John Julius King, Chief Damage Controlman, U. S. Navy, was honorably discharged on the first day of August, 1962, after serving at locations including the United States Naval Training Station, San Diego, The United States Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, and was onboard the USS Atlanta, a high-speed light cruiser, when she was commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, December 24, 1941, the first ship to be launched there after the Government took over the facility during the war effort.
John was aboard the Atlanta when she received thirteen 5.5 inch hits and some three-inch hits while being pounded by two torpedoes on her port side, then hit with two full main-battery salvos and set afire throughout her length. At about the same time, a heavy cruiser came up on the Atlanta port side and opened fire at a range of about 3,500 yards. The Atlanta reported 19 hits with six-inch armor-piercing ammunition from that encounter. The armor was holed several times and the damaged bridge was shattered. On the bridge, Admiral Scott and three officers perished as well as several from his staff as well as a large number of other personnel. The foremast collapsed. Fires were blazing everywhere and the Atlanta was dead in the water.
When the fighting ceased, there were nine ships burning within eyesight. Only three of these--the Atlanta, the Cushing and the Monssen--were American. The Atlanta sunk in a night surface action in the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942, for which the Atlanta received a Presidential Unit Citation. That battle was a turning point in the Solomon Islands Campaign. Had the enemy succeeded is bombarding our airfield on Guadalcanal, the outcome of the war would have been much different according to the now-declassified Office of U.S. Naval Intelligence combat narratives of the Battle of Guadalcanal November 11-15, 1942, .
The 5,000 ton cruiser Atlanta was lost on Friday, November 13, 1942, one of ten warships lost in the south Pacific in the famous November battles that broke the back of the Japanese. John King saw action in the bitter battles of Midway, the Solomon's and Guadalcanal. At one time, he spent five months in the bomb- and shell-ravaged waters without pulling into shore. His oldest daughter, Joann, was four-months old before John's wife knew if John was still alive.
John King
John later said that the most thrilling thing he personally observed during the war was the sinking of twelve Japanese transports and its combined crew of 30,000. He later served on the USS Sierra and the USS Henry Tucker where he cruised Korean waters. John was in charge of drills for the USS Buttercup, a replica of a ship set up in a huge concrete enclosure so that water could be pumped in to simulate a sinking. The Buttercup was featured on a Today Show with Dave Garraway in 1953.
John spent his free time wisely. The short, husky-built seaman was the 155-pound cruiser wrestling champion. In 1939, John missed being named U.S. Fleet Champion at 155 pounds when he was defeated in the final round. He helped bring home the Norfolk Destroyer Command Atlantic Fleet Bowling Championship. He was an avid softball player and bowler, but his true love was horseshoe pitching where he was a former champion for several years.
In 1973, he was New Jersey State Horseshoe Pitchers Association first-place winner. He played in the NHPA World Championships in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, He was in the 1977 State Championships in Levittown, the 1983 World Horseshoe Tournament in Statesville, North Carolina, and in 1989 in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He played in numerous tournaments, including the Plant City, Florida, Strawberry Festival in 1981. He had two daughters, Joann Hess Heimbach and Mary Jane Sivo, both of the Benton area.
Horseshoe pitching is an ideal summer activity, a staple of warm-day picnics providing an extended period of activity, despite the leisurely surroundings. It requires the development of numerous skills and muscles to master the proper stance, release and arm swing. On an official court, such as the one nearing completion at the Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center, male contestants throw the horseshoes 40 feet, while women, anyone 70 years old or older, and juniors 17 years old or younger throw 30 feet. During an average game, players pitch about 50 shoes, each shoe weighing about 2 1/2 pounds. Typically, 40-point games last about half an hour..
John always kept a little "Applejack" in the basement of his house, which O. B. Savage had a hand in making. He also made some wine from time to time. Budd Fritz tells about the time he and Miles Little took a trip to Idaho to hunt and they got two gallons of wine from John. Budd packed a couple of loaves of homemade bread when they started. "So on our way out there to Idaho," Budd remembers," we'd get some of that homemade bread and soak it in the wine for our lunch." Budd also had a metal container to carry his cooking utensils.
A guide was going to pack the two men back into their camp and leave them there. The guide said he couldn't get that box of cooking utensils tied on a horse. Budd knew he had to take it. Miles solved the problem. He went to the car and got a jug of that wine and brought it to the guide and said, "here, have a little." The guide took a swig, then said, "You know, a fellow could get attached to that stuff." The next thing anyone knew, the guide put "that box right on the horse and we never did have a bit of trouble."
After John's Navy retirement, he was elected Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8317. He was elected to the office of County Assessor in 1959, named as a Deputy Sheriff in 1965 and he became a deputy game protector in 1971. His love of the outdoors earned him a Wildlife Conservation Award from the Pennsylvania Game Commission in 1971. He was a 4-H leader in the Waller area.
