JOHN C. "BLACKIE" MCCOY, CSS, born Feb. 2, 1920 at Panther Creek, WV, joined the USN Jan. 24, 1938, at Norfolk, VA, serving aboard the USS Ellis. He transferred to the USS Capella, marine transport, and finally to the USS Washington commissioning the ship in 1941 . His action at sea includes the Battle of Savo. During his service in the USN he achieved the rank of chief ship serviceman, retiring in 1966.

During the 60's he owned and operated St. Pete Transport, an automobile transport company and during the 70's he owned and operated Mid-Mountain Coal Company. Presently he owns and operates 28th Street Auto Sales in St. Petersburg, FL, with his wife, Mary. John has four sons and one daughter, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

FREDERICK J. MCCRACKEN, GM, born Aug. 28, 1914 in New Albany, IN, joined the USN in 1939 and was assigned to the USS Washington in 1942 as gunners mate.

He served in all major actions and was awarded the Good Conduct Medal w/Bronze Star, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Medal w/2 Silver Stars and WWII Victory Medal and Philippine Liberation w/Bronze Star.

McCracken was discharged in 1946. He married Eleanor and they had four children and 10 grandchildren. He died May 25, 1986.

VERNON LOUIS MCCREADY, COX, born May 17, 1924 in Lusby, MD, joined the USN July 24, 1943 and was assigned to the USS Washington June 1944, deck force. While at sea he participated in the bombardment of Okinawa and air strikes on Kyushu.

He was discharged May 16, 1946 and awarded the Pacific Theater Ribbon, American Theater Ribbon and WWII Victory Medal.

Now retired ordnance technician. He married Virginia Costen, Nov. 24, 1946 and they have a son Robert and a daughter Carol, two granddaughters and one grandson.

JOHN C. MCNEIL, MMC2/C, born in Alderson, WV, Aug. 8, 1915, joined the USN, Dec. 16, 1940 and was assigned to the USS Washington May 15, 1941. He left the ship June 27, 1947. He served in the no. 1 engine room as MM2/c and served in the Third Battle of Savo and all major actions while at sea.

His memorable experiences including the sinking of Kirishima and Avanami. He was discharged June 16, 1961 and was awarded 15 Battle Stars, American, Asiatic-Pacific, Philippine Liberation, WWII Defense, American Area Service, EAME, Good Conduct, 5th Award.

He married Helen Perth May 29, 1946 and retired from the shipyard in 1980. He has two sons, William and Robert and one grandson.

PAUL A. MEYERS, FC3/C, born June 22, 1925 in Dubuque, IA, joined the USN June 1943 and assigned to the USS Washington late November 1943, as fire control man. While at sea he served in all of the bombardments and air actions from date on board until the war ended. His memorable experiences include standing in chow line and seeing the Frank[in getting hit; air action during turkey shoot and the big typhoon.

He was discharged Dec. 9, 1945 and received the usual medals and awards: American Theater, Asiatic-Pacific and Philippine Liberation.

Meyers is a retired former science teacher and school administrator. He married Harriet Danner in 1952 and they had three children: Steve, Sandy and Scott and five grandchildren. Harriet died in 1986. He married Ruth Kane in 1989. Ruth has six children and 10 grandchildren.

HARRY LEE MIDKIFF, GM1/C, born April 15, 1923 in Gretna, VA, joined the USN Jan. 23, 1941 and was assigned to the USS Washington when it was commissioned, in charge of repair of ships light machine gun batteries, as GM1/c.

He served at sea in action against enemy Japanese forces at Guadalcanal, the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, Iwo Jima, Tokyo and other hostile areas from November 1942 to May 1945.

He was discharged April 18, 1946 and awarded the BronzeStar Medal w/combat V, Good Conduct, American Area, WWII Victory, Asiatic-Pacific w/13 Stars, American Defense w/Star, Philippine Liberation w/2 Stars, and EAME w/Star.

He married Helen Ksiezopolski Nov. 10, 1945 and they had a daughter, Linda and sons, Michael and Andrew, a grandson and one granddaughter. Midkiff died Jan. 22, 1973.

HOBART C. TAYLOR -Born in De Soto, Kansas on March 25 1924.  I was aboard the USS Washington from September 1943 to April 1945. I was a Surgical Tech in the Medical Corp. I was aboard during the collision with the Indiana. I had to go to the Garbage Disposal Room when a Sailor was electrocuted. I also witnessed one of the aft gunners shot down a kamikaze.

In the war, I was also aboard the Battleship Alabama and a cargo ship called the Winged  Arrow.

After the war, I went to Davis & Elkins College in, Elkins, West Virginia and then to Kansas University in Lawrence, Kansas.
I worked for Swift & Company out of Kansas City, Kansas as a Salesman for about 5 years. I then owned a meat market in Downington, PA., called Downington Farmer’s Market. I had this business for eight years.
After that, I went into the Bowling business and worked for three bowling companies, including Brunswick Corp. for eighteen years. I was building, operating and managing Bowling centers all over the U.S. and CANADA.

My wife and I then built and owned a bar and restaurant called Hobie’s Roadhouse in Concord, Ca. We had Rock & Roll bands every night, including live entertainment, contests, Darts and Pool. We worked 13 years, day and night, then finally - sold out to retired.

We then bought a ranch in Oakley, Ca., and bought and trained twenty one race horses. Some of our horses were purchased in Lexington, Kentucky, mostly losers. We stabled Horses in bay Meadows and Golden Gate and supported the local horse industry for a few years.

We then got a great idea, we’d travel all around North America and Canada and bet at every horse track we could find. We came to the conclusion that Gambling, and owning Horses was not a good career move. We put 10,000 miles on our R.V. and decided we had to find ourselves, a place to call home.

We sold our ranch in Oakley, CA., and moved to De Anza Harbor Resort, in San Diego, Ca. We lived on the beach for seven years and loved it. We met many wonderful people, our neighbors. It was the first time, we actually had personal friends. We played a lot of poker in those days. However, the uncertainty of De Anza’s permanent residents was always up in the air, as the City wanted to remove all residents and build a large hotel.

Over the years we have been to Las Vegas many times. Housing at that time was pretty reasonable, so we decided to make our next and final move to Las Vegas, NV. We thoroughly enjoy it here.
I spend most of my golden years playing Poker, betting on Football games, or some other sports, just supporting local industry as best as I can.

My wife (Joan) and I have been happily married for 35 years.
I have one son Mitch Taylor who lives in Las Vegas, and have three daughters, Taryn Kuenzi who lives in Portland, Ore. Two step-daughters Karen Cameron who lives in San Diego, Ca., and Nancy Wilson living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. And of course a handful of great grand children. My sister Lois Bohlin lives in Lancaster, PA.
My Mother, my Dad, my older sister Arden have all passed on many years ago. Roy, my oldest son just passed on in 2010.

Old and Full of Years
Scrapbook of My Life on USS Washington
By Hobart C. Taylor