Percell L. Worley WWII Veteran USN

Following his graduation in June 1940 from Eicphelberger High School in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Percell Worley worked a few jobs for three years before enlisting in the United States Navy. For his first job out of high school, Percell went to work at a local car dealership, Goodfellow Chevrolet on Chestnut Street in Hanover, making twenty-two and a half cents an hour. Among the miscellaneous errands he did while working there was driving a stake truck to Lexington Market in Baltimore, Maryland with a truckload of green beans.

Adding to the variety, Percell was sent by Mr. Goodfellow to drive to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to pick up a patient at the Wells Eye Hospital and bring him back home. Journeying toward Philadelphia in a 1939 Chevrolet Coupe and twenty dollars in his pocket, Percell stopped at the Susquehanna River toll bridge in Wrightsville to pay fifty cents to cross the bridge. He overheard the tollbooth attendant say, “Yeah that’s the car.” Without much thought, Percell proceeded across the bridge. When he reach the other side of the river, the tollgate attendant on that and told Percell that Mr. Goodfellow called to say the trip was no longer necessary and that other arrangements were made.

Percell proceeded to turn around to go home but was told he would have to pay fifty cents to go back across the river. Arriving back in Hanover, Percell gave Mr. Goodfellow the remaining money and this question about being short a dollar. Percell explained how he had to pay the tollbooth both ways. Irate at the situation, Mr. Goodfellow write a letter to the county commissioner, Eddie Baugher, Demanding a refund which he later received.

After five months of working at Goodfellows, Percell went to work at Elsner Engineering Works on Sprenkle Avenue in Hanover for a year and a half. In January 1942, Yum Mr. Worley got a job at the York Ice Machinery Company (predecessor to the York Corporation). He received to deferments of six months each from entering the military because he was working in industrial job for the war effort. Percell was grinding torpedo components and trench mortar sleeves while working at York.

In February 1943, twenty-one -year-old Percell and fellow Hanoverian James Arentz, went to Philadelphia to enter in the V-6 program at the Naval Aviation Cadet Training Program. How was accepted but Jim wasn’t engine visually became a coxswain on a LST. Is a go, it was discovered that Percell had a hernia and tonsillitis. After these were taken care of at the Hanover Hospital, he was called to report to the draft board and was told he was going in the Army. Percell insisted that he already had papers stating that he was in the Navy and show his native reporting orders to prove it, but it took a high-ranking official to intervene and settle the matter.

In June of 1943, Cadet Worley reported for basic aviation training at the University of Pennsylvania. During basic training, Percell did very well at airplane and ship recognition, navigation and working with engines. A subject that he didn't grasp too well was the Morse code. A few months later it was discovered that there were one thousand excess pilots in training that weren’t needed. In the process of weeding them out, Percell was one of those to go. His next stop was in Bainbridge, Maryland which occurred in October 1943. For the month and a half that he was at Bainbridge, there wasn’t much to do except calisthenics, marching and waiting for assignments. Apprentice Seaman Worley approaching old officer and told him that he would like to be in aviation machinist. The officer compared to position to that of a grease monkey and told Percell to come back a day early from his weekly so that he could get the rank of Second-Class Machinist Mate. Returning, Percell was instructed to get his patch and so annoying because the papers are ready designating him for the new rank. Wearing forest green uniforms like the Marines, Percell on the others were mistakenly saluted because they look like Marine officers.

Around Thanksgiving, Percell went via train to Miami, Florida for SCTC (Submarine Chaser Training Center) training. Jumping off a two-story hi pier with a life vest was part of the training he had to go through while at Miami. In early March, 1944, Percell boarded the train headed for Houston, Texas. Fellow crewmembers from Norfolk, Virginia were also sent to Houston to be assigned to the USS Dennis, DE – 405. For the next 5 to 6 weeks the crew was placed with the chief engineer for familiarization training. Percell’s task list for the fresh water Steve lines on the destroyer escort. They also unloaded large bombs from the San Jacito Munitions Depot from railroad cars and onto trucks. In mid April 1944, Percell was aboard when the commissioning of the USS Dennis took place at the Brown Shipyard. Across the river from where the DE – 405 was berthed, what is shipyard that was building liberty ships to carry troops and war materials across the oceans.

