Francis W. Warren 1917-1974
USN
His Story as Told By His Sister Priscilla W. Pyatt
September 2, 2011
Dateline: December 7, 1941
Recently, on our adventure to Connecticut, Lynne and I stopped to visit my mother at her apartment. She has many family pictures in one of her rooms. Lynne (whose husband is retired Navy) asked, "Who is that handsome sailor?" At this point, my mother launched into the story of her brother, Sonny.
My uncle Francis "Sonny" Warren, son of Riverious B. and Josephine Strup Warren, was born in Farmington, Connecticut in 1917. His parents met in October 1916 and after a whirlwind romance on a motorcycle, they married in January 1917. Sonny was born in October. Two other siblings joined the family Raymond W. (1919) and Priscilla (1920). Raymond died in his teens. Priscilla is now almost ninety-one!
In 1939 Sonny joined the Navy. Between being teased by the Navy's motto of "Join the Navy, See the World" and being caught in the throes of the Great Depression, it seemed like a good thing to do. After boot camp, he was assigned to the light cruiser Helena. The ship was part of the Pacific fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor.
This particular Sunday morning, Sonny and many of his ship mates were on deck getting ready to go to church. Sonny had a need to use the head. This probably saved his life. While there, he started to hear explosions and thought there were some crazy guys working off Saturday night by messing in the ammunition dump. He went topside asked what was going on. "The Japs are attacking!" His response was that was impossible as we were not at war with Japan
In the meantime, General Quarters were being sounded. "Man Your Stations!" "This is not a drill!" "Man your stations!" As a gunner's mate, his station was topside. He could see the faces of the Japanese pilots as straffed his fellow sailors. With big smiles and laughter. The ship was badly damaged. Sonny received a thirty day "survivor leave." The ship was sent back to San Francisco for repairs.
After recuperation for both the sailors and the ship, they rejoined the Pacific fleet. Thirteen major sea battles!
Then one dark night one more battle--the Battle of Coral Sea (she thought)--the Helena was stuck and started sinking. He struck his head against the bulkhead, but was not knocked unconscious. Many of the guys jumped overboard into the heavy slick of oil that covered the sea. An alternative was to climb down the overboard netting, which Sonny chose to do. He had his life jacket on which had to be blown up. He did this and entered the water where he held onto a life raft until he was rescued by a troop transport, the President Polk. (In telling this tale, my mother mentioned that she never knew that there was a Presient Polk before).
Many men saw lights on a near by island. Friend or foe? Sonny was not going to take the chance. Several men in life rafts rowed to the island. They were never seen or heard from again.
My mother did not say whether he got another "survivor's leave" or not.
A few years after his discharge, he developed seizures. The family believed that these came from that day of his ship going down. He had not reported it. With all the commotion, I guess he did not feel that it was important. With water, oil slick, fire, one would hardly run to ones commanding officer with a bump on ones head. So, with that said, Sonny was not covered for a war related injury. He paid for all his doctors and medication from his own pocket until he died in 1974 from a brain tumor. My mother felt that brain tumor was a residual reaction from that fateful day. Truly one of America's unsung heroes.
Then one dark night one more battle--the Battle of Coral Sea (she thought)--the Helena was stuck and started sinking. He struck his head against the bulkhead, but was not knocked unconscious. Many of the guys jumped overboard into the heavy slick of oil that covered the sea. An alternative was to climb down the overboard netting, which Sonny chose to do. He had his life jacket on which had to be blown up. He did this and entered the water where he held onto a life raft until he was rescued by a troop transport, the President Polk. (In telling this tale, my mother mentioned that she never knew that there was a Presient Polk before).
Many men saw lights on a near by island. Friend or foe? Sonny was not going to take the chance. Several men in life rafts rowed to the island. They were never seen or heard from again.
My mother did not say whether he got another "survivor's leave" or not.
A few years after his discharge, he developed seizures. The family believed that these came from that day of his ship going down. He had not reported it. With all the commotion, I guess he did not feel that it was important. With water, oil slick, fire, one would hardly run to ones commanding officer with a bump on ones head. So, with that said, Sonny was not covered for a war related injury. He paid for all his doctors and medication from his own pocket until he died in 1974 from a brain tumor. My mother felt that brain tumor was a residual reaction from that fateful day. Truly one of America's unsung heroes.
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