Travis, Cleve J., 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.

     Cleve J. Travis was born and grew up in the New Zion
Community.  He worked on his mother's dairy farm while attending
school.  He graduated from Greensburg High School in 1943.  Hav-
ing read an advertisement in a New Orleans paper that work was
available at a navy yard in Valleho, California, he bought a bus
ticket and went west to work.  He was told he would have a six
months job as an electrician's helper, but for some unexplained
reason he was terminated at the end of two months.

     Cleve returned home and after a few months volunteered for
the Marine Corps on December 27, 1943.  He was sent to San Diego,
California for his basic training and additional training was at
Camp Pendleton near San Diego.

     Following his training, he was sent overseas.  His first
assignment was on an island near Guadalcanal (Palau).  Bob Hope, 
Rita Hayworth and others came here to entertain the troops,
Cleve recalled with pleasure.

     Cleve was a member of the First Marine Division.  His outfit
was sent to Okinawa.  He recalled he was there when the Atom
Bomb was dropped on Japan, and the War ended.  Cleve saw a cousin,
Edward McMillan, in San Diego and on Okinawa.

     After the War, Cleve's unit was sent to China.  He remembers
the ship making a stop at the Philippines to unload lumber.

     With the end of the War, Cleve returned to San Diego, where
he was discharged on May 8, 1945.

     Returning to his home, Cleve enrolled at L.S.U. but was
unable to continue due to his health.  Cleve never married.

     Cleve has many memories of his years in the Marine Corps.
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Newspaper Clipping:

28 Jan 1944
  Pvt. Cleve Travis, son of Mrs. 
Maud Williams of the Sixth Ward,
is now stationed in Sand Diego,
California.

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