The USS Dennis and her crew sailed down the Houston Ship Channel to Galveston for his first stop to have the ship degaussed (demagnetized). Coming onto the dock, the USS Dennis hit the pier sustaining minimal damage. The next stop along the channel was to load food and supplies. Enough food was brought to board to feed the crew of two hundred men and fifteen officers for several months. The following day, they proceeded towards the end of the channel to pick up ammunition supplies. Running on only one boiler, luck would have it that this one failed. No lights, no engine, no nothing! They are said the DE – five floating in the middle of the river. After much and cranking to get the oil pumped into the broiler, that shit never ran on less than both broilers.

The USS Dennis was ready to sale Bermuda. In Percell’s words, this meant to shake the ship down and shape the crew up. Percell spent 10 days in Bermuda during mid summer of 1944. During this trip, he discovered the downside of life on the high seas. The groundswells we’re more than he could handle and made seasick for the only time during his naval career. Six men became so sick they were transferred to land duty. The ‘shakedown’ certainly lived up to its reputation during this trip as the Chief Engineer accidentally opened the drain valve of lubricating oil into the bilge area. Needless to say, the skipper requested and received a new chief engineer when they arrived at their next stop in Boston, Massachusetts. The incoming chief engineer was a Mustang – person who came up through the ranks during a decade or more of service in the Navy.

Following repairs in Boston Oh US as Dennis sailed to Norfolk, picked up more crew, and then steamed through the Panama Canal and up to San Diego, California for boiler repairs. Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii this nation for additional training. After Hawaii on their way to the Philippines, Percell and a few others were initiated on to the Ancient Order of the Deep. Crossing the equator for the first time qualified Percell to become a crusty shellback. Wearing undershorts only, Percell and the other new polliwogs where shampooed with cup grease and paint. The humor went so far as to convince a fellow that he had to hold the equator line up so it wouldn’t be cut by the ship. Two empty 45 mm shells were taped together and used as mock binoculars to search for King Neptune. A coxswain assumed the role of King Neptune and donned a black scarf and an eye patch and ascended up a rope ladder from the side of the ship near the forward gun mount to welcome the newcomers to the club.

Enroute to the Philippines, the USS Dennis stopped in Ulithi for fuel. The coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean was captured in 1944 by U.S. forces and served as a naval base during the war. While pulling alongside a tanker for fuel, the USS Dennis hit the tanker. Painted on the smoke stack of that tanker was an Indian with a devil’s fork along with the names of any ship who struck this particular tanker while refueling. The USS Dennis made the list. Months later they received a gold star next to their name that meant it struck the same ship twice.

The fun was temporary though as the most decisive air and sea battle of World War II was about to take place. On October 20, 1944 and insidious is all on the central Philippine island of Leyte occurred. The Japanese answered with Sho-Go (Victory Operation), a plan to decoy the U.S. 3^rd fleet north away from the San Bernardino Strait, while deploying a three-prong attack with the 1^st and 2^nd Attack Force and the C Force on the Leyte Gulf. Submarines of the U.S. 7^th fleet discovered the 1^st Attack Force and sank two cruisers as the Japanese forces were moving into position. A continuous series of surface and air clashes followed while the 3^rd U.S Fleet chased the Japanese decoy. On October 25, three major of the battle were fought at about the same time. At the Southern tip of Leyte in the Surigao Strait, battleships and cruisers from the 7^th Fleet destroyed C Force and forced the 2^nd Attack Force to withdraw. The San Bernardino Strait was left unguarded which allowed the Japanese 1^st Attack Force to inflict heavy damage to the 7^th Fleet carriers off Samar. The Japanese surprisingly withdrew as they were nearing an assault on the landing operations. Meanwhile, the 3^rd Fleet sank Japanese decoy carriers in the north off Cape Engano, while another part moved south to attack and pursue the 1^st Attack Force.

