Seaman Second Class
Robert Lee Huffman
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| Robert Lee Huffman |
On his 18th birthday in 1943, Robert enlisted in the Navy. Born on March 24, 1925, to Andrew Herbert and Bessie (Uran) Huffman, Robert attended school until 6th grade in the Evansport school.
He had two brothers, James and Herbert; his only sister, Florence, died in 1933. Robert's father was a lumber dealer and he ran a sawmill where Robert worked after he left school.
On his draft registration, he described himself as having red hair, blue eyes, a ruddy complexion and wearing glasses.
It was November 1943 before he set out to sea and joined the offensive in the Philippines.
Seaman Huffman was wounded in action in March 1944, and he returned to duty before heading out to Leyte in the Philippines. Assigned to the destroyer, Drayton, on December 12, 1943, It was October 1944 before the ship set off for a five-day trip for patrol and escort duties in the Leyte Gulf.
On December 5, the Drayton was hit by a suicide Japanese bomber in a twin engine bomber. It was a near miss, yet two of the crew were killed on the ship and seven were wounded. An hour later, the Drayton was hit by strafing planes and then later by twelve enemy fighters. One crashed into them, killing six and wounding twelve. Fires occurred onboard and the ship needed immediate help and repairs. The ship sailed unassisted to Manus.
Seaman Robert Huffman was one of the men killed during this attack.
He was first buried in the Leyte Island Cemetery, but later his body was returned to the United States and his family.
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| The Crescent-News, August 14, 1948 |
He was reinterred in the Evansport Cemetery. His obituary appeared in the Crescent-News on September 8, 1948 on page 1:
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| Evansport Cemetery |
Robert Carpenter, Researcher
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