USS HOUSTON CA 30
“The galloping Ghost of the
Floyd Wesley Barron
Floyd Wesley
Barron
The search
into a Marine’s past
Feb. 28, 2009 was a
very thrilling day in my life. On the 67th anniversary of the Battle of Sunda Strait, I found myself in the Rockwall,
However, I also had a
personal interest in the
Wesley’s grandfather,
James Daniel “Jeems” Barron, and my
great-great-grandfather, Henry Callaway Barron, were brothers. Both of them
were in the 31st Louisiana Infantry during the Civil War and fought as snipers
during the siege of
In doing a family
history book with my uncle, Lyle Smith, I began digging to see just how much I
could find out about Wesley and if I could find a
On Nov. 30, 2008, I
finally got in touch with Bob and told him the reason for my call.
“I had a distant
cousin who was in the Marine detachment with you and wondered if you may
remember him,” I began.
“What was his name?”
“Floyd Wesley
Barron.”
“That name sounds
real familiar,” Bob answered, and I could tell he was searching deep into his
memory bank. He added that he could possibly identify a picture of him if I
sent him one.
I began this project
not really expecting to have the kind of success I did. Needless to say, it has
been the thrill of a lifetime.
I mailed a package to
Bob in early December with Wesley’s Marine photo and the write-up on him that
appears on this web site. When I called Bob a few days later, he told me that
he looked very familiar, and he was pretty sure he remembered him. He just
wasn’t sure in what capacity.
The clincher came
when I received an e-mail from Dana. Since I had popped up on the radar screen,
so to speak, as a new person with a huge interest in the Houston, he had been
researching in his archives and came up with a document that stated Wesley was
one of eight Marines who came on board the Houston in Darwin, Australia on Jan.
15, 1942. This was confirmed by a newspaper interview Lloyd Willey gave in 1999
because he was also one of those eight.
Through this
information, I discovered that Wesley had taken his training in radio
communications and was en route from Pearl Harbor to the
Armed with this
information, I contacted Dorothy Willey again and also sent her Wesley’s photo.
Unfortunately, Lloyd does not remember him as time and some health issues have
diminished those long-ago memories. I told Dorothy that I was still glad to be
in contact with someone who was there that day.
I called Bob back
with this information his son had supplied to me.
“Dana found a
document plus an interview Lloyd gave that said my cousin Wesley came on board
in
“I sure do,” he
replied quickly.
This was the
information that jogged his memory, and he could definitely place Wesley. I
have Lloyd to thank for this, because he was the first one off the motor launch
to board the ship, and Bob said, “That’s a Marine?” I later found out that
Houston Marines were hand picked since she was the flagship of the Asiatic
fleet. They had to be six feet tall and have that “Marine” look. Dorothy
confirmed to me that Lloyd was a bit shorter, was losing some hair earlier and
had a smaller frame. Turns out, however, that he was a Marine
through and through.
As Bob’s memory came
back to him, he recalled that Wesley was “the good looking kid among the bunch.
He was the only one who looked like a Marine.” To the best of his memory,
Wesley was also the tallest one of the eight, having a long and lean frame, but
he was solid from those years of working on his dad’s farm in
Hearing those words
from Bob was totally wonderful. I called my uncle and my dad and told them the
good news that I had actually made a connection with Wesley after all these
years! After meeting Bob, I completed an eight-page report for our family
history book.
We had a wonderful
four-hour visit on the anniversary of that fateful day, and his first-hand
account of the two-day battle really gave me more insight on the
It was nice to see
that Bob was able to have a sense of humor and has come to terms with the
horrors he dealt with and witnessed as a POW for 43 months. After reading his
book, “Last Man Out,” I can fully understand why the
After our visit, Bob
was still going strong. I hated to leave, but I had to make a four-hour drive
back home.
As I got up, and we
shook hands, he said, “I’m so glad you came down here to see me. I know it was
a long drive for you.”
“It was worth every
mile of it,” I answered, as I saluted him. He returned the salute, and our
hands came down at the same time. We were standing close enough together that
our hands clasped together again.
My uncle has informed
some members of the Barron side of my family about the new information I’ve
discovered about Wesley. The Barron reunion is held every November in Spearsville, and I plan to attend this year and give them a
report of what I have discovered.
I also talked to my
uncle who lives in
Then, as a year or
two passed, and as my uncle approached 10 years old in 1944, he had a few
occasions where he was around Wesley’s father and someone would ask, “Have you
heard from Wesley yet?”
John Archer Barron
would answer, “No, I haven’t heard from him. But I know he’s alive. He’ll be
home when the war is over.”
However, Wesley died
with his ship, and his father never gave up hope for his return all the way up
to his death in 1953.
Wesley’s family was
able to contact a
To everyone I have
talked to, both on the phone and via e-mail, thank you for your kindness,
information, support and interest as I declare my search into Wesley’s past on
the
Jeffrey D. Smith
March 31, 2009
Wesley's parents, grandparents
and nearly all of his 11 siblings are buried in Spearsville
Cemetery, and a memorial plaque in his honor is placed
among his family members' final resting places.
