VETERAN'S STORY
Henry John Halvorson Jr.

JOHNNY GOES TO WAR

Compiled & Written by his daughter Trish Duckett

My father, Henry John Halvorson, Jr., served in the US Navy from 1942-1945.  He started out to be a pilot, but ended up as a cook on a PT boat stationed in the South Pacific.  Aside from “amusing stories,” as he called them, he never talked about his time in the Navy.  Growing up, we children didn’t have any idea of his experiences, or even where he was…other than what he told us.  There was no mention of the boat number, the islands he was on, what it was like.  Our family knew he liked being in the Navy, that he had 4 tattoos (which he didn’t hide), that the crew used to go out into the lagoon and drop a depth charge over the side to fish, and that he served meals to John F. Kennedy when he came to Dad’s island after being rescued.  Oh, and that he got malaria while overseas. 

So when Veteran’s Day came around in 1976 our principal said all history classes had to have some kind of observance in our classes for that day.  My team members and I thought about what we could do; then I said I could ask my father, a World War II Navy veteran, if he would come and talk to our classes about his experiences in the War.  I wasn’t sure he would agree; he hadn’t shared those things with his children as we grew up.  Imagine my surprise when he agreed to come!!!  I was truly shocked, but excited as well, as I knew I might finally learn about what he did. 

At the appointed time John Halvorson came to Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, WA to talk to our class of about 80 high school seniors.  After I introduced him I took a seat and just listened and took as many notes as I could.  My students and I were all pretty impressed with what he told us that day.  The following story is a retelling from my own later research, and my notes that day as I listened to my father talking about his experiences in the Navy during World War II…for the first time.  Dad didn’t talk in too much specific detail about his time in the South Pacific.  But he told us enough to get a picture of ONE veteran’s view of World War II.

John Halvorson graduated from Battle Ground High School in Battle Ground, WA in June 1942.  He had just turned 19 years old, as well.  With World War II in full force, he decided it was time for him to enlist in the US Navy.  Even though he was registered with the Vancouver, WA Service Board, John went to Seattle, WA to enlist and sign his papers, Seattle being the Regional Service Center at that time.  The date was August 13, 1942. Having long been fascinated with planes and flying, John enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, with a Navy rating of AVCAD (Aviation Cadet).  This program served as a screening for potential pilot candidates for the Navy, and was known as the V12 and V6.  The V12 Navy College Training Program was designed to offer the college student a path to Navy commission.  The candidates went to college, took classes, and completed flight training in 6 months.  They were then commissioned officers.  John was entered into the V6 program, which was essentially the same, leading to a commission in the Aviation branch of the Navy.  But it was the program that provided flight training for high school graduates.  As John had just graduated in June, 1942, he was V6 qualified.

But the Navy still considered him a “student,” and he was therefore on a Delayed Entry schedule.  So until October 3, 1943 John worked in his hometown of Battle Ground, WA at the Battle Ground Dairyman’s Co-operative.  On October 6, 1942 he reported to his first duty station in Ontario, OR to begin his Naval Air Cadet V6 Training Program.  There in Ontario he was at the Halladay School of Flying, taking aviation classes and general flight training.  He was 19 years old, cocky, and enjoying his life as he worked to become a Navy pilot. 

John’s next stop to becoming a pilot, though, was in early November, 1942.  John got orders to report to his new duty station, Helena, MT, for his next step as a Naval Air Cadet USNR.  His V6 program took him to Carroll College there in Helena. Carroll, a 4-year liberal arts Catholic university, was one of the 135 colleges throughout the United States to run the V6/V12 programs under a Navy Training contract.  John was enrolled in the required classes as well as in his flight training.  He loved the flying and the planes; college classes and studying…not so much, especially algebra.

