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| Harold Lambert was a chief machinist mate on the destroyer USS Hughes. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29318103/harold-odom-lambert http://www.modelwarships.com/features/words/swan/swan.htm |
Harold Odom Lambert never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 16, 1918 in Florida. His parents John and Mary were both born in Alabama. His father worked as a farmer. Harold had four younger sisters and two younger brothers.
He enlisted in the navy on December 23, 1938. I don't know where he served for the next five years.
He married married Mary Louis Smith on September 11, 1943.
By 1944 Harold was a chief machinist mate on the destroyer USS Hughes.
On December 10, 1944 Hughes was on picket duty south of Leyte when it was spotted by a group of 10 kamikaze planes, flying beyond anti-artcraft range. One of the kamikaze plane flew toward Hughes attracting the attention of all its guns. The plane was hit but the pilot maintained control and crashed into the side of the ship. The explosion badly damaged one of the engine rooms and much of the machinery. A second kamikaze plane started to fly toward the ship but a flight of four P-38s showed up and chased it and the others away. Meanwhile Hughes was dead in the water and needed a tow to safety. The suicide plane killed eighteen men, including CMM Lambert, and wounded 40 others.
His grave is at New Hope Baptist Cemetery in Wauchula, Florida. It appears that his widow never remarried. She died in 2006.
Last year on this date I profiled P-47 pilot John Jerue. You can read about John 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.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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