New Bern local and war hero gets burial at sea
It took 70 years, but a New Bern World War II hero has
finally gotten his funeral. Ensign Henry P. Whitehurst Jr, who died on
board the USS Astoria when it was sunk by Japanese forces in the
Battle of Savo Island in August 1942, received a number of honors but
never the traditional “burial at sea” service after he went down with
the ship. Henry P. Whitehurst Sr., prominent New Bern lawyer and his
wife Robbie Sams Whitehurst, learned of their son’s death by way of a
Western Union telegram in early September 1942. It was vague — as
those kinds of telegrams tended to be. It assured the couple that the
Secretary of War Henry Stimson felt “deep sympathy” for their loss.
Henry had died in action it said; it didn’t say how or when. Henry Whitehurst Jr. had been a popular young man in
New Bern when he signed up for naval adventure in 1938. The attack on
Pearl Harbor caused his training to be accelerated: He graduated from
the Naval Academy in December 1941 and was assigned to the heavy
cruiser USS Astoria. As a junior watch and division officer, he witnessed
the battles of Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal, the latter on Aug.
7,1942. Two days later he was in the battle of Savo Island (called the
“Battle of the Five Sitting Ducks” by some veterans). At the end of
that fight, three American cruisers were sunk, including the Astoria,
and Henry Whitehurst had been in the first casualties, killed by a
torpedo while hurrying to battle stations. As his body could not be
recovered, no service was held. Whitehurst grew up in a house on Johnson
Street, just three doors east
from the present day public library and two doors from the
historic Blades mansion at the corner of Middle and Johnson streets.
Thomas Blow,
who resides at New Bern’s McCarthy Court, remembers Henry. “ Henry was
a friend to us all,” he remembers. “ He lived diagonally almost across
the street. He was a great chess player. ... Henry and I were on the
New Bern chess team that went to Raleigh and played the champions
there.” They had picked up the game in their early teens, Blow
recalls. “ It entranced us both,” he said. Henry and Blow also did other things together, among
themwas playing war with the neighborhood boys, armed against each
other with rubber band guns. “ I had a lot of tools. I made rubber guns,” Blow
said. The bands they fired were not the kind one picks up in bag at a
supply shop “ We would have fights,” Blow said. “ We would get up
on top of garages and defend ourselves and so forth. It was
quite a thing we did every weekend. I remember that well.” After graduation. Blow also chose a naval career. He
remembers a surprise meeting with his old friend and fellow swab: “ I
was in this little World War I minesweeper in Norfolk, tied up at the
dock and here came this big cruiser and it was all the midshipmen who
were there for a summer cruise and he was on it. And he immediately
came ashore because he knew I was on this little minesweeper.” Blow loaned Henry some chess books to study, but it’s
unlikely he’ll ever get them back. They’re at the bottom of the
Pacific Ocean, along with the Astoria and Henry’s remains. Whitehurst was honored for his sacrifice when the Navy
commissioned a ship in his honor — the destroyer USS Whitehurst,
launched in 1943 with his own mother breaking the champagne bottle on
the bow. Whitehurst is also well remembered by the town. Many
of his personal effects are held by Tryon Palace, while the local
American Legion Post 539 is named partly in his honor — the
Whitehurst-Ware Post. His official “ burial at sea” service was the
result of Lt. Nicholas Hurley, an active duty member of the
Whitehurst-Ware post. Hurley was serving on board the destroyer USS
Sampson in 2012 while it was on duty in the Pacific. As fate would
have it, the ship would be passing within three miles of the spot
where the Astoria went down on Aug. 9 —the 70th anniversary of the
battle. The Sampson’s Captain, Commander D. D. Docummun,
agreed to lay a wreath. We are indebted to Robert Whitehurst who, while
researching the Whitehurst Family genealogy, discovered an online record of
this story from the New Bern, North Carolina, Sun Journal, dated
March 24, 2013, and
contributed it for use on this web site. mc
WWII
Era | Korea War &
'50s | Viet Nam & 60s |
Reunions |
All Links Page |
Search & Rescue
USS Whitehurst Logo by: Pat Stephens, Webmaster, DESA
Ens. Henry P. Whitehurst ca. 1941
Memorial |
Poetry |
Enemy Below |
Taps List |
Photos/Armament |
History |
Crews Index |
Home