US Navy 1st Class Maurice Dudley Gibson was born in Molino, Florida on November 24, 1925, the son of Joseph William Gibson (1889-1968) and Escambia Jones (1892-1983). His father was born in Pine Barren and supported his family throughout his life as a truck driver. In 1930, he was a driver for Escambia County while renting a house in Molino for $5.00 per month. Five years later they were still in Molino and he was still a driver. By 1940, the family had relocated to Ferry Pass where they rented a house for $8.00 per month. At the time, his father was a driver for the WPA government program. Five years later he was a chauffer, and still driving.
Their son Maurice left school in the 8th grade, a common practice during the Great Depression. The young man was also the great grandson of Private William S. Gibson (1818-1888) who enlisted in Mobile on December 15, 1862 in Company "H" of the 15th Confederate Cavalry Regiment. The regiment operated throughout southern Alabama and northwest Florida. Today, he and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Anderson (1828-1916) rests in Ray's Chapel Cemetery.
Maurice on the other hand enlisted in the US Navy on November 28, 1942 and was sent to Birmingham, Alabama for processing and orientation. He was eventually assigned for duty on February 7, 1944 aboard the carrier USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) as a Seaman 1st Class. Three months later on May 27, 1944, his brother William Aubrey Gibson enlisted in the US Army.
In the meantime, the US Navy had its hands full in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Sibuyan Sea after the Japanese Fleet had finally come out of hiding. Admiral Halsey had divided his fleet into Taffy 1 and Taffy 2 off northern Mindanao and Taffy 3 sailing off of Samar. After Halsey had decimated the Japanese Center Force, he sent his carriers north on a wild goose chase leaving Taffy 3 with only its escort carriers to guard the Samar area. Suddenly, on the morning of October 25 the entire Japanese Center Force reappeared on the horizon steaming straight for Taffy 3 and the Gambier Bay. The enemy task force contained four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and eleven destroyers. One of those enemy battleships was the Yamato, the world's largest warship afloat. The best the Americans had to oppose them was three escort carriers with seven destroyer escorts. All the US heavyweights had sailed off with Halsey and were too far away to help!
But in true American spirit the tiny destroyers attacked with a vengeance to cover the retreat of the slow moving "baby" carriers. In the meantime, the carrier's aircraft took off and attacked the mighty armada. Answering a cry for help, aircraft from Halsey's huge fleet carriers were able to join them as they strafed, bombed, and torpedoed the enemy till they ran out of ammunition. Taffy 3 put up a determined defense but in the end they lost two of their escort carriers, two destroyers, a destroyer escort and numerous aircraft. Over a thousand men died that day but their sacrifice cost the Japanese three cruisers, disabled another three and drove the larger force off thus saving the invasion's troop and supply ships.
As for Maurice and his Gambier Bay, they never had a chance as they were struck multiple times by enemy surface ships. In defiance, the small carrier's lone 5-inch gun opened up on a huge Japanese cruiser that was laying into her, all to no avail. By 8:20 AM, she was heavily damaged and dead in the water. Soon the behemoth Yamato closed on her and shot her to pieces. As fires raged throughout, she finally rolled over and capsized at 9:07 AM. Over 800 men went over the side, where many of the drifting sailors were killed by sharks. The remainder were rescued several days later.
One of those that didn't make it was Pensacolian Maurice Dudley Gibson from Molino, Florida. His remains were never recovered, and his name was etched on the Tablets of the Missing in Manila. His parents were notified that their son was missing in action and most likely would not be recovered. It was heartbreaking for the close-knit family but sadly there was more to come. One month later on November 26, 1944, they were notified once more that their son Private William Aubrey Gibson had been killed in action in the Saar River area in Germany on November 26, 1944. Today he rests in the Lorraine American Cemetery in Lorraine, France.
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