Lewis Supinger
Gunners Mate Second Class Lewis Supinger was the son of Robert and Alice Supinger who were farmers near Deep Creek and Coulee Hite. By the time the war started, both his parents had both died (Robert in 1935 and Alice in 1925) and his brother Garrett had taken over the farming. In 1940 Lewis was living at Moyie Springs near Bonners Ferry, ID employed as a wood cutter. He entered the service January 9, 1942 at Portland OR, just a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Since he was born March 11, 1893, he was nearly 49 when he enlisted. The navy would take men up to 50, if they had a needed professional qualification that could be verified by examination. This restriction may not have been in place in the early days of the war.
Lewis was initially assigned to USS Wyoming AG-17, a training ship, and later (at least by June 1942) to the USS Chevalier. There is very little about Lewis in newspapers, but we do know what his ship was doing from Wikipedia.com the following history is how the USS Chevalier was used during WWII:
“On 7 May 1943 she escorted three minelayers as they mined Blackett Strait, and Kula Gulf, Solomon Islands. The next night three Japanese destroyers, Kuroshio, Oyashio, and Kagerō, ran into the minefield and were severely damaged by the mines and then sunk by aircraft. Between 11 May and 14 May, Chevalier joined in the bombardment of Vila, and covered another mine laying operation in Kula Gulf.
“On 28 June 1943 the destroyer again sailed from Espiritu Santo as a part of the covering force for troops bound for landings at Rice anchorage to block Japanese movements from Vila to Mundad, Solomon Islands. The group entered Kula Gulf shortly before midnight, 1 July, and began to bombard Vila and Bairoko Harbor, while the transports headed for the anchorage. During the operation the American force was attacked by three Japanese destroyers which launched torpedoes, and retired at high speed. One of the Japanese torpedoes hit USS_Strong (DD-467) [ Lee Gray, son of William Gray and nephew of E.T. Gray. was on the Strong at the time and survived], tearing open her hull amidships on both sides. Chevalier deliberately rammed her bow into Strong's port side and lay alongside for several minutes while *Strong*'s survivors crawled on board. Japanese shore batteries opened fire on the stricken ship, but Chevalier remained alongside until 241 survivors had come on board, while USS O'Bannon_(DD-450))[O'Bannon delivered counterfire against the Japanese. Chevalier pulled clear of *Strong* at 01:22, and the stricken destroyer sank a minute later. Chevalier had torn a hole 10 by 2 feet in her bow, but it did not seriously impair her operating ability as it was well above her waterline. The destroyer returned to Espiritu Santo 8 July for repairs.
“Repairs completed 22 July 1943, Chevalier operated throughout the Solomons on patrol and escort duty until 14 August. On 15 August the destroyer covered the landings at Vella Lavella. On the 17th Chevalier and three other destroyers were dispatched to intercept four Japanese destroyers and several enemy barges who were attempting to reinforce Kolombangara. After a brief encounter between the destroyers, in which neither side suffered to any great extent, the Japanese destroyers departed the area, abandoning the barges. The American forces turned their attention to this objective and sank or severely damaged all of them and sank two submarine chasers. The destroyer returned to Espiritu Santo 29 August and during September made an escort voyage to Sydney, Australia.
“On 6 October 1943 Chevalier, O'Bannon, and USS Selfridge intercepted nine Japanese destroyers and destroyer transports attempting to evacuate troops from Vella Lavella, Solomon Islands. Although greatly outnumbered, the American destroyers attacked. After firing half of their torpedoes and scoring several hits with gunfire, the group continued to steam into the line of fire of enemy torpedoes in order to keep their own guns bearing. At approximately 22:05 Chevalier was struck on the port bow by an enemy torpedo which tore her bow off to the bridge, throwing the ship entirely out of control. The destroyer O'Bannon which was following Chevalier could not avoid the damaged destroyer and rammed her in the after engine room, flooding that space and stopping Chevalier's port shaft. While making preparations to abandon ship, Chevalier's skipper ordered the torpedoes in her tubes to be fired at the Japanese destroyer Yūgumo. The burning Japanese ship blew up soon after. By 23:26 it was apparent that Chevalier could not be saved and the order was given to abandon ship. Her crew was picked up by O'Bannon's boats, and Chevalier was sunk the following day by a torpedo from USS La_Vallette_(DD-448). Her severed bow was located about a mile to the west and was sunk with depth charges. Chevalier lost 54 killed, and suffered 36 wounded.”
Unfortunately Lewis Supinger was one of those lost. He was awarded a Purple Heart and is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