He was at Carroll College in Helena until mid-December, 1942. It seems that the V6 program and John Halvorson were not destined to work out.  His poor studies, especially math, and his general deportment led to new orders for John.  It seems, as he told us, that he had a “disagreement” with his flight instructor. The Halvorson Family Legend has it that John got so mad that he slugged his instructor. Hence…new orders!  The Navy, after all, needed her men!!!  At any rate, John washed out of Navy Pilot Training. In a letter to Mary, he wrote that his “wings were clipped” and that he would send her his Wings pin.  Mary kept that pin, and it is still with John’s Navy patches. It is shown here to the left, and reads “Enlisted Reserve CPT.” John’s pins, patches, battle decorations, and medals are today in possession of his grandson Mark Conner in Vancouver, WA.

And so Henry John Halvorson Jr.’s Navy Service Record shows his Active Service began December 15, 1942.           He actually sat “in transit” in Helena, MT for a short time, and then reported to Seattle, WA for reclassification and reassignment to his next Naval Base.       By January 27, 1943 John wrote to Mary from Naval Training Center, Farragut, ID that he was now in boot camp, Company 49, located at Camp Scott. He said, in the letter, “At least I’m a sailor!!”  He was now Seaman 2/C (2nd class) Henry John Halvorson, Jr.  Boot camp done, John graduated and went to Camp Peterson, also at Farragut NTS.  He was now in the Cooks & Bakers School, which ran 16 weeks in length.  John said, “I made the mistake of saying that I liked to cook.”  But from his letters to Mary at this time, he seemed to be enjoying the school and his work there.  He had also made many friends among his fellow sailors, and they all enjoyed their sailors’ life at Farragut!!  [In an odd twist of fate, during the summer of 1963 I was part of a Girl Scouts of America troop at the old Navy base to camp and do site testing for a possible national Girl Scout Roundup to be held there in 1965.  Our camp was located where the former Camp Peterson had once stood!!  At the time, I had no idea that this was where my father had been!!]

Early August, 1943 saw John with new orders.  His first stop was Bremerton Naval Base in northwest Washington state, and then he sailed direct to Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, CA (25 miles northeast of San Francisco, CA).  The ship on which John sailed south from Bremerton had put in for repairs.  [Ironically, John’s daughter Susan Stevens worked here at Mare Island Naval Base from 1968-1972 as part of a group of Government Service Workers, tasked with the refueling of the nuclear propulsion system for the USS Long Beach.]

John’s destination was actually Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco Bay, a major Navy departure and receiving port for the Pacific Theatre surface ships and submarines.  Thousands of men were processed through here during the War for overseas duty, and for separation at the War’s end. Among those processed that fall was Seaman 2/C John Halvorson.  He had to get many overseas shots and other preparations for war in the South Pacific.  As he was now a qualified Cook & Baker, and had some pilot training, it seems he had also qualified for submarine service.  As he said, “They needed cooks, too!!!”

Sailing from Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay was aboard the USS Rochambeau, a former Vichy French Force transport ship that was transferred to the US Navy in 1942.  Converted for use as a casualty evacuation ship for service in the South Pacific, she also was used to carry troops where needed.  One famous sailor to make a crossing on the Rochambeau was Lt. John F. Kennedy, who went to Esperito Santos in the Solomon Islands, and then on to his date with fame on the PT 109.  More on John’s encounters with Kennedy later.

Being a major departure site, Treasure Island attracted many USO and other Armed Forces support groups.  In fact, when John sailed in late August 1943 Kay Kyser and his Band were there to entertain and to see the Rochambeau on its way.  All branches of the service were actually aboard for the sailing, all 6,000 troops!  John was in the galley as a ship’s cook.  He had 12 hours on duty and then 12 hours off.  He recalled, “

John also remembered that leaving San Francisco wasn’t so smooth of a sailing.  The sea was rough, and there were 14’ swells under the Golden Gate Bridge.  He said that 99% of the servicemen aboard had never been to sea and there was a lot of seasickness, but that he didn’t get sick!  As the ship passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, with the heavy seas, John reflected that “…many knew, as they looked back, that they would never see this place again.” 