During his battle in Leyte, the USS Dennis was one of thirteen ships assigned to the Leyte Gulf Task Unit, 77.4.3 (Taffy 3) under the command of Rear Admiral Clifton A.F. Sprague. Included in this group were six carriers, the CVE 70 - Fanshaw Bay, CVE 68 - Kalinin Bay,

CVE 66 – White Plains, CVE 63 – St. Lo, CVE 71 – Kitkun Bay, and the CVE 73 – Gambier Bay. Also in the group were three destroyers, the DD 533 – Hoel, DD 532 – Heerman, DD 557 – Johnston and three destroyer escorts in addition to the Dennis. The three destroyer escorts were the DE 413 – Samuel B. Roberts, DE 339 – John C. Butler and the DE 341 Raymond. Left unprotected in the San Bernardino Strait as Admiral Halsey sailed north, Taffy 3 had to fend for herself against the Japanese Royal Navy. American planes took off early in the morning to search for the enemy and discovered the Japanese fleet in full force. The United States battle group was outnumbered ten to one in might and size. The unwavering determination of the Taffy III, Task Force 77.4.3 was evident throughout the battle.

Jammed guns and running out of ammunition were no deterrent to allow the Japanese the advantage. The Americans sank a few cruisers and destroyers but not before the Japanese were able to sink five ships of Taffy III. The USS Gambier Bay (CVE -73) was the only aircraft carrier ever sunk by strictly shellfire. A kamikaze pilot plowed in into the flight deck of the St. Lo (CVE -63) and an eight-inch shell from a Jap Cruiser pierced Percell’s ship but the USS Dennis persisted in pulling 434 survivors of the St. Lo carrier out of the water. Percell remembers pulling a Chief Aviation Machinist Mate out of the water. This fellow’s chin was blown off but the salt water had slowed the bleeding down but not enough to prevent this man from eventually succumbing to his injuries. In his wallet, the deceased Chief from Minnesota had a picture of his wife and children. When the battle was over five men and the Chief Aviation Machinist Mate were buried at sea in canvas bags as a bugler played taps. They paid the ultimate price for a cause they believed in, the pursuit of freedom and liberty.

As a temporary repair, a deck plate was welded over a hole in the USS Dennis so it could make it back to Pearl Harbor. Heading back at half speed, the ships were not yet out of danger. A few hundred yards from the DE – 405, a ship in the group spotted in Japanese submarine and radioed to the USS Dennis to make a heart turn left. Percell was on top deck starboard side and had to hold on to the handrail very tight to keep from going overboard because that ship was turning so hard. Purcell Saul to torpedoes come within ten feet and thirty feet of his ship. With over six hundred men on board the results would’ve been disastrous. They made it back to Pearl Harbor for repairs.

In February of 1945, the DE – 405 escorted the 3^rd Marine Landing Group from Guam to Iwo Jima. The first wave was already in the second wave was going in for the invasion. The American Navy was situated on the east side of Iwo Jima. To the shore where the destroyers that were firing shells onto the island. The formation of the ships after the destroyers were in the order of light cruisers, heavy cruisers, transports, battlewagons, supply ships. The destroyer escorts were on outside perimeter to provide initial screening protection against submarines. The skipper of the DE – 405, Lt. Commander S Hanson, was a former tugboat operator from San Francisco. He volunteered to help a destroyer that was hit. Having left his post, he was ordered to go back to assigned position. Four days later, they were placed on expendable dating on the Japanese side of the island for three days.

