US Navy 1st Class James Odes Walser was born in Pensacola, Florida in 1925, the son of Robert Andrew Walser (1900-1946) and Myrtle Lee McDaniel (1908-1971). His parents would divorce in 1936 and his father remarried Della Christina Broxson Sowell in 1939. The family came to Pensacola prior to 1930 where his father was a naval aviation machinist mate. By 1936 they were living at 714 East LaRua Street. He father is listed as a Navy veteran of WWI but may have retired from the service prior to his reentry in 1942 due to manpower shortages. In any case, he was discharged from the Navy on May 6, 1946 due to death.
In the meantime, James Odes Walser followed in his father's footsteps and enlisted at 16-years old in the US Navy on December 7, 1940 in Birmingham, Alabama. After basic in Norfolk, Virginia, he was assigned to the cruiser (CA-28) USS Louisville in February 1941. Three months later he was transferred to the transport (AP-1) USS Henderson assigned to the Asiatic station. Finally, he was deployed aboard the gunboat USS Asheville on May 15, 1941, seven months prior to Pearl Harbor.
Following their attack at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese turned their full attention to the capture of the Philippines. To preserve the American fleet, the admiralty ordered the USS Asheville to Tjilatjap on Java's southern coast. After the enemy attack on the USS Langley on February 27th, the Asheville was sent to her assistance to help rescue her crew. After the carrier sank, she returned to port only to be ordered to Australia as the US fleet disintegrated. Under orders, she sailed immediately on March 1, 1942 bound for Fremantle, Australia. However, on March 3rd an urgent radio message was picked up from her stating "being attack" south of Java. A second transmission was received indicating the attack was from a surface vessel. Afterwards, she disappeared along with her entire crew. It was not until after the war that an American POW related the story as to her fate. The Asheville had been discovered by an enemy scout plane who vectored a surface force to intercept her. On March 3, 1942, a Japanese cruiser and two destroyers engaged her in a 30-minute gun battle where most of the Asheville's superstructure was shot away. James Odes Walser from Pensacola was killed in the battle but a sole survivor, Fred Louis Brown was captured. Sadly, after relaying his story, Brown died dysentery pellagra on March 18, 1945 in the Makassar POW camp on Celebes. Per US Navy regulations, James was not declared dead until November 25, 1945.
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