MELVIN R. NELSON
Age: 88
Born: Jan. 29, 1922
Hometown: Galesburg, Ill.
Residence: Palm Springs
Military branch: U.S. Navy; USS Chew (DD-106); USS Hale (DD-642)
Years served: September 1942- December 1945
Rank: Sonarman third class
Family: Wife Dorothy; three sons, Mike Nelson of Pasadena, Steve Nelson of Bellingham, Wash., and Kelly Nelson of Hollywood, Fla.; three grandchildren.
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
Coming tomorrow
U.S. Army veteran Paul J. Fenyo of Palm Springs.
LEARN MORE: Read about other Coachella Valley residents who served in World War II at mydesert.com/wwii.
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Melvin Nelson received his draft notice in the summer of 1942 when he was a lifeguard at Lake Bracken Country Club near Galesburg, Ill.
“After the lake closed in September, I drove to Peoria, Ill., to enlist in the Marines,” Nelson said. “I passed my physical and shook hands with the recruiter, and he noticed my little finger on my right hand was missing. To my surprise, he said I had to have all of my fingers to be in the Marines.”
Nelson lost his finger in a machine while making pulleys for the Army four days before Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.
“I didn't argue and walked across the street and joined the Navy,” he said. “I passed everything, and he said I'd be hearing from him.”
He was supposed to have boot camp in Chicago, but when Nelson and about 35 other men arrived at the train depot, “Each of us were given a postcard to write home that we'd be going to San Diego, Calif., for boot camp,” he said.
After boot camp, Nelson was sent to Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, where he worked sorting mail.
“Then I spent two months at Tiburon, Calif., making and repairing anti-submarine nets which were placed at the entrance to San Francisco Harbor by the Golden Gate Bridge,” he said.
Soon after, Nelson was transferred to the destroyer, USS Chew (DD-106).
“We did a lot of patrolling and screening,” he said. “Late one afternoon, we tangled with a submarine. The bow and forward living quarters were flooded, but there were no injuries. We went back to Pearl Harbor for repairs. I was able to salvage only two oily photo albums.”
After the ship was repaired, the men resumed their duties on the high seas.
As a sonarman, Nelson was on submarine detection duty, tracking enemy subs lurking in the Pacific.
“We dropped a lot of depth charges,” Nelson said, but added the men couldn't tell if they ever scored a hit because they never saw debris float up to the surface.
“They either sunk, or we missed them,” he said.
Later, when Nelson was offered a 30-day leave before going to sound school in San Diego, he made the most of his time off.
“This is the first time I'd been home in two years,” he said. “The second week home, I saw the girl I wanted to be with for the rest of my life.”
The two had known each other from the Covenant Church Hi-League. They met when he was 16 and she was 12, but had gone their separate ways — until reuniting in 1944.
“After a lot of sad goodbyes, I took the train to San Diego,” he said.
After completing sound school, he was sent to the Navy Receiving Station in Pleasanton, where he picked up his next ship assignment — the destroyer USS Hale (DD-642) in San Francisco Harbor.
In March 1945, the USS Hale joined Rear Adm. Forrest Sherman's Essex Carrier Task Force.
During heavy fighting off of Okinawa, the USS Hale rescued two fighter pilots and shot down four Japanese aircraft, according to historical accounts.
Nelson said the USS Hale suffered a close shave during the fighting.
“I thought we were hit for sure because I was on the phone in gun No. 5, when the phone went dead,” he said. “We opened the hatch but didn't see any smoke or damage. About 10 minutes later the phone came back on. We were told it was a near miss by 30 feet from a Japanese bomber.”
After undergoing minor repairs on the island of Ulithi, on June 4 the ship found itself fighting a typhoon that gained strength overnight. By early morning, 70-knot winds and 100-foot waves were pummeling the fleet.
“We rolled within two degrees, several times, from going over,” he said. “We would have had no chance of getting out because the hatches were closed, and it was nighttime. Several ships were lost.”
After accompanying the battered cruiser, USS Pittsburgh, while it was being towed into Apra Harbor in Guam for repairs, the USS Hale sailed to join the Third Fleet at Leyte Gulf.
Joining Adm. Marc Mitscher's Task Force 38, the USS Hale participated in a strike against Hamamatsu, Japan.
After being at sea for 78 days, the USS Hale entered Tokyo Bay on Sept. 16, 1945.
On Oct. 1, Nelson was headed back to the states, eventually landing in Newport Beach, where he was discharged.
He arrived home on Dec. 16 and was reunited with his sweetheart, Dorothy.
“We were married April 21, 1946, and have had 64 wonderful years together,” he said.
