Clarence Elto Patterson, Jr. (June 10, 1919–April 27, 1945)

Steward First Class, USS Kasaan Bay

By Alecia Yvonne Bryant and Katherine Thurlow

Early Life

Clarence Elto Patterson, Jr. was born in the mid-1920s in Adel, GA to Clarence Patterson Sr. and Ethel Patterson (née Mousgray).¹ Both of his parents were born in Georgia. His father Clarence Sr. grew up in Berrien County and by 1900, he worked as a day laborer, likely in agriculture, in rural South Georgia.² In 1904, Clarence Sr. married his first wife, Amelia Broaden. By 1910, the couple had two daughters, Eldora, born on December 2, 1903, and Gertrude. In Berrien County, Clarence Sr. worked as a driver for a dray wagon.³ He lived in Adel, GA at the time he registered for the World War I draft on September 12, 1918.⁴ By 1920, Clarence Sr. and Amelia had divorced and his daughters lived with their mother and her new husband. Still living in Adel, Clarence Sr. worked as a truck driver as the head of the household that included his brother Mack Patterson and elderly grandmother Rachel Paulk.⁵

Ethel Patterson 1934 Death Certificate

During the 1920s, Clarence Sr. met and married Ethel Mousgray, and the family grew with the birth of three children beginning with a son Nicholas, a daughter Alonzoretta, and Clarence Jr. By 1930, remaining in the Adel area, Clarence Sr. worked as a farm laborer while Ethel worked as a housewife. As African Americans living in the South, the Pattersons endured the height of Jim Crow laws which forced African Americans into segregated areas of society and created massive disparities both economically and socially. Yet, the family persevered as Clarence Sr. owned their family home valued at $1000.⁶ On October 18, 1931, the family welcomed another son, Ashley William Patterson.⁷ However, as we see from this death certificate, tragedy struck the family when Ethel passed away from obstruction of the bowels and peritonitis on February 16, 1934, at the age of forty-five.⁸ By 1940, Clarence Sr. along with Alonzoretta, Clarence Jr., and Ashley lived in a different house on the same street worth only $200 in the waning years of the Great Depression. Clarence Sr. worked odd jobs to support his family. By this point, Clarence Jr., estimated to be twelve years old, had completed sixth grade.⁹

Military Service

By 1943, Clarence Jr. had moved south to Jacksonville, FL where he worked for Mrs. Asbury at Cohen Bros., (as seen here) a department store founded by brothers Samuel and Morris Cohen in 1867. On June 14, 1943, Clarence registered for the draft, listing his sister Alonzoretta, who also lived in Jacksonville, as his person of contact. He likely lied about his birth year in 1925 to register for the draft as the draft age by 1942 had been lowered to eighteen.¹⁰ In the 1940s, segregation, discrimination, and inequalities ran rampant in the US. Although the Selective Service and Training Act of 1940 made racial discrimination illegal in the military, the military continued to practice segregation by accepting African Americans through openings in units and training facilities designated for their racial categorization. During World War II, many African Americans rallied behind the Double V Campaign of achieving double victory against the Axis Powers and victory against Jim Crow laws and racism at home. The campaign mobilized African American civilians and service members to serve after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 that brought the US into World War II.¹¹

USS Kasaan Bay stewards mates photo that may include Patterson

Clarence enlisted in the Navy on September 29, 1943.¹² Prior to December 1941, the Navy limited African Americans to serving as Mess Attendants. The responsibilities of the segregated Messman Branch were feeding and serving Naval officers. In February 1943, the branch’s name evolved into the Steward Branch in response to increased pressure from civil rights leaders to bring change to the discriminatory system within the Navy. By 1944, the Navy commissioned the first African American officers.¹³ After Clarence completed his basic naval and steward training, the Navy assigned him to serve aboard the USS Kasaan Bay (CVE-69). A group photo of the African American stewards mates, seen here, appears on the same page with the ship’s cooks and bakers in a biography of the USS Kasaan Bay. One of the men in this image is most likely Clarence, who joined the ship on February 2, 1944.¹⁴ The Kasaan Bay served as an escort carrier ship commissioned by the US Navy in early December 1943.¹⁵ By February 1944, Clarence received a promotion to Steward Second Class (St2c).¹⁶ The Kasaan Bay reached Norfolk, VA on February 28 and stayed along the US East Coast until May 28, when she sailed for Casablanca, Morocco in North Africa with a cargo of planes alongside USS Tulagi (CVE-72) and USS Mission Bay (CVE-59). The Kasaan Bay docked back in New York on June 17 with 342 survivors of USS Block Island (CVE-21). The German submarine U-549 encountered Block Island and sank it with a torpedo on May 29, 1944.¹⁷