The first 300 miles out to sea the ship had an escort; then the Navy blimps had to turn back.  Open ocean and thousands of miles later, John arrived at this destination.               New Caledonia, which is northeast of Australia, was to be John’s home port.  His orders were for him to board a sub-tender there, which would then get him out to his submarine as a Ship’s Cook.  But, as it turns out, the PT Boat group  (Patrol Torpedo Boats) needed men.  As John tells it, he “got drafted!”  He became the Cook and a gunner on the PT 163, and later on PT 171.  The Solomon Islands became home base for the duration of John’s time in the South Pacific.

PT 163, informally called the “Who Me?,”  was in Squadron 10, COMSP (Combat Southern Pacific)  Pack, South Pacific Fleet. The patch to the left is of Ron 10.  There were 17 men aboard, 3 officers and 14 crew members.  Their job was to harass the enemy, and stall them so the attack boats could sweep in.  Another main task for the PT (Patrol, Torpedo) boats was to seek out and destroy Japanese barges that sailed at night to resupply the Japanese bases and outposts in the Solomon Islands.  The Who Me and the other boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron (Ron) 10, often went in and fought where the big Navy ships couldn’t get in.  John commented that they had bad maps, and the charting was rotten.  Navigational information of the South Pacific Fleet was off, he continued, and many times there was not enough water for the bigger ships.  That was where the PT Boats came in and were so successful; they had only 5 feet of draft.  He felt that they “did the work of the War.”  Here are the specifications of John’s wooden PT 163:  Displacement-56 tons; Length-80’; Beam-20’8”; Draft-5’; Speed-41 knots; Complement-17; Propulsion-Three 1,500shp (supercharged horse power) Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, shafts; Armament-One 60mm mortar, one 37mm mount, four 21” torpedoes and two twin .50mm machine guns. 

The campaign to drive the Japanese from their air fields and bases in the Solomon and New Georgia Island groups was a long and hard-fought one.  First of all, the Solomon Islands group consists of 6 main islands and over 900 smaller ones.  The Japanese had many bases and air fields throughout those many islands.  The whole campaign began July 2, 1942 with the Battle of Guadacanal.  By July 1943 the Allied Forces had advanced enough to drive the Japanese north and mostly out of the Solomon and New Georgia groups, although fighting and holdouts continued throughout the many islands until the War ended. 

As the Japanese were pushed out of the Solomon and New Georgia Island groups, the Seabees would come in and set up bases, PT and other types.  John therefore moved from island to island as his PT Boat/Crew and US forces progressed.  When John arrived to join the crew of PT 163 in the Solomon Islands  early September 1943, the PT boat wasn’t assigned to just one base.  John and his fellow crew mates worked out of many of the islands and bases throughout the area; there was a great deal of fighting still going on.  But he did spend a good amount of time at Rendova Harbor, the main Naval base in the New Georgias and the headquarters for MTBSoPac (Motor Torpedo Boat South Pacific). John rccalled experiences on most of the island bases where PT163 was stationed:

•   Espirito Santos—In the New Herbridres group.  They engaged the Japanese here, and John and his crew were awarded a battle star.

•   Guadacanal—February, 1943 US forces finally captured the Island from the Japanese.  The fighting was over, for the most part, by the time John arrived.  But he remembered that at Calvertsville, a base in the Tulagi harbor, there was a sign over their dock that read, “Through these portals pass the best in the US Navy.”

•   Munda—The Naval base there had been a Japanese base but was taken by US forces August 5, 1943.  By the time John got there, it had become the largest base in the New Georgia Islands

•   Rendova Island—Base 11 was set up there in the harbor. The island is in the New Georgias and was captured by US forces June 30, 1943.  Rendova PT Boat Base was located in a cove on Bau Island inside Rendova Harbor of Rendova Island. This base was where John’s PT Boat was  often harbored. 

