Top Photo: From left are Sandra Beasley Burdell, Diane Beasley Ladet (daughters of Eugene Beasley) Larry Liveoak who presented American flags, Carl Edwards and his daughter Cheryll Edwards Bass. Seated is Eugene Beasley. (Photo by Sarah Stephens – Elmore/Autauga News)
BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Two World War II Veterans from Elmore County have been shown quite a bit of love and gratitude recently. Eugene Thomas Beasley, of Millbrook, and Carl Edwards, of Elmore, were recently honored by the Hampden Sidney Lodge #67 of Millbrook. On Tuesday night during the regular Millbrook City Council the men, who are both 97-years-young, were invited back for a special presentation from Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley.
It is believed they are two of the oldest living World War II Veterans in our area. (Anyone with more information about that, please feel free to contact me at editorsarah@yahoo.com.)
“The Pledge of Allegiance kind of got to me tonight,” Mayor Kelley said. “A lot of people don’t remember those days that Mr. Edwards and Mr. Beasley went through. I thank Larry Spears (with the Hampden Sidney Masonic Lodge #67) for helping us put this together tonight.”
Kelley also thanked Larry Liveoak with the Liveoak Insurance Agency for providing American flags to present to Beasley and Edwards.
“I have a couple of proclamations that I would like to make to these two gentlemen I have known for a long time. I played with their kids, went to school with their kids. They may not have known me, but I knew them. Mr. Edwards has been extremely active in the Millbrook Men’s Club for many years. Mr. Beasley you have done a tremendous job serving your country and being a Millbrook Citizen.”
In speaking of Mr. Edwards, Mayor Kelley said, “He has more fishing rods and boats than probably anybody around. And that gentlemen will out-fish anybody around,” to which Edwards’ fishing buddy Larry Liveoak proclaimed, “Amen.”
“I lived in Millbrook for 21 years from 1950 to 1971,” Edwards said. “It got a little crowded so I moved up to Elmore. That is where I hang my hat now. I appreciate all of these goings on here. I really thank everybody,” Edwards said with a big smile.
Military service information below was supplied by Hampden Sidney Lodge #67, Millbrook, Al. Both men honored are also Masons for the local Lodge.
Eugene Thomas Beasley is a WWII Veteran of the U.S. Navy who served from 1941-1944. Beasley served as a Signalman aboard the USS North Carolina BB-55 in the Pacific Theatre. Signalman was a job field combining visual communications, and advanced lookout skills.
On September 15th, 1942 he received severe injuries to both eyes when a Japanese Torpedo struck the USS North Carolina, which resulted in blindness in one eye.
Beasley volunteered for service in the US Navy and attended Boot Camp in Norfolk, VA before being one of the first crew members to be assigned to the newly commissioned USS North Carolina, the fastest Battleship of its kind, having been commissioned on the 9th of April, 1941. It carried a crew of 2,379 including 444 commissioned officers and 100 soldiers of the US Marines.
Beasley sailed through the Panama Canal where the USS North Carolina was used to strengthen the forces of the Guadalcanal Campaign.
He also took part in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons near Papua New Guinea in the Coral Sea where the ship screened aircraft carriers and shot down several Japanese aircraft. The USS North Carolina was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine known as I-19. This torpedo did not severely damage the USS North Carolina apart from the shock of the blast that disabled the forward gun turret. However this attack left five of Beasley’s shipmates dead and several with many injuries, including Beasley.
Beasley was treated for his eye injuries both on Honolulu after the ship returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs as well as on the Mainland. Beasley was Honorably Discharged in 1944 due to his injuries at the rank of Seaman Petty Officer 2nd Class.
Eugene Beasley reflects on his WWII military service by saying “I feel like I did my duty. I was young, and I enjoyed it.”.
Carl Edwards is a Retired Veteran who served 20 distinguished years in the U.S. Navy, Naval Reserves and Air Force Reserves serving actively in both WWII and the Korean War. Among his Duty Stations were the USS Sepulga AO-20, a Fleet Oiler in WWII, USS Delta AR-9 a Repair Ship in the Korean War and the USS Holder DD-819.
Carl volunteered for the U.S. Navy in 1942 at the age of 17. His time on the USS Sepulga saw him serve in the areas of the Panama Canal to the Southeastern Pacific during WWII including his introduction to Enemy Fire during Air Raids at Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands by the Japanese Air Force, witnessing the sinking of multiple US vessels by Japanese Kamikazes.
Carl Edwards reflects on his military service saying “I think I did what I was supposed to do. Serving in the Navy was a learning process, and until then, I had not been anywhere.”.
Carl’s favorite saying is “If we meet, and you forget me, you’ve lost nothing. If you meet Jesus Christ, and you forget him, you’ve lost everything.”
In 2012, Carl Edwards was awarded the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s WWII Southern Cross Medal of Honor by the Jefferson Davis Chapter of Mobile.
Both of these men were born in 1924.
What was the world like at that time? That year the first state execution using gas in the US took place. IBM was founded in New York State. Calvin Coolidge became the first President of the US to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House. He also signed the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
American media company Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) was founded in Los Angeles. J. Edgar Hoover was appointed head of the FBI. American airman Russell L. Maughan flew from New York to San Francisco in 21 hours and 48 minutes in a Curtiss pursuit. Soldier Field, the home of the Chicago Bears opened. The first woman governor in US history was elected in Wyoming. The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York. Prohibition was in full force across the country, and would not end until 1933. This was also a period known as the Roaring Twenties.
In our immediate area, Alabama Power had been established, and electricity was becoming more available but limited by the 1920s. The Leburn home of Coosada (which still stands today) was one of the first homes to have electricity, according to Debra Gilliam with the West Elmore County Historical Society. The exact date was not immediately known.
The following information is courtesy of Autauga County Historian Larry Caver:
In central Alabama, (CAEC) the power first came on Nov 14, 1939, with only 810 customers in Autauga, Elmore, Chilton County. However, many folks in these countries did not get electricity until the late 1940s.
There were early light companies in Montgomery, Prattville and probably Wetumpka, but they only provided a drop light in a few rooms. There were no plugs on the walls.
Montgomery had power earlier under a different power grid.
Gas lights were around in the late 1800s in MGM, and other large cities. It was known as the rural electric association. Only 10% of rural folks in Alabama had any form of electricity in the 1930s.
And food prices?
A pound of wheat flour was around 5 cents; a pound of white bread was around 9 cents and a Sirloin steak per pound was 40 cents. The average annual income in Alabama was around $300 per year. That breaks down to under $6 per week.
The number one song that year was George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” You can give it a listen here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIr_WPcVDt8
Give it a listen, as I played it while writing this article for inspiration.
God bless Beasley and Edwards for their service, and for the lives they have led since. They are truly respected and admired by many far and wide, and a living treasure to our extended community. The EAN would like to wish both of them and their families a very Merry Christmas, and many more Christmases to come.
