Lester Hobart
August 18, 1942
Lester Hobart enters the Navy
January 28, 1943 Davenport Times-Tribune
Navy Man tells of Experience on Battlewagon
Anti-Aircraft Gunner Has Close Call in Sea Battle at Guadalcanal
"I don't care how many battles a man's in, he'll always be scared." Seaman First Class Lester Hobart, anti-aircraft gunner on a U.S. battleship, told a reporter of the Times-Tribune Saturday, in an interview. "And if he says he's not scared, then I think he's lying."
Seaman Hobart is the son of Mrs. W. H. Rogers of Reardan. He attend grade school in that city and high school in Cashmere. For the last few years until he entered the navy August 18, 1942, he was in the trucking business in Davenport.
"I was in San Diego just long enough to get my shots, and then I was shipped to Pearl Harbor. I was there about three weeks. I was a little disappointed in Hawaii. It was nearly as pretty as I thought it would be, but then the island is awfully crowded. The army has taken over the Royal Hawaiian hotel for barracks. Some of the fellows and I slept in one of the $25 rooms.
"It was just two months and eleven days from the time I enlisted until I saw action the first time, and just three months is the day when I was in our second engagement."
Hobart wears a services citation with two major battle stars and an Atlantic sea duty award. He and the four other men in his group who man the anti-aircraft guns are credited with eleven Japanese planes. It was in the battle of Guadalcanal that Hobart was wounded.
"It was recently a surface battle. We anti-aircraft gunners were just lying there beside our guns waiting for planes to come over. The first thing I knew an eight- and a four-inch shell came in alongside of me. The four-inch shell burst and I was on fire all over. It didn't hurt much--there were too many places. That shrapnel is red hot when it hits. I didn't bleed much because the wounds were seared by the shrapnel. I didn't get down to sick bay for a couple of days.
"I didn't feel bad, but when they gave the anti-tetanus shot, I nearly passed out. They took the pieces of shrapnel out of me then. Two in my back and one in my leg." At this point, Hobart flashed a jagged piece of rusty metal about the size of a marble out of his pocket and displayed it. "That's the one they got out of my leg. I had 57 shrapnel wounds, altogether. I'm still carrying some of it around. One piece in my cheek and other lodged up again the bone of my foot. But the one that hit my steel helmet almost had my number on it. It hit the front of my helmet just where the crease is that makes the little bill. It made a hole in the helmet and a pretty bad scar on my forehead, but it didn't have enough power to go through.
"I was, of course, hospitalized right away. By the end of the week, I could lay only on my left side, but in another week, I was just as good as new.
"Tonga Tabu is really the only typical south sea island we saw in the Solomon group. It's really the prettiest--palm trees and tropical fruits growing in abundance. Your money is no good there, but an old pair of shoes or overalls will buy anything you want. You can see all kinds of sailors' old uniforms on the natives. They don't know how to make clothes. When one of their relatives die, they wrap themselves in black cloth from head to foot. Their queen is over six feet tall and weighs about 340 pounds.
"New Caledonia is a free French island. The natives talk French. I have never yet figured out whether they know what our money is worth or whether they just took us for suckers. But one of my shipmates and I went in and bought lemonade. That's all they serve there and it isn't very good. He bought the first drink. He gave them four-bits and got one franc back in change. The next place we went into, I bought the lemonade. I gave then twenty-five cents and got five francs back. A franc is about one and a third cents.
"I never saw anyone I knew in the five months I was in the southern Pacific, But I met a fellow who know Al Peters, from Davenport, and it was just like seeing someone from home. We get pretty homesick out there. Especially when we get out our photographs and start playing sentimental records like "Good-bye Little Darling," and "Be Honest with Me." The only song I recognized on the juke boxes when I got back to New York was "Idaho." and I sure did play that one, because it was close to home.
"I wouldn't take a million dollars for my experiences, but I wouldn't give a nickle for more like them. And I wouldn't trade any uniform for any other one on earth--not even the U.S. army's. There's a lot of satisfaction in knowing that I'm doing my part to win this war, The biggest thrill of my life is to see one of those Jap planes come down in flames. It's just like a movie, only better."
Hobart expects to leave here, where he is visiting his sister, Mrs. Garner Rutter, about February 1, as he must report back to duty in New York on February 8.
February 4, 1943 Davenport Times-Tribune
Lester Hobart, who enlisted in the U.S. navy five months ago and has since been in combat, spent a few days last week with his mother, Mrs. W. H. Rogers. He left for New York where he will report for duty. Ensign Pat Owens, a high school graduate of Reardan, and Lester Hobart, a machine gunner in the navy, formerly from here, gave a few of their experiences in the services to the assembly Monday afternoon.
September 2, 1943 Davenport Times-Tribune
Lester Hobart, gunner first class, writes his mother, Mrs. W. H. Rogers, that he is again in the states. Lester has been in the navy for thirteen months and was home in February on leave after having seen action in many south Pacific battles. He writes that he is well and likes the navy fine.
July 20, 1944 Davenport Times-Tribune
Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Rogers are looking forward to a visit from their son, Lester Hobart, who is now stationed at Bremerton. He has been awarded the Purple Heart and will leave for home July 20. He has been in the navy for nearly three years. He spent a weekend with his sister, Mrs. Warren Schroeder, at Cashmere recently.
June 28, 1945 Davenport Times-Tribune
John Owens, who is with the Seabees on Guam, writes his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Owens, that he spent a few hours recently with Lester Hobart, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Rogers; Earl Travis, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Travis; and Kenneth Bull, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Bull. All three of the boys are with the navy and on the same ship.
September 6, 1945 Davenport Times-Tribune
[Two] Reardan boys were on the U.S.S. South Dakota, the flagship for Admiral Nimitz at Tokyo Bay during the official surrender of Japan. They are Lester Hobart, son of Mrs. W. H. Rogers, [and] Earl Travis, son of George Travis.
September 23, 1945 Spokesman-Review
ON THE USS SOUTH DAKOTA OFF JAPAN--William Lester Hobart, 23, coxswain, of Reardan, Wash is aboard this battleship, which fired the first salvo of the first bombardment of the Japanese homeland when it blasted the steel center of Kamaishi on July 14. The battleship fought at Savo, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
October 4, 1945 Davenport Times-Tribune
ON THE U.S.S. SOUTH DAKOTA OFF JAPAN--Two Reardan youths, Lester Hobart, age 23, coxswain, and Earl Travis, age 18, seaman first class, are serving aboard this battleship, which was one of the first to enter Tokyo Bay for the formal capitulation of Japan and which was used by Fleet Admiral C. W. Nimitz as his flagship for the occasion. The South Dakota fired the first salvo of the first bombardment of the Japanese homeland, when it blasted the steel center at Kamaishi on July 14. The ship struck Honshu, Hokkaido, northern Honshu, the Kobe-Kure area, Hamamatsu and made a return visit to Kamaishi. Previously the battleship fought at Savo, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
December 6, 1945 Davenport Times-Tribune
Lester Hobart, who served with the navy for four years, writes his mother, Mrs. W. H. Rogers, that he has his discharge. He recently had a 30-day furlough, after which he reported to San Francisco. Lester has the purple heart for shrapnel wounds receive early in the war and several campaign ribbons and battle stars.