Home After 22 Months at Sea
Vernon Wall Here on 30-day Leave
Tokio (sic) Rose would be surprised if she could see Motor Machinist’s Mate Vernon Wall in Council Bluffs enjoying a 30-day leave from submarine duty. But probably no more amazed than Wall was himself the day he listened to the American educated Japanese propagandist broadcast from Japan that the submarine on which he was safely riding had been sunk.
In a way you can’t blame Tokyo Rose for indulging in a little wishful thinking. In 23 months’ service in the south Pacific area and along the coasts of China, Russia and Japan, Wall has helped sink 24 Jap ships, five man of war, 14 merchant vessels and troop transports and five patrol boats.
In one mission along his sub sent a large aircraft carrier, a cruiser, a troop transport, two merchant ships and one sampan to the bottom. Needless to say the presidential unit citation followed that trip.
The son of Mrs. Edna Wall, 3709 Second avenue, Wall wears a submarine combat medal signifying six successful patrols, is equally proud of the silver gloves boxing championship won at Pearl Harbor, the championship for which his crew nicknamed him the “Iron Duke.”
His regular jobs are diesel throttleman and first loader on the deck guns, also as a qualified submarine man he is able to operate any bit of machinery on the boat. Often depth bombed and depth charged, Wall has come home convinced sub duty is the best in the navy.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Wednesday, February 20, 1944, Page 20
Declared Dead
Word has been received by Mrs. Edna Wall, 3709 Second avenue, that her son, Motor Machinist’s mate 1/c Vernon Palmer Wall, previously reported missing in action since Oct. 6, 1944, has been declared dead by the navy department.
Entering the navy in January, 1942, he was the Silver Gloves boxing heavyweight champion of the Pacific fleet. Wall, who served overseas two and a half years, was aboard the submarine U. S. S. Seawolf, which was presumed to be lost in the vicinity of the Philippines who on a special mission carrying supplies and personnel.
Besides his mother, he is survived by two sisters, S. Sgt. Lorraine P. Whitesides, who is serving with the WAC at Fort Lawton, Wash., and Allis V. Wall, at home; and his grandmother, Mrs. Christine Niemoller of Pacific Junction.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Wednesday, December 03, 1945, Page 3
