George Downings Jr. (June 3, 1925–July 5, 1946)

By Gramond S. McPherson

1930 Census

George Downings Jr. served during World War II in the Navy where he achieved the rank of Steward’s Mate First Class. Downings was born to George Sr. and Lenar Downings on June 3, 1925 in Hastings, St. Johns County, Florida.¹ Named after his father, Downing’s family commonly referred to him as Junior (line 65), as seen here.² Downings and his family lived in rural St. Johns County where his father worked as a farm laborer on a potato farm.³ After the death of his father George Sr. in 1939, his mother Lenar married Raymond Walker and by 1940, the family continued to reside in Hastings.⁴

Before Downings joined the Navy, he lived in Saint Augustine as an unemployed laborer. After the US entered World War II in December of 1941, Downings registered for the draft as part of the Sixth Registration held in December of 1942. This registration required all men born between July 1 and December 31, 1924 along with men turning eighteen on or after January 1, 1943 to register. As Downings would not turn eighteen until June of 1943, Downings listed his age as twenty to make himself eligible to serve.⁵ On March 4, 1943, Downings enlisted in the US Naval Reserve in Jacksonville, Florida.⁶

In the first half of the twentieth-century, the Navy restricted black recruits to menial labor in the racially segregated Messman Branch. People of color such as African Americans, Guamanians, Chinese and Filipinos served as messmen, feeding and cleaning up after white Navy officers aboard Navy ships.⁷ By 1942, pressure from black leaders forced the Navy to create more opportunities for blacks to serve in more technical roles, such as electricians and motor machinists, while remaining in segregated units. Still, most black sailors like Downings during World War II served as messmen which by February of 1943 became the Steward Branch.⁸

USS Harding

After training at the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Jacksonville, on September 27, 1943, Downings, as a Steward’s Mate Second Class, received his assignment serving officers aboard the U.S.S. Harding, as seen here. From August 1943 to April 1944, the destroyer ship served on antisubmarine patrol for merchant convoys in the Atlantic, including making three trips to the Casablanca.⁹ By March 10, 1944, Downings, now promoted to Steward’s Mate First Class, served aboard the U.S.S. O’Brien and later the U.S.S. Moale.¹⁰ During Downing’s time onboard, both ships underwent shakedowns (testing performance of new or existing ships) off the coast of Bermuda.¹¹ Later muster rolls in 1945 list Downings among the passengers aboard the U.S.S. LSM-152 attached to the LSM Group One staff. The Navy utilized Landing Ship, Medium (LSM) as amphibious warfare ships utilized to carry tanks and large vehicles as well as bulk cargo, though it lacked the accommodation and sanitary facilities for large numbers of troops other than short ship-to-shore hauls. Some of these locations included Norfolk, Virginia, Key West, Florida and Coco Solo, Panama.¹²

After the US victory in World War II in September of 1945, Downings continued to serve in the Navy until his honorable discharge on December 25, 1945. Sadly, a few months later on July 5, 1946, Downings passed away at the age of twenty-one. He is buried in the Saint Augustine National Cemetery in Saint Augustine, Florida in Section D, Plot 57.¹³

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