The USS Dennis was ordered to cruise 40 miles from the north side of the island. For three days, they were to fire guns and use searchlights to distract Japanese pilots. Fortunately, no Jap planes appeared in those three days. Next, they sailed to Okinawa as the landing was already taking place. They left their boilers run because they didn’t think they would be there to long. Percell’s was only docked for about six to eight hours when the kamikaze pilots came in. To protect the ships, and Marine Fighter Planes were flying around the island in Corsairs looking for low-flying, kamikaze planes. Japanese plane managed to penetrate and hit the CVE Sagamon. The USS Dennis picked up 87 survivors during a difficult nighttime rescue. After Okinawa, a typhoon was coming in so they headed toward the Philippines. Within three to four hours, they were on the edge of the hurricane. For some time there was no forward motion of the ship. To prevent the ship from overturning they kept steaming into the wind. To turn the ship, the propellers had to be used instead of the rudder. All night long, orders were given for full speed ahead and then reverse. Working in engine room, Percell sooner would have the valve turned one way and then he would have to go in the opposite direction. A few ships sank during the storm.

When the war ended in August 1945, the USS Dennis was in Hollandia, New Guinea. Percell flag that was flown on the USS Dennis one piece was declared on V –J Day. In the fall of 1945, Percell was back in San Diego to assist in the decommissioning of the ship that he helped commission only two years before in Texas. Percell had enough points for discharge but his rate was frozen. He received two points for each additional month he stayed. 1946, after two years and eleven months in the Navy, Percell’s military days were over. The men were left to go according to the demands of their particular duty. Back home, the Red Cross wired out to get Percell thirty days early leave because his grandmother wasn’t doing well. The assistant chief engineer told Percell to go to North Island and attempt to get a ride on a cargo plane. Purcell took a free ride aboard a Navy Air Freighter home stopping in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Olathe, Kansas, Columbus, Ohio and onto the National Airport Washington, D.C. Where he took a cab to the train station in Baltimore and rode by rail to York, Pennsylvania. Walking out West. Market Street with a duffel bag on his shoulder, Purcell was given a ride to Hanover by former classmate.

After his exit from the military, Percell helped him if one of his fiancée and also overhauled his own 1937 Chevrolet Sedan. York Corporation, Purcell’s employer prior to entering the war, was he hiring their veterans. The veterans took priority over others in the hiring process. Purcell applied for the refrigeration and air-conditioning service mechanics apprenticeship program with the G.I. Bill support. Twenty-four men including Purcell went to the York corporations training center on West. Philadelphia Street in York and took written tests all morning. After lunch they were individually interviewed by the apprenticeship board, the questioned Percell why he waited two months after being honorably discharged from the service before seeking reemployment. Percell replied that he was on a ship for two years and that he didn’t wish to be cooped up in a machine shop. Besides he had taken a refrigeration and air-conditioning class at the Navy base in San Diego prior to being discharged. This triggered an interest in a career in refrigeration. Two weeks later, Purcell received the good news that he was the lucky one to be accepted and started his four-year apprenticeship on July 1, 1946.

Early in his apprenticeship Purcell met two other men that have served on his sister ship, the DE – 408 USS Strauss. Both were from Pennsylvania, one has been a Chief Machinist Mate when discharged as was Percell and he started the apprenticeship six months ahead of Percell. The other was a Gunners Mate on the DE – 408 and was now in a college training program with York Corporation. As the years passed this fellow had traveled with Purcell on several jobs and eventually became Percell’s supervisor and then Engineered Machinery Service Department Manager. , Both are now retired after spending most of their career working at York Corporation which now became York Division of Borg-Warner Cooperation cells retirement on November 1, 1981, the company is now known as York International Corporation.

Percell was married to Betty M. Hartlaub for nearly 26 years. She died of cancer in 1981. Currently he is a companion to Joyce Wagner and is a member of DESA (Destroyer Escort Sailors Association) at the national level and is a chaplain of the local unit of DESA at the Susquehanna Chapter. Percell is a life member of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) at the Hanover Post #2506. In addition he is also a member of the Navy League of the United States and is involved at the local chapter in Harrisburg serving on the Board of Directors. He is very active with shipmate reunions as communicator and treasurer of the USS Dennis, DE -405 Association.

For service to his country during World War II, Percell received the Presidential Unit Citation for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Philippine Liberation Medal, the Asian-Pacific Medal and the Victory Medal.

These recollections of the World War II military service of Percell L. Worley were written as told by him to Joseph Kaehler on May 12, 2000.