Lee Ellis
Age: 87
Born: March 12, 1924
Hometown: Boston
Residence: Indio
Military branch: U.S. Navy
Years served: Dec. 10, 1941 - September, 1944
Rank: Signalman first class
Family: Wife Sharon
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Signalman First Class Lee Ellis kept ships on course during combat operations in the Pacific during World War II.
Ellis, who volunteered and was sworn into the Navy three days after Pearl Harbor was attacked, attended boot camp in Rhode Island, then was sent to the University of Chicago to study communications.
There, he learned to communicate in Morse code and semaphore — a system used to convey messages with hand-held flags.
Ellis, who started out as a 17-year-old apprentice seaman making $21 a month, quickly made his way up the ranks.
After about a year running around the Atlantic and Pacific oceans chasing submarines in a 110-foot wooden ship, he was assigned duty as a signalman aboard a fleet “flagship.”
The flagship carries the commander — the leader of the fleet's operations.
During invasion landings, Ellis flashed messages to ships in the convoy using an Aldis signaling lamp.
The lamp directed the light straight ahead — it couldn't be seen from the sides — making it difficult for the enemy to intercept the signals.
There was little room for error. The ships in the convoy relied on the flagship to send them in the right direction.
“If the signalman makes a mistake, there's a big calamity,” Ellis said.
Ellis said his first invasion operation — in the Gilbert Islands — went smoothly.
“The second invasion — the Marshall Islands — I didn't do too well there.”
Ellis went ashore and was working on a ship-to-shore communication system when the Japanese attacked, running the U.S. ships out of the harbor and into the open sea.
Then the Japanese starting bombing the island — and Ellis was stranded.
“I felt myself being dragged by my feet into a hidden foxhole,” he said. “They were natives. They saved my life. They took care of me, taught me how to get across the island.”
If he could make it across without getting caught, he could seek refuge at a Marine Corps encampment set up on the opposite side of the island.
Alone and without a supply of food, Ellis lived on berries and whatever else he could find.
More than a week later, he emerged from the jungle — his clothes torn and covered with ash from the explosions — and suddenly ran into the Marines.
“I looked like a ghost. They were probably more shocked than I was.”
“The battleship Maryland came and rescued me. They gave me new uniforms, cleaned me up, and took me back to Pearl Harbor Navy hospital.”
It was discovered that Ellis was hemorrhaging internally in his gastrointestinal area.
While doctors tried to determine the cause of the bleeding, Ellis bonded with other combat veterans.
“I was with a bunch of wounded Marines,” he said. “One Marine taught me how to play chess. That was an exciting thing for me as a kid.”
He was sent to Seattle for more medical tests, but still no cause was found. Ellis thinks the bleeding may have been the result of his diet during his days foraging on the island.
He was honorably discharged in September 1944.
Ellis said one of his greatest wartime experiences was standing the midnight- to-4 a.m. watch on the subchaser.
“You're out in the middle of the Pacific and all you see is the horizon. No land. You're completely surrounded by the stars above you. They go on forever. You're alone. You feel in touch with God.”
Ellis spent his post-military career in communications — in radio and television. He retired from CBS and Gannett — where he served as vice president of USA Weekend.
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II on Sundays. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via email at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
