
remained for six months.  He remarked he saw the wounded return-
ed to the hospital aboard ships who were so seriously injured
they could not walk and had to be let down in baskets to a 
waiting boat.

     While in Pearl Harbor, Alton was able to meet up with a
cousin, Henry Bates, who was stationed there when it was bombed.

     After six months at Pearl Harboar, Alton volunteered for sea
duty and was assigned to the USS Sperry, a submarine tender that
went to Guam.  Alton said he was in the Submarine Navy (Surface).
As submarine tender, the Sperry kept the supplies for the subs.
The subs would be loaded with torpedoes, leave the launch and 
soon return for more.

     The USS Sperry returned to the United States and as Alton
had not completed his time, he was transferred to the USS
Greenlet which was a submarine rescue ship.  The ship served as
a target for the subs to launch their torpedoes.  They, of course,
shot under the ship but Alton said you could hear the torpedoes
"swish" through and could see the bubbles.  They would then
pick up these torpedoes.  He also noted that divers pulled
up two suicide subs of the enemy that had been sunk off the
coast of Tokyo Bay.

     Alton remembers he observed his 21st birthday on Guam.  He
stated that when he left Pearl Harbor he learned he had not
reached Guam when his brother E.D. was sent to Pearl Harbor.  He
was able to visit E.D. enroute home.

     The USS Greenlet was in the fleet that went into Japan
following the dropping of the atomic bomb, he said.

     On Alton's discharge I noted under remarks: "Victory Medal,
Asiatic Pacific Ribbon, American Area."  Alton was discharged at
New Orleans on April 12, 1946 as a Seaman First Class.

     Unlike most service men, Alton never came home on leave from
the day he was drafted until the war was over.

     Returning to St. Helena, he did some farm work.  He and Ms.
Eliza Easley Allen, the mother of one daughter, were married on
April 25, 1948.

     Alton has retired from United Gas and lives alone near his
son since the demise of his wife.  His six grandchildren are a
source of real pleasure.  He maintains his lawn and assists his
son cutting grass on his archery range which is located near 
their homes.  Alton visits in the community and attends church
at New Zion Baptist Church.

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