Ollie James McCarty
A Sacrifice of Service
Ellen Keaton
Ashland Beacon
As Veteran’s Day approaches each year, I think of the Veterans from my family. There are a number including my father and my husband. However, there is one person who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us…my grandfather Ollie James McCarty. Ollie was born on Dec. 21, 1916, in Manilla, KY, a small town in Johnson County, to Oscar and Leanner McCarty. He was one of seven children. Eventually, Ollie came to Boyd County and married Gladys Davis in 1938. The McCarty’s lived in an old two-story log house on Davis Branch. He worked as a carpenter to support his growing family and his work at times took him out of town. Ollie and Gladys had four children, Gertrude, Margaret, Michael, and Joann. WWII began in 1939, but the United States did not join in the war until the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. No one really knows why but in 1943, just after the birth of their last child, McCarty decided to enlist in the US Navy.
Gertrude was the oldest of the McCarty children and has very few memories of her father. She said one of the most vivid ones she has was a time when her grandmother had surgery and died in Louisville, and her mother had to leave them with their dad. “ Davis Branch was just a gravel road at the time. Daddy was going to walk to the mailbox to see if there was a letter from Mom and took us with him. On the walk back home, he was singing – ‘No letter in the mail today; no letter from my love.’” She continued, “Later that day, he sat my sister Marge in a chair, put a bowl on her head, and cut her hair along the bowl edge.” It wasn’t long after that he enlisted in the Navy.
Ollie McCarty was stationed to the USS Hoel, a Fletcher-class destroyer ship, that was a part of a group known as the Taffy 3. The ship was soon to be involved in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Battle of Samar.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf has been called the greatest battle in naval history and the most unlikely victory in all of WWII. On Oct. 25, 1944 after several days of battle in the gulf, a small destroyer group called the Taffy 3 was left alone to guard the San Bernardino Straight. In the dawn of that morning, the entire force of the Japanese armada slipped through the straight to destroy our forces that had just landed on the Philippine Islands.
This small group of ships was facing insurmountable odds. Instead of turning to flee for safety, they turned all their resources and went straight toward the Japanese ships. The Lt. Commander of one of the ships told his men “This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival could not be expected.” The USS Hoel, Johnston and Roberts were sunk that day, and several others were badly damaged. Only 86 men from the USS Hoel survived that day.
These brave men fought with such tenacity that it made the Japanese Commander think he was up against the entire American naval force in the area. He retreated because his large armada ships were so badly battered. The Commander in Chief of the US Pacific fleet, General Nimitz, said “The fact that the Japanese fleet did not completely destroy all of the escort carriers and their accompanying screen is nothing short of special dispensation from the Lord Almighty.”
Gertrude recalled the fateful day that news came to her mom. “Mom was recovering an old chair and had it sitting up on the table…I was barely five at that time. A telegram was brought to our house. Of course, it began with, “We regret to inform you.” She continued, “Somehow, one of the neighbors found out what had happened and brought us a game and some crayons. I still remember the smell of those crayons and just looking out the window of our dining room. Still today, the smell of crayons brings that pang of hurt back to me.”
As far as Ollie’s family knew, there were no survivors, but through a series of events in the 1990s Gertrude found out so much more. After a news article ran from a Veterans Day service at Golden Oaks Cemetery about Ollie McCarty, the family was given a copy of a book with stories of the survivors of the USS Hoel. “We never knew there were survivors. There were actually about 300 survivors from the Hoel, Johnston, and Roberts that day. They floated for nearly three days waiting to be rescued. The stories in that book are heartbreaking but yet miraculous.” She continued “The booklet also contained the names and number of all the survivors of the USS Hoel. I started calling every name in Kentucky and West Virginia and finally connected with Larry Morris from Harrodsburg, KY. He told me so much about that day. He also told me about a survivor reunion that was held each year on the anniversary of the battle. My husband and I attended a number of the reunions after that. Unfortunately, by then many of them had died and no one remembered my dad. However, from what we were able to piece together, my dad had possibly only been on the ship since September…just a month before it sank.”
Ollie McCarty was awarded a number of medals and citations including a Purple Heart, WWII Victory Medal, Navy Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Expeditionary Medal as well as several other ribbons and medals. His name can be found on the WWII Memorial in Armco Park as well. There is a bit of irony here…the young man whose life began in Manilla, Kentucky, is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the American Manila Cemetery in Manilla, Philippines.
When the memorial at Armco Park was dedicated, someone placed a wreath there. I will never forget the note on the tag: “They died so their children and grandchildren could live free.” Ollie’s legacy continues today with more than 100 descendants—six generations from the four children he and Gladys had in their short time together. They include teachers, nurses, firemen, ministers, and those who have also served our country in the military. Although I never met my grandfather, in our eyes he is a true American Hero.