•   Tulagi—This island was in American hands by the time John reached it, having been captured in August 1942.  It had become a base for U.S. PT boats that attempted to hinder "Tokyo Express" missions by the Japanese to resupply and reinforce their forces in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.  Sailing at night, faster Japanese ships would set out to resupply their bases, and the PT Boats would attack them, along with subs.  John’s PT 163 took part in many such patrols.

•  Saidor, New Guinea—One of the few times that John got sea sick was on a patrol down the coast from the Black River.  They were about 60 miles from a Japanese air base, and tied up at a buoy in the lagoon.  He remembered that there was a slight breeze that created a rhythm to the waves.  The sound of the waves hitting the side of the boat was too much for him and he threw up, several times, over the side of the boat!!

•  Vella Lavella, Treasury Island, Bougainville—PT boats like John’s PT163 were used throughout the campaigns for these islands, with the island of Bougainville being the last that the American forces captured. PT bases were established on all the islands to support air bases and other American forces, and John was on patrols throughout the area, with their assignment to help finish driving the Japanese from the Solomon Islands.

•   Green Island—PT 163 operated patrols to New Britain and New Ireland island, and throughout the Bismark Archipeligo.  In particular, on one patrol out of Green Island, they knew that the Japanese had a sub and large air base in Rabaul [on northeast tip of New Britain Island].  At the time the Japanese were in a holding action against the United States.  But that didn’t stop a sub from taking a few shots at PT163. Luckily, John’s boat was too close and the torpedo went past the bow and back into the sea!! But they got out of there right away!!!! 

•   Morotai, in the Halmaheras. He particularly remembered the fruit bats.  Their morning flights were a problem, because the Japanese came over the island to bomb. Because the bats screwed up the sonar, it was hard to tell a bomber from a bat!!

Although the Squadon 10 also was also based for a time at Mios Woendi, Dutch New Guinea and at Samar, Philippine Islands, it had no action from these bases. 

Being the storyteller that he was, John shared a few special stories along with his retelling of events of World War II in the South Pacific.  Bau Island in Rendova Harbor was a good place for swimming.  The guys would swim to cool off, or for something to do in their off time.  The fish and corals in the lagoon were like the ones seen in National Geographic, and very impressive.  Afternoon swimming often meant gear to get fresh fish for the guys on Base.  They ate quite a few barracuda steaks, Cook Johnny remembered!  And then there was the Family story that on other islands they would take the boat out in the harbor and set off a depth charge…easy fishing that day!!      

"Washing Machine Charley’ planes often flew over John’s bases. Every night at 10:00 PM an old bi-wing, or a float plane with an open cockpit, would fly over at very high altitude, drop their six bombs, and then the Japanese pilots would go back where they came from. The engines were so out of synchronization that they sounded like old washing machines…hence the name.  The vibration was bad enough to wake most people, and then the waiting for the bomb (most of which missed) kept the men awake for the rest of the night. The pilots were poor shots and couldn’t hit anything, John said, even a target as big as Crater Lake!!  Later on, as US Forces closed in on Tokyo, the night flyers hit more targets because the Japanese were now sending kamikaze pilots to disrupt the American forces.  But then the 419th Night Fighter Squadron began sending in the P-61 Black Widow.  These twin engine bombers were silent, and with radar and crack machine gun operators they soon took control of the night skies in the area.  By this time the Japanese aircraft were also no match for the Americans due to attrition and lack of maintenance supplies.  And the P-61’s got Washing Machine Charley!!   

While John was stationed at Rendova Base he told of when John F. Kennedy was in his Ward Room.  After Kennedy’s PT109 was run down and sunk Kennedy and his crew were rescued, reassigned to PT59, and worked out of Rendova for a time.  Squadron 10, of which John’s PT 163 was a part, worked out of Rendova Harbor at the same time, principally on barge hunting missions, as noted above.   The mess galley on the PTs used the auxiliary generators when underway.  So, whenever possible, boat crews ate in the general mess or ward rooms of the bases, or at the PT tenders in order to save wear and tear on the auxiliary generators of the PT. It was in this situation that John Halvorson and John Kennedy crossed paths. As the Ship’s Cook, John Halvorson would be cooking at the Base instead of on the PT163.  John Kennedy was actually a friend of John’s Halvorson’s skipper, and was on PT163 as a guest.  He was also in John’s Ward Room for 6 meals; to John, he was just another mouth to feed.  When JFK later rose to the fame as a senator and later, President of the United States, John remembered cooking for him!!!     

