USS Houston story reminds us we’re better together than alone
Everyone knew freedom was at stake, both at home and abroad
As Houstonians pause this weekend to honor those who have faithfully served our country, I hope they will take a measure of pride in what happened 75 years ago on another Memorial Day in this city. The late Spring of 1942 was the absolute bottom of the war for America and its allies. Pearl Harbor had been decimated six months before. Since then, American forces in the Philippines had surrendered. British forces in Hong Kong and Singapore had done the same. Europe was controlled by the Nazis. The Japanese military was moving through Asia without pause. They stood on the doorstep of Australia. The world was down to 12 democracies. Six were English-speaking. Five were in the war and losing badly. The light of freedom seemed to grow dimmer with each passing day.
Yet, a thousand young men gathered in Houston on Memorial Day 1942 to be sworn into the Navy. Their intent was to take the place of those who were lost when the cruiser USS Houston and its sister Australian ship, the HMAS Perth, were sunk in the Battle of the Sunda Strait the previous March. After taking their oaths, they marched through cheering crowds estimated as high as 200,000 to the station where they would board trains for San Diego and basic training.
But, there was far more to the story of the Houston Volunteers than just that. In fewer than three months, citizens of Houston bought $85 million in war bonds, enough money to replace the USS Houston and to build a new aircraft carrier, the USS San Jacinto. The youngest Navy pilot in the war, George H.W. Bush, would take off from it on the fateful day when he was shot down.
After Pearl Harbor, the USS Houston and the USS Peary were dispatched from the Philippines to shore up the defenses of Australia and the Dutch Indies. They engaged the Japanese many times along the way as they fought their way into Darwin Harbor in Australia.
The Peary was lost when the Japanese attacked Darwin with an air armada larger than the one they used at Pearl Harbor. The Houston had escaped a similar fate because it had left the night before to join other British, Dutch and Australian ships in the Timor Sea.
Eight days later, only the Houston and Australia’s HMAS Perth survived the Battle of the Java Sea. More than 2,300 Allied sailors would die in that engagement. The next morning despite being damaged and low on fuel and ammunition, the Houston and Perth were ordered to make one last desperate attempt to blunt the advance of Japanese forces. Horribly outgunned and outnumbered, the Houston and Perth were soon lost.
Yet, what heroism they showed. No one on either of those ships could have been confident they would return when they were ordered back into the fight. How could they? They had seen what had happened the night before. They knew of the losses at Darwin. They knew their numbers were thin. They knew the Japanese would have an overwhelming numerical advantage. But, still they went. Heroes are like that.
They did not know how the war would end. They just knew that the democracy they had, the freedom of speech they enjoyed, the free press they read, the freedom of religion they practiced were all at stake. And, they — Australians and Americans alike — were prepared against all odds to do whatever they could, whenever they could, to stop those who were arrayed against them. What courage. What partners. What an example.
Before we forget our history and begin listening once again to the voices of isolation and protectionism, we should remember that our post-war success in the world flowed out of one firm conviction — that we could create a better world when we acted together rather than alone. The United States and Australia and, yes, our former enemies and now allies Japan and Germany should take pride in that. Together, we made a better world.
On this Memorial Day we should remember that liberty will never be finally won. Civility and understanding will never be finally observed. Tolerance for all will never be finally accepted. To make those ideals realized in any society at any time, good men and good women must believe them worth having. And they must, like those brave men on board the Perth and Houston have the courage to do whatever they can at the moment they are challenged to ensure their survival. That is who we are. That is what made us successful in the post-war world and, that is what will lead us to a better world tomorrow. A Texas native, Schieffer served as U.S. ambassador to Australia from 2001 to 2005 and as U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2005 to 2009.