Navy Ensign Harold John "Elly" Ellison was born in Buffalo, New York on January 17, 1917, the son of William Cuthbert and Mae E. Ellison. Harold received his college degree from the Pratt Institute School of Fine and Applied Arts and then went to work for an insurance agency in upper New York. He was described as handsome, slender and a little fidgety. Bored with insurance work, he enlisted in the US Navy in March 1941 as a Seaman 2nd Class at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base in Brooklyn. He was immediately transferred to NAS Pensacola that same month. In April he received a discharge from the enlisted ranks to take a position as an aviation cadet in the Navy’s flight program. He received his wings and a commission to the rank of Ensign in October 1941.
While stationed in Pensacola he had met Miss Audrey Faye Dannelly, daughter of Clarence E. and Mattie L. Dannelly of Pensacola. Her father was the assistant manager of the Delchamps grocery store while living in the family home at 1701 East Lloyd Street. Upon receiving his aviation wings the young couple were married on December 30, 1941, in Norfolk, Virginia. His marriage was quickly followed by his transfer to the VT-8 Squadron aboard the USS Hornet.
As with all of his comrades on June 4, 1942, his entire squadron was the only flight to locate and attack the entire Japanese fleet with no fighter support of their own. All of them were shot down and all killed except for one. Their act of heroism created a situation where the enemy fighters had expended their ammunition and fuel shooting down Torpedo Squadron #8. Now, there were no enemy fighters to oppose the revengeful American dive bombers when they arrived. In short order, the boys of VT-8 that now lay at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, were quickly joined by the crews of four Japanese carriers, one enemy cruiser, 292 Japanese aircraft and 2,500 enemy sailors. Ensign Ellison would receive the Navy Cross and a Purple Heart for his bravery while sadly his wife received a telegram from the War Department. In his honor the Navy named the destroyer DD-864 USS Harold J. Ellison, which was launched by his widow Ms. Audrey F. Ellison on March 14, 1945. Standing next to her was Ensign George Gay Jr., the sole survivor of her husband’s squadron after the Battle of Midway. Gay had flown up from Miami, Florida where he was an instructor for the last sixteen months. On December 7, 2006, the ship was scrapped, the last Gearing Class Destroyer in the US Navy. Audrey would join her husband in death in El Paso, Texas.
Click to see actual footage of these heroes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPbYilMzWpw
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