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, even paid a visit to John’s PT base.  In August through September 1943 Mrs. Roosevelt toured the South Pacific Islands to bring hope and comfort from home.  She toured hospitals, barracks, cemeteries, bases, and other places where she could spread her own brand of good will, and encouragement from her husband back at home.  John was on Espiritu September 12-16, and saw her as she toured the facilities and spoke with the troops.  He always thought that she was a very admirable woman, and he appreciated her undertaking this trip to see them.           

One of the dangers of the War here in the South Pacific were the mines planted near most of the islands.  Steel hull ships couldn’t go in without minesweepers ahead of them, and because of their draft.  The Japanese mines were on cables; the American ones were magnetic.  PT boats like John’s were made of wood with less draft and could go over everything because they could see the Japanese mines!  And because they were made of wood…the American mines didn’t affect them.  He can remember being on watch for mines as the PT would be approaching a harbor.

During the 1976-1978 US television season a program was aired that was called ‘Baa Baa Blacksheep.”  It was a fictional storyline based on the real-life career of Marine Major Gregg “Pappy” Boyington as he and his men flew combat missions in the Solomon Islands.  Boyington was in reality based on Vella Lavella Island at the Barakoma airfield [the series conveniently changed the name of the island to Vella LaCava])  To John, this was a silly tv series.  He said it was only ½ right in what was depicted.  If they told it like it was, he said, it would be a “rotten” TV show. 

In reality, John said, the fighters in the Solomon Islands didn’t have the aircraft, guns, fuel, oil, communications, and air strips like the ones in the series.  The real pilots were often sent on impossible attack strikes, and would often have to back off because they couldn’t lose their airplane; there were no replacements for aircraft out there.  When the odds were with them, the American flyers “beat the Hell” out of the Japanese.  He said, “When the Japanese made mistakes, the American forces would get them. ‘Baa Baa Blacksheep’ merely glorified the conditions in the Solomon Islands. In reality the American fliers were very good; they did the best job humanly possible.  They cleared the skies of the Japanese threat.  When they were finished, what was left of Japanese combat planes became a mere nuisance to American Forces.” 

Being on a PT boat was a special experience. PT boat crews were significantly different than crews of steel warships of the US Navy. Their officers and men mixed more frequently than those of the ‘steel navy’, and they were known as excellent scavengers and thieves who were capable of taking whatever they could find to bolster their supplies and armament. PT boats crews were also known to be rather informal or even at times ‘undisciplined’, but their ferocity in the face of danger was much respected despite their frequent lack of seriousness.  Yes, PT men of all the squadrons could, and did, steal, connive, and play confidence man about ‘how poor, underfed, under-clothed’ they were, John recalled.  They would plead poor mechanics, that the guns wouldn’t fire, that the engines were rotten, and that torpedoes wouldn’t fire.  But in reality, he said, any PT boat leaving dock for any objective could not be stopped, because the crew and the boat had everything needed by issue, theft, or whatever!!        And being the Ship’s Cook gave John some of the best leverage in the Service, because he controlled the food!!  If he wanted something, he got it.  They had a great deal of “spam” to eat, and mutton…and, well, the fish from their lagoons!!  It didn’t take long for John to realize, he said, that the job to have was the Cook and not an airman.  While everyone else ate spam or mutton or the always available fish, John ate steak!! In Know Your PT Boat, the officially issued Bureau of Ships Technical Publication No. 9, the Navy trainers seemed to have written with John Halvorson in mind:  “A bit of advice about the cook. He's likely to be temperamental and have his moods. He needs help at mealtime. So keep him in good humor by not griping and helping him get supplies. He may serve you breakfast in bed some morning. Generally, he's a good gunner, too. You'll learn to count on "Cookie."