The Kasaan Bay and its carrier group left Rhode Island on June 30, 1944, with twenty-four new F6F Fighters, eight F6F Night Fighters, and three TBM Torpedo Bombers.¹⁸ She traveled with the Tulagi and six destroyer escorts in Readiness Two Condition– meaning the ships were under radio silence and completely darkened during the night. The ships entered the war zone on July 5 and, via the Mediterranean Sea, reached Oran, Algeria on July 10. Upon arrival, the sailors performed anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrols and flight operations before practicing for the Allied invasion of Southern France, known as Operation Dragoon. Several convoys met off the coast of Corsica on the night of August 14, the day before Dragoon’s D-Day. The French Resistance caused chaos for the Germans by cutting off railroad lines and communications networks. The Navy held a mock invasion using dummy paratroopers and small patrol fleets all the way to Genoa, Italy, hoping to create the illusion of invading farther east. At 0530 on August 15, US aircraft started their attack, which demolished German transports and aircraft.¹⁹ The success of Operation Dragoon gave the Allies a foothold in southern France. The Kasaan Bay finished her assignment on August 30, and left Algeria on September 2, returning to Norfolk on September 18, 1944.²⁰

On October 1, 1944, Clarence received a promotion to Steward First Class (St1c).²¹ Later that month, the Kasaan Bay made another supply run to Casablanca. Upon her return to Norfolk, the Navy designated her for service in the Pacific Theater.²² Before transiting the Panama Canal to the Pacific, sailors on the Kasaan Bay took leave. Clarence used his time away to marry his fiance Ruth Wells in Jacksonville on December 14, 1944. Ruth, a native of Atlanta, GA, listed her occupation as a waitress on her marriage license.²³ Once all hands were back aboard, the Kasaan Bay departed Norfolk. She arrived in San Diego, CA on January 2, 1945.²⁴

January 1945 proved to be a busy month for the Kasaan Bay. After arriving at Pearl Harbor, HI, she sailed to Guam and Ulithi, Caroline Islands. These voyages brought aircraft and replacement parts to the Fast Carrier Task Force. In February, her mission changed to training operations for replacement pilots.²⁵ On April 27, 1945, the crew of the Kasaan Bay conducted regular training exercises. That afternoon, torpedo bomber pilots completed their landing qualifications. At 1415, the deck log for the Kasaan Bay noted the death of St1c Clarence Elto Patterson, Jr due to “unknown causes.”²⁶ The next day, the Kasaan Bay brought his remains to the US Naval Hospital in Oahu, HI.²⁷

Legacy

The Kasaan Bay continued its mission in the Pacific. In June 1945, she took part in ASW patrols in support of the battle on the Japanese home island of Okinawa. With the end of the war in sight, she returned to Guam in mid-August. On September 13, the Kasaan Bay set off on her first “Magic Carpet” mission from Saipan. “Magic Carpet” was the slang term used by Marines and soldiers for the ships that brought them home to the US. Over the next three months, she brought troops home from the Philippines and the Hawaiian Islands. The Kasaan Bay completed her final “Magic Carpet” mission on December 28, when she decked in San Francisco, CA. She returned to the East Coast, at Boston, on January 29, 1946, completing her World War II-related service and receiving one battle star.²⁸

Clarence was initially interred in the Oahu Halawa Cemetery in Hawaii.²⁹ In 1945, the US Government began the Return of the World War II Dead Program. The program returned soldiers, many buried in temporary cemeteries back closer to their families for burial. The program took many years to complete.³⁰ Based on the wishes of his widow Ruth Patterson, his remains were returned from Hawaii back to Florida. On April 19, 1946, Clarence was reinterred at St. Augustine National Cemetery. Clarence Elto Patterson Jr. now rests among his fellow Veterans in Section D, Site 92.³¹

In 1950, Clarence Jr’s widow Ruth continued to live in Jacksonville where worked in keeping the home for several individuals listed in the census as lodgers.³² By 1950, Clarence Jr’s father still lived in Adel where he was married to his wife Fannie. He continued to live in the area until his death on August 24, 1963, at the age of seventy-seven.³³ Clarence’s family legacy was one of service to their country. Clarence Jr’s older brother Nicholas also served in the military during World War II. On January 13, 1942, Nicholas enlisted into the US Army at Fort Benning, GA, and served until his discharge on September 16, 1943.³⁴ On March 11, 1949, in Washington D.C., Nicholas married Doris Gwendolyn Davis.³⁵ Nicholas lived in Washington D.C. at the time of his death on July 14, 1980.³⁶

Clarence’s older sister, Alonzoretta married John Lee Monds on April 25, 1944, in Jacksonville. John also served during World War II in the US Army, enlisting at Fort Benning on June 26, 1944.³⁷ Alonzoretta eventually returned to her hometown of Adel where she died on March 29, 2001.³⁸ Clarence’s youngest brother Ashley enlisted in the US Air Force on December 8, 1948, serving during the Korean and Vietnam Wars until his discharge on June 30, 1971. He lived in Rifle, CO at the time of his death in 1995. He is buried at Ft. Logan National Cemetery in Denver, CO.³⁹

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