He enlisted in the US Navy in 1942. During the war he received the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon, the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
He was deployed aboard the light carrier USS Monterey (CVL 26), and was part of the carrier’s commissioning in 1943. The ship arrived in the Pacific theater in late 1943 and supported amphibious landings and strikes against Japanese targets through the remainder of 1943 into 1944. The vessel earned over a half dozen battle stars while Ford was part of the crew.
Ford was a Lieutenant Ford who served initially as the ship’s gunnery division officer, supervising a 40mm anti-aircraft gun on the carrier’s fantail. He later moved up to assistant navigator. On 17-18 December 1944, Monterey was one of several U.S. Navy ships to encounter Typhoon Cobra (BTW, my own father was caught up in that and talked about it to the end of his life in 2004). That storm sank three destroyers, damaged many other ships, and killed hundreds of US sailors.
On the morning of December 18, 1944, Monterey's rolling exceeded 30 degrees. When aircraft in the hanger broke free, Monterey suffered a fire as those aircraft crashed into each other and ignited aviation fuel. Ford headed for his battle station on the bridge where he assumed duties as the General Quarters Officer of the Deck. The situation became dire. Ford was directed by Captain Stuart Ingersoll to go below to assess the situation and Ford made the dangerous trip down to the hangar deck where he assessed the situation, may have helped somewhat with activities, but then reported back to the captain. The fire killed three sailors and injured another forty. The ship went dead in the water for more than an hour. Ultimately the fire was extinguished and the carrier got underway.
Now, there have been reports (Particularly form the book, "Halsey's Typhoon," that indicate that Ford led the firefighting efforts that day, but there is no logged evidence to this, and, to his own credit, Ford himself indicated that this was not so.
When asked about he, he responded:
"No. I was down there as an observer from the bridge and then I went back up to the bridge where I had my General Quarters responsibility.”
Captain Jerry Hendrix, USN, who was Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, said the following about the stroeis circulating around DFord:
“Lieutenant Ford’s duties that day were centered on helping his captain evaluate the danger facing their ship so that the right decisions could be made to save Monterey. And working together in conditions that are difficult to imagine, Lieutenant Ford and his shipmates met the challenge. There is no reason to inflate the value of his service beyond what it really was. He was a superb example of our nation’s “greatest generation,” who served honorably, diligently and with quiet competence.”
In the end, Ford served ably in the US Navy in World War II in combat and in dangerous and difficult situations. It is not inappropriate that in honor of that service, and then later becoming President, that a vessel be named for him, particularly, IMHO, now that he has passed.
Thanks for that post. I had no idea of the details of his service.