Manchester Navy Veteran of Four Major Battles Is Home on Leave
Manchester, Ia.—“There is nothing like the good old United States,” according to Chief Boatswain’s mate John D. Sly, 24-year-old Manchester veteran of four major battles, who this week is spending a few days with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Sly.
And Sly should know, as since his enlistment here April 5, 1938, he has been on every continent of the globe. He has lost track of the miles of water he has covered, but one trip alone was a 33,000-mile jaunt.
“I have been very lucky,” he mused Wednesday. “In four major encounters and with hits on our ships and buddies paying the supreme sacrifice, I suffered only one minor injury.”
One of First to Enlist.
His campaign bar denotes good conduct, participation in the African and Italian-German campaign, and service in the Asiatic and Pacific war theater4s. Two stars denote participation in the African and Italian and German encounters and another is for the Pacific service. He has seen considerable action in the Sicily and Salerno theaters.
Sly was one of the first six Manchester men to enlist in the Naval service prior to the present war. The others were Maynard May, Fred Arnold, Bob Morrissey, Kyle Faust and Maurice Curray, the latter Manchester’s first casualty on the cruiser, Vincennes.
Receiving his boot training at Great Lakes, Ill., he was transferred to the west coast July 1, 1938, and went aboard the cruiser, Vincennes, where he served for two and one-half years. He was then transferred to another ship for one year’s service, when it was turned over to the British government.
Sly then went aboard the Orizaba, amphibious transport, where he has been on duty for two and one-half years, and his fleet made invasions in Africa, Sicily and the landing at Salerno. He will now be assigned to shore duty at a base in California for 30 months and will leave Manchester next Sunday to report to that duty.
For the past eight months, Sly has seen service in the Pacific war zone.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, July 6, 1944 (photo included)
John Dolson Sly was born Jan. 24, 1920 to Frank L. and Jennie E. Croyle Sly. He died Oct. 24, 1994 and is buried in San Juan Bautista Cemetery, San Juan Batista, CA.
Source: ancestry.com
