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Shipfitter Fireman, 3rdClass Aaron Luverne JohnsonDovray: Murray County
United States Navy, USS Houston CA-30, Shipfitter Fireman 3rd Class
January 18, 1917 – February 4, 1942
John Johnson recalls his uncle: “Everyone called him Luverne, and he was a fun-loving guy who liked girls and cars. I remember the day I rode with him, my grandparents, and my father to the train station in St. Paul in my dad’s 1940 Buick. I can still picture Uncle Luverne waving to us from the window as the train pulled away. My grandmother was beside herself with worry.”
Following his graduation from Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis, Aaron Luverne Johnson worked on the family farm until his Navy enlistment on August 3, 1938. He was exactly what the Navy wanted according to a Navy Department memo written in 1919: “The boy from the farm is considered by the naval recruiting service to be the most desirable material.”
During basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois, Luverne qualified as a shipfitter who worked with sheet metal and plumbing, and he also sang in the Navy Choir. He later earned deep-sea diver certification in Bremerton, Washington, and served at Pearl Harbor before moving to the Philippines. After basic training, Luverne was assigned to the U.S.S. Houston, President Roosevelt’s favorite warship and the ship on which the President toured the Atlantic. In a letter dated March 5, 1939, Luverne wrote of the President’s friendliness to the sailors, “I can say I have been fishing with the Prez. He is a real guy. He can’t walk but he is always happy.”
During a furlough at home, Luverne told his father, “Dad, be sure you look me up a nice team of bay horses, for I’m all set to go farming when I get back.” His dream of returning home ended during the Battle of the Flores Strait, also known as the Battle of Makassar Strait, in the Bali Sea in the Dutch East Indies. Near midnight on February 3, 1942, the USS Houston joined an American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) fleet to search for a Japanese fleet consisting of 20 troop transport ships, three cruisers, and 18 destroyers. In a personal interview, Captain Arthur Maher, Gunnery Officer, reported:
The Houston was ordered to go up and accompany some Asiatic Fleet destroyers into a night attack. However, unfortunately, at the last minute Marblehead and destroyers, both Dutch and American, were at anchor south of Madoere Island just outside of Soerabaja. There was no question but that they sighted our fleet but they made no attempt to attack. The conference broke up quickly and the fleet got underway and proceeded to sea with the units disbursing and orders to rendezvous the next morning. So, on the 4th of February, we were all joined up again and headed in the direction of the Celebes when we were attacked by approximately 54 heavy Japanese bombers. The bombers singled out the Houston and the Marblehead as their targets and for approximately an hour both ships were under severe attack. The Marblehead was hit by two bombs and badly damaged. The Houston was proceeding to the assistance of the Marblehead when she was struck by a large-caliber bomb just forward of the after turret. This did considerable damage in that it disabled turret three, killed 48 men, and wounded approximately 20 more. F3C Aaron Luverne Johnson was one of those killed aboard the USS Houston.