Obituaries

I am truly a native Californian. I was born in Los Angeles, California, January 17, 1927. I went to Hamilton High School in Los Angeles and left Hamilton High School on January 16, 1945 when I enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and went to boot camp in Alameda, California.

After boot camp I was assigned to the U.S.S. General H. F. Hodges (A.P. 144) on April 6, 1945. The ship departed San Francisco. Two days after Germany surrendered on May 10, 1945, we proceeded with U.S. Army troops for Philippine Islands for the attack of Japan.

We left the Philippines from Manila Bay with wounded troops and soldiers rotated to the States. We left San Francisco for New York via the Panama Canal. We stayed in a shipyard for 10 days and departed July 1945 for Naples, Italy to pick up Army Troops and headed for the Philippines for a final push against Japan. When on August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered and we had orders to return U.S. Army Troops to Boston, Mass. For discharge, for which the troops were happy.

We made three trips to India to bring troops back to U.S. for discharge. On January 31, 1946 we departed New York for Seattle, Washington via Calcutta, India. We arrived at Seattle where on March 1, 1946, the U.S.S. General H. R. Hodges (A.P. 144) was transferred to the Merchant Marines. I was transferred to Wilmington, GA separation center for discharge, but I re-enlisted in the regular U. S. Coast Guard. I served on various Coast Guard cutters. My last ship was USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11). We sailed to the Arctic Ocean, South American Ports, and the Antarctic Ocean.

I bought a 1960 Thunderbird auto from Earl Hart Sr. He introduced me to his daughter and we went out on dates and we were married in July 1961. I got transferred to a cutter in Alameda and bought a house in Fremont. Rosemary, my wife, died November 2000. In 2003 I moved into Country Inn. A few years later Merrill Gardens bought out Country Inn.

No services were held for Clarence.