*photo of James Sidney Embrey’s U.S. World War II Draft Card Young Men, 1940-1947
James Embrey joined the US Navy at the age of 18 on October 19, 1943 during WWII.
He was deployed to the Philippines with other US troops to begin navigating and patrolling the area. During the time, severe violence ran along the seas, as the Japanese were known for vigorously fighting to the death and caused significant harm and deaths during battles against the Americans on the ocean. However, just a little over a year before Embrey was deployed, the US hit a turning point at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 where the US Navy landed a decisive victory against the Japanese who sustained heavy losses and retreated. Since the turning point, the US gained naval and air supremacy and slowly began to turn the tide of the war. Embrey joined the Navy during this time where the US steadily took back islands and control of the Pacific which eventually led to the downfall of the Japanese.
*photo of the USS Hancock in the Philippines on December 15, 1944, just approximately one month before the accidental bomb explosion occurred
Embrey himself was on board the USS Hancock, an aircraft carrier built for the US Navy named after John Hancock, the governor of Massachusetts and the president of Second Continental Congress. An entire 888 feet long, the USS Hancock held approximately 3,000 men and was used around the Asiatic seas. On January 24, 1944, the USS Hancock was officially launched by Captain Fred C. Dickey in command and shortly after, received orders to first replenish near Ulithi following the Leyte landings and then return to the Philippines to begin their next order of searching for any Japanese fleet approaching from the west during October 1944.
*photo of World War II Navy Muster Roll for the USS Hancock, 1938-1949
After arriving at the Philippines, the Hancock chased Kurita's Center Force out of the area to a strait in the Philippines. Following their small victory, the Hancock withstood several Japanese airborne attacks, kamikaze, where Japanese pilots would deliberately sacrifice their lives to crash into enemy ships, often with bombs and missiles on board. Through several similar attacks, Hancock saw minimal damage as counter attacks were made against the enemy aircrafts, but faced more hardships sailing through Typhoon Cobra in December 1944 where several waves broke over the flight deck. However, the most devastating damage was done on January 21, 1945 at 1:28 P.M. when a torpedo bomber accidentally shifted one 500 pound bomb out of the bomb bay and exploded through 3 decks, the flight deck, the Gallery Deck and the Hanger Deck. A total of 7 officers and 43 enlisted men were killed in the accidental bomb explosion, including James Embrey, and another 75 were injured. The fire was quickly subsided in order to allow planes to continue to land on the ship; the brutal explosion happened between a small channel named the Bashi Channel between Formosa and Luzon in the Philippines, near the Manila American Cemetery, Philippines where Embrey’s cenotaph lies, commemorating his bravery and service in the war.