USS Maury DD-401 Silver Star recipients grouping

[mkite93]

The USS Maury was one of the more decorated ships of WWII, finishing the war with 16 battle stars and a presidential unit citation. Here is a grouping I’d like to share to honor one of her officers.  Howard Hughson was an officer on the ship prior to Pearl Harbor and remained onboard for the duration of the war, during that time earning the Silver Star. Here are some pictures of his grouping of items. The scrapbook is fairly impressive I have photographed a few of the interesting pages but there is a lot of information in it.  Also a neat wood carving picture of the ship possibly done onboard or by a native at one of their island stops.  Sadly I do not have his actual silver star medal it was missing from the group however the citation was in the scrapbook. 

[ww2marine]

A really fantastic group!

[Kurt Barickman]

Yes, very nice group, congrats!

 

Kurt

[WWIIinterviews]

Nice!

[KASTAUFFER]

Thanks for posting this!

[mkite93]

Thanks everyone! There are many more interesting pages in the scrapbook and it contains just about every letter he wrote home. Some letters have some very interesting content there’s even the letter he wrote home on Dec 8th 1941 to let his mother know he was ok.
 

Another officer on the ship who there is pictures of in the scrapbook wrote the book South Pacific Destroyer by Russel Crenshaw I will try and find a copy of this book to read and keep with the grouping I’m sure it mentions Howard Hughson in it.  

[DoubleEnvelopment]

8 hours ago, mkite93 said:

Thanks everyone! There are many more interesting pages in the scrapbook and it contains just about every letter he wrote home. Some letters have some very interesting content there’s even the letter he wrote home on Dec 8th 1941 to let his mother know he was ok.
 

Another officer on the ship who there is pictures of in the scrapbook wrote the book South Pacific Destroyer by Russel Crenshaw I will try and find a copy of this book to read and keep with the grouping I’m sure it mentions Howard Hughson in it.  

I'll check the book for you. I have a great diary written by a Maury yeoman. Goes from Pearl Harbor through 1945. My diarist is mentioned a few times in this memoir.

[mkite93]

Very neat that you have a Maury crewmen’s diary. I’m sure it has some great content. Sound like your guy and the guy who’s group I have both spent the entire war on the Maury.  If the book mentions him it’s possible he uses his nickname which is throughout the scrapbook they called him Hi Hughson short for his middle name Hiram.  

[DoubleEnvelopment]

Hi,

 

I took a brief look at the book and Hi is mentioned in the credits around 10 times maybe more like a dozen. 3 entries for him alone in the Battle of Kolombangara section. Once I have more time I will take photos of all the entries with him and the significant diary entries and send them your way. Might be handy to just buy the book, like you mentioned, as added provenance to the group. 

 

Unfortunately, the entries for some things like Midway are very brief. 1-2 lines. I think in the early days the navy was so stretched so thin, no one had time for lengthy entries. As the war progressed and the fleet grew exponentially then accounts became much more detailed. One thing I like is that South self censored parts of his diary. Instead of writing Enterprise would Write E. Instead of Guadalcanal he created a glyph type symbol.

 

The main focus of my collection is Pacific diaries so to answer your question yes I have many original handwritten accounts. I also collect AAF heavy bomber diaries and have a respectable collection there. Even a couple CW diaries.

 

Regards

Matt

[mkite93]

Bringing this one back up.

 

[manayunkman]

Thanks for posting.

[S5th]

Great set of historical items ya'll got there - really neat, thanks for posting and sharing. By the way, do any of ya'll have any mention of in the news articles, letters, diaries etc. (and/or photographs) of a Ensign William Seymour Warren III?  He was assigned to the USS Maury from (approximately) December 16th 1940 to February 8th 1942.  He had been a prior enlisted Coxswain aboard the battleship USS Pennsylvania BB-38 from (approximately) 1934-1938, give or take. He was commissioned from the V-7 program in either the very first (and/or, 2nd or 3rd) class: he did his "summer cruise" aboard the USS New York BB-34 from about mid-August 1940 to mid-September 1940 and then graduated Northwestern University's V-7 program in Dec. 1940.

I am writing a book about the history of the ship and crew of the USS Forrest DD-461 (DMS-24) and (later, Lieutenant and the Lieut. Commander): Warren was posted to the Forrest from March 12th 1942 to July 20th 1945, becoming its XO/Navigator in February 1944.  After WWII, Warren became the Editor of the (Texas) Austin-American Statesman newspaper and wrote a number of articles which referenced his naval service aboard the USS's Pennsylvania, Maury, and Forrest. He retired a Lt. Cdr. in the Naval Reserve in the early 1960s.

 

Thank you very much for your time and assistance.  Best regards, S5

 

PS-Crenshaw's book about his service aboard the USS Maury is referenced on the Destroyer History org website: (Warren and other Officer's are also mentioned)

 

https://destroyerhistory.org/goldplater/ussmaury/index.asp?r=40130&pid=40131

[36thIDAlex]

That's a really splendid group! I know a veteran from the Maury who had some wild tales, haven't talked in awhile so unsure if he's still around but didn't realize they had a SSM recipient onboard.