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Corporal Joseph H. Conway
United States Marine Corps - (1942-1945)
The USS Bunker Hill (CV/CVA/CVS-17,
AVT-9) was one of
twenty-four Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the
United States Navy. The ship was commissioned in May 1943, and served in
several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning eleven battle
stars and a Presidential Unit Citation.
On May 11, 1945, off the coast of
Okinawa, the ship was crippled by Japanese kamikaze attacks, suffering the
loss of 346 men killed, 43 missing, and 264 wounded. The USS Bunker Hill
was one of the most heavily damaged carriers of the war.
Marine Corporal Joseph H. Conway,
of 1504 Chelton Avenue, a member of the original crew since the date of
the ship's commissioning, manned an anti-aircraft gun. Corporal Conway was
at his station when the ship was attacked. The following article is reprinted
from the Pittsburgh Press, dated June 28, 1945.
Brookline Marine On Carrier
Only Survivor Of Gun Crew
Marine Corporal Joseph Conway,
"plank-owner" on the Bunker Hill, was the only man in his gun crew to
escape death when two Jap suicide planes smashed into the giant
carrier.
Corporal Conway, 23, a "plank-owner"
because he has been with the Bunker Hill since her commissioning, was one
of at least eleven district men aboard the carrier, flagship for the famed
Task Force 58. Presently, two of the eleven are listed as
missing.
The Marine, son of Mr. and Mrs.
William Conway, of 1504 Chelton Avenue, Brookline, is now in San Diego,
California, waiting for the furlough which will permit him to go to
Tennessee to marry the girl he met when he was a prep student
there.
Knocked
Down
"I was the only man in my gun
crew, maybe even on my side of the ship, that wasn't killed or badly hurt
when they hit us," the Corporal wrote his brother Jim.
He said he was knocked down,
and when he scrambled to his feet he found himself in a welter of death
and destruction.
"I ran to my locker and that steel
locker was melted right down. We had to use blow torches to cut the lockers
open."
In Marines Three
Years
Corporal Conway enlisted in the
Marines three years ago.
Another Brookline man on the
Bunker Hill, Seaman Paul Kestler, 18, of 1700 Creedmoor Avenue, is reported missing in action.
He has two brothers in service, Corporal Edward and Private Albert
Kestler.
 
The USS Bunker Hill on May 11, 1945 after
being struck by two Japanese kamikaze planes.
Corporal Joseph Hirsch Conway, son
of William and Mary Conway, and brother of Daniel (Grant), James and Mary
of 1504 Chelton Avenue, survived the Bunker Hill tragedy
uninjured. Seaman Paul Kestler, whose family lived a mere two blocks away on Creedmoor Avenue,
was not so fortunate. Seaman Kestler was reported as Killed In Action a
week after the above Pittsburgh Press article was published, on July 5,
1945.
Other district natives aboard
the Bunker Hill on May 11, 1945 included: Seaman Harvey Toms (KIA) of
Mount Washington, Commander Joseph Frauenheim (Wounded) and Petty Officer
Peter Chergotis of East Liberty, Seaman John Stevenson of Greenfield,
Seaman James Seifert (Wounded) of Castle Shannon, Lieutenant Andrew
Miklausen and Petty Officer Jacob Guzelle of Imperial, Seaman G. F.
Weisner of Coraopolis, Petty Officer Charles Costello of Jeanette and
Petty Officer Joseph Corea of Butler.
After thirty months of service in the
Pacific Theatre of Operations, Corporal Joseph H. Conway made it home to marry
his sweetheart from Tennessee. The following picture appeared in the Chattanooga
Daily Times on July 11, 1945, along with an article announcing the marriage of
Corporal Joseph Hirsch Conway to Miss Jane Ella Alverson the day
before.
Joseph Hirsh Conway, born August 6,
1922, passed away on March 26, 1986. His beloved Jane joined him on January 26,
1987. Both were sixty-three years old at the time and they rest together in
the Mount Olivet Cemetery in East Ridge, Tennessee.
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