As stated earlier, PT boats and their crews and the accompanying tender vessels moved around the Solomon Islands and other island groups.  Arriving in September 1943, John saw time on many of these islands and bases.  Where exactly and what time, is not too clear.  But we do know some of it.  This picture from John & Mary’s old photograph album is dated March, 1944.  Each of the men in the picture signed and gave their home town.  John is in the back row, 4th from the left.  Where the picture was taken isn’t known.  The dog’s name, though, is Brew!

In the book, PT Boat Episodes by Roger M. Jones, the author tells of some events on the PT163 while he was its commander.  In both of the following retellings of encounters with Japanese forces, S1/c H.J. Halvorson is listed as a Ship’s Cook.  On the night of May 17, 1944, while on patrol in Broken Water Bay, near the mouth of the Sepik River off the north coast of New Guinea, their companion patrol boat PT168 ran aground on the sandy bottom of the Japanese-held island.  As quietly as they could, so as to not draw attention to themselves, the crews tried to free the 168. They tried many things to refloat the 168, with it finally floating free about 45 minutes before dawn. Much longer and they would all be open targets for the coastal batteries and Japanese boats.  They sailed at ½ speed back to base at Saidor, New Guinea.     

On a patrol May 23-24, 1944 John was Ship’s Cook and Gunner.  The Japanese by now had been forced to restock and resupply their bases in the area using well-armed barges, and running close to shore so as to have shore battery coverage.  On this night, however, the 163 and 167 were running patrol in much the same area as the above grounding incident.  Their radar picked up 3 blips that proved to be those Japanese barges.  The 163 readied to fire and at the same time the Japanese opened fire as well.  The 2 PTs attacked, even with the shore fire.  After firing all their torpedoes and other arms at the barges, they broke off the attack.  The 163 had sustained damages, but was able to return back to Saidor at ½ speed.  About 2 weeks later Australian forces reported that 3 wrecked barges were beached where the 163 and 167 had their encounter with the barges!! 

A crew list from Jones book referenced above shows as of June 1, 1944 that H. J. Halvorson, S1/C (Gunner’s Mate) was onboard.  John can also be seen in this same book among the crew of the PT 163 while based at Saidor, New Guinea.  That picture is dated June, 1944.

Not much more is known, at this date, of where John was after this.  One detail, though, reveals information:  in a letter home to Mary dated August 8, 1944, John tells her that he “has a new boat.”  No mention of number or other information made it through the censors.  But it must have been at larger base, because he tells Mary that he gets mail more often.  In another letter dated December 24, 1944, John tells her that he is in New Guinea.

The next date where John can be placed is February 17, 1945. He wrote home to Mary that he was in the Pasadena Regional Hospital being treated for malaria.  He had gone to Manila, Philippine Islands with his crew, but was deemed too ill. He had to be sent Stateside for treatment.  Secretly, he thought, “…they only wanted to get rid of me before I could steal anything more!” At any rate, he flew back to California aboard a B21 bomber, and went directly to the hospital.  He was hospitalized February 18-March 9, 1945 while being treated for malaria.  His Discharge papers later confirmed he was treated for the disease, and over the years he talked about being sick with it.  He even proposed that having malaria had contributed to his contracting diabetes in the mid-1950s.

Once released from the hospital, John was then given leave, and he headed directly to his home town of Battle Ground, WA.  His ultimate Naval destination was to be the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Melville, RI.  As the War was still going, John’s new orders were to work at the Training Center with future PT boat officers and crews to give them his experience at sea in a PT.  He was to report to Melville, RI on April 19 to begin that work. 

