John Matthew Stoker USS Wichita I was a boatswain's mate second class in the U.S. Navy, serving on the USS Wichita (CA45), heavy cruiser. Our ship operated with the British Home Fleet out of Scapa Flow, Scotland, covering escort patrol for lend-lease convoys headed for Murmansk, Russia, and patrolled the Icelandic waters near Bear Island and the Demark Straights. We were sent south to cover the invasion of Africa at Casablanca. Following the loss of a cruiser at Guadalcanal, we were transferred to the Pacific, via the Panama Canal and were involved in most of the battles of the Asiatic-Pacific Theater including the Aleutians. Our ship was given credit for sinking a Vichy cruiser and two destroyers at Casablanca. Our guns had bombarded seven islands held by the Japanese, shot down ten Japanese planes and received credit for four more probable kills. Our spotting planes rescued thirteen American pilots and crewmen, and we towed a sister torpedoed cruiser to safety and sank two Japanese ships. We were the command ship to enter Nagasaki, Japan, after the atomic bombing and assisted with the casualties as well as help liberate allied prisoners of war. As reflected on my discharge papers I am authorized to display the following Theaters of War campaign ribbons: European-Africa-Middle Eastern area with two stars, Philippine Liberation with two stars, American Defense, American Area, Asiatic-Pacific with ten stars. Each star represents a naval engagement with the enemy. Donald Threlkeld I was a member of the U.S. Navy during WWII. I enlisted in December 1944 and received my honorable discharge in August 1946. I enjoyed being a member of the Blue Jacket Choir, while in boot training at Great Lakes Naval Station. I completed medical corps training at Farragut, Idaho, and served as a hospital corpsman third class in several Navy hospitals. John Tippets John Tippets joined the Navy in August 1943 with the rank of seaman third class. John served on a 178 destroyer escort and crossed the Atlantic Ocean seven times both ways (14 in all) escorting big ships with equipment and troops to England and Italy. He crossed the Pacific Ocean three times. He was discharged in March 1946 and received the World War II Victory Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and the Korean Service Ribbon with one star. Norman Leroy Torsak Norm Torsak joined the Navy on December 15, 1941, in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was one of the thousands who joined the military services in a wave of patriotism that swept the country. He served as a signalman on the USS Le Grande, a refueling ship that operated out of San Diego, California, to all parts of the Pacific during WWII. The character of this young man was demonstrated by his faithfully sending the greater portion of his paycheck home each month to support his widowed mother. Norm received an honorable discharge as a petty officer first class in August 1945, found a job at an auto body company in Ogden and promptly enrolled at Weber where he completed his Associate of Science degree in 1947. Robert E. Toyn I enlisted in the Navy during November 1944. I was activated on January 7, 1945, and reported to the U.S. Naval Air Training Center in Memphis, Tennessee. After boot camp, I was assigned to mechanic school (Air Craft Mechanic School) in Norman, Oklahoma. After mechanic school, I went to gunnery school in Pensacola, Florida, where I trained as a top-turret gunner in a P2V Neptune, which was a five-man reconnaissance plane. After gunnery school in Pensacola, I ended up in Alameda, California, where we boarded the aircraft carrier the USS Guadalcanal, headed for Hawaii. While I was there, the Japanese surrendered, and war was officially over. We left Alameda and arrived at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. Because the war had ended, my original orders to go to Guam were changed, and I was assigned to stay in Hawaii. I worked as crew chief at CASU1 (Carrier Aircraft Service Unit), where I oversaw the maintenance on Navy planes like the SB2C & D, and the F6 Hellcat. We managed the routine 30-, 60-and 90-hour checks. I was sent to California and was discharged on July 30,1946 at Camp Shoemaker. I used my Gl bill to attend Weber College and Woodbury College in California. Clovis John Turner John served in the Navy as a carpenter's mate third class from May 1943-March 1946. After the attack on 179