USS HOUSTON CA 30

“The galloping Ghost of the Java Coast”

Glenn Wesley Spragle

My name is Jim Krause and I’m a nephew by marriage to Glenn Wesley Spragle. Glenn was a gunners mate on the USS Houston and went down with the ship in February 1942. Glenn had been on the Houston for a number of years, going back to at least 1938 and apparently was on board when FDR took his 1938 cruise to San Francisco.

FDR even signed his shellback certificate. I thought you might be interest in a photograph of both Glenn and the certificate.

Crew members produced a booklet on board, no doubt presented to FDR with photos of the cruise.
I have finally got around to making a PDF of the original booklet in my possession.
Click icon to view booklet

This is Jim Krause again, the nephew of Glenn Spragle a crew member on the Houston. I have found a couple of things to share on the site. First is a telegram from Glenn’s mother to my aunt letting her know that Glenn is missing. It’s so unusual to find documents like this anymore. It’s a good example of how people communicated a loss back then.

Telegraph informing the family that Glenn from the Secretary of the Navy informing the family in 1945 that Glenn was officially declared deceased.

This is a copy of the letter that the Secretary of the Navy sent to Glenn’s mother, who was remarried (thereby not having the same last name as Glenn)

This document is from a friend of Glenn’s who survived captivity and wrote to my aunt regarding Glenn’s fate.

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