While on that leave John ‘reconnected’ with his family, and especially his fiancé, Mary Johnson.  He arrived back in Battle Ground on March 13, 1945 and Mary’s diary from the time reveals many details of John’s visit home.  Of note, for yours truly and our future generations, is that John and Mary recommitted and rekindled their love for each other.  The War and the separation that it forced on all people had been hard on their relationship.  This visit settled, for John and Mary, that they truly did want to be with each other, and to be married.

John left for Rhode Island on April 13, 1945.  Mary’s father Oscar, since he had connections with the Union Pacific Railroad, gave John a train pass for this trip across the country.  He arrived at the base in Melville, RI on April 19, 1945, found his quarters, and picked up his Navy life there.  He was aware that the War was still going on, and that since he was an experienced-on PTs, that he would probably be shipped out again, to wherever the Navy needed him.  He told this to Mary in his letters sent back home to her. 

And then John asked Mary to come to Rhode Island so they could be married.  He found a small place for them to live, and made arrangements for them to be married.  Mary left the University of Washington in early June 1945, went to her home to see her parents, and then, using one of the same Union Pacific Railroad passes John had used, traveled to meet John at Union Station in New York City, NY.  From there they drove to Taunton, MA.  John had found Mr. & Mrs. Elliott Foster, a minister and his wife, who would house Mary until the wedding could take place.  The first date that John could get leave was July 4, 1945.  And so, they were married there at the Foster home in Taunton, MA. John only had 2 days leave, and then was back at the base.  Mary moved to their small place, now a Navy wife.

But not for long, it turned out.  World War II ended September 2, 1945.  The War was over!!!  Without having to go back to sea, John was busy at Melville base, working and cooking for the men still stationed there.  And it seems that John had acquired enough Merit Points to leave the Navy.  He was Honorably Discharged on November 11, 1945.  Together with his new bride Mary they got in their car and drove west across the United States, arriving back home in Battle Ground, WA by about Thanksgiving.          

John’s Naval service lasted 2 years, 10 months, and 7 days.  He was going to be a pilot, then a submariner, and finally became a cook and gunner on PT boats.  During his time in the Service, he earned an Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon with 4 stars, and American area Ribbon, a Philippine Liberation Ribbon with 2 stars, and a World War II Victory Medal. These decorations were on his Navy dress uniform that he kept for the rest of his life.  Here are some pictures of them:

Asian-Pacific Ribbon w/ 4 stars

American Area Ribbon

Philippine Liberation Ribbon w/ 2 stars

SOURCES:
Google, the online search engine
Wikipedia, the Free online encyclopedia
www.findagrave.com
www.navsource.org/archive.  Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive:  PT163, PT171
www.archives.gov.  National Archives and Records Administration, St. Louis, MO.  Official Military                            
Personnel Files (OMPF).  College Park, MD.
www.battleshipcove.org.   World War II PT Boat Museum & Archives.  Fall River, MA.
www.uboat.net
www.washington.edu.
www.hazegrey.org
www.ptboats.org
Jones, Roger M. PT Boat Episodes—At General Quarters in the Pacific and a Five-Month Yachting               

Cruise in the Atlantic with a Young MTB Captain.  Bennington, VT: Merriam Press,  2012.
Bulkley, Capt. Robert J.  At Close Quarters—PT Boats in the US Navy.  Washington, DC: US            
Government Printing Office:  1962
Halvorson, Henry John Jr.  Oral History and General notes in possession of Trish Duckett, Portland, OR.
Personal Records and other historical documentation in possession of Trish Duckett, Portland, OR.
John Halvorson personal correspondence 1942-1945; Mary Johnson Halvorson personal diaries and correspondence 1942-1945;
photographs, documents, and other memorabilia.

Soldiers profile
Sailor 1942
Henry John Halvorson Jr.
World War II
Battle Ground
Clark
Washington
06/04/1923
US Army
White
Mary Johnson Halvorson
Pacific Theater (WWII)
Camas, Clark, WA
12
Battle Ground, Clark, WA
Seaman 1st Class
1942
Trish Duckett
Quote