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| Fireman Wesley Bales, USS Pensacola, died at the Battle of Tassafaronga. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19555038/wesley-craig-bales/photo http://ww2today.com/30th-november-1942-the-battle-of-tassafaronga-off-guadalcanal |
Wesley Craig Bales never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on January 18, 1918 in Missouri. His parents Edward and Fannie were also both born in Missouri. His father worked as a farmer. Later he worked as a school bus driver and yet later as a government laborer. Wesley had three older brothers and four older sisters and three younger brothers. At least two brothers served in the Navy in WW2 and one black sheep brother served time in the California prison system during the war years. By 1940 Wesley had completed two years of high school. He moved to Oregon and lived with his older brother and worked at a car wash.
He and his younger brother Ralph both enlisted in the navy. They were assigned to the cruiser USS Pensacola with Wesley as a fireman second class. Pensacola participated in the Battle of Coral Sea in May 1942 and the Battle of Midway in June. In October it fought in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands.
Fireman Wesley Bales and his brother Ralph were both on the Pensacola during the Battle of Tassafaronga during the dark morning hours of November 30, 1944. A task force of American cruisers and destroyers were tasked with stopping Japanese destroyers from bringing reinforcements to Guadalcanal. At this point of the war the Japanese naval forces were an equal match for the Americans. During this battle Pensacola was hit by an enemy torpedo. Its engine room was flooded and three gun turrets rendered useless. Oil-feed flames caused ammunition explosions, but the crew was able to save the ship. During the battle Pensacola lost 125 sailors including Wesley Bales.
His grave is at Mabton Cemetery in Washington. Ralph survived the war and died in 2011.
Last year on this date I profiled Leo Gagne, one of the very first men killed at Pearl Harbor. You can read his story here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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