US Navy Chief Warrant Officer Jesse Lee Suarez was born in Pensacola, Florida on April 12, 1902, the son of Thomas Freeman Suarez (1845-1919) and Henrietta Lenora Reeder (1868-1931). His father had been married once before to Rebecca Nix (1847-1884) with two children born to the union. After her premature death at age 37 he married Henrietta with 17 surviving children resulting. His father had enlisted in the Confederate Army during the Civil War on July 27, 1862, at the "head of Oyster Bay" in Baldwin County, Alabama. He had joined up with Company "E" of the 15th Confederate Cavalry Regiment, which operated in the south Alabama and northwest Florida area. After the war, Thomas applied for and received his Confederate pension and by September 22, 1916, was receiving $120.00 per year. He died on August 8, 1919 in Pensacola whereabouts his wife applied for her widow's pension that was also approved on December 29, 1919, in the amount of $180.00 per year.
As for Jesse, he had entered the workforce by 1920 as a "rivet heater" for a Pensacola shipyard. His father had passed away the year before and he was helping to support his mother. Two years later, he enlisted in the US Navy as a machinist and would marry Myrtle Mae Stafford (1909-) in Pensacola in 1927. She was the daughter of Gerald Rufus Stafford, a retired carpenter at NAS civil service. In June 1928, he was ordered to report to the USS Lexington, so he and Myrtle packed up and left Pensacola. He dropped Myrtle off in New Orleans before continuing on to his next duty station.
In 1931, Myrtle was living in San Diego while Jesse was out to sea but 1940 found him back home in San Diego as a Chief Water Tender. Within the next year, Jesse was transferred to the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, most likely aboard ship. Myrtle would set sail from Los Angeles on September 5, 1941, aboard the SS Lurline arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii on September 10. For the next few months, they enjoyed the beauty of Hawaii with its laid back life style and warm tropical breezes.
But then, on the morning of December 7, 1941, there appeared a huge flight of bombers with red circles painted on their fuselage. Suddenly, there were huge explosions as ships in the harbor began to erupt into fireballs that rattled windows everywhere. Chief Jessie Lee Suarez was 39-years old when the Japanese Imperial Fleet launched their airstrike against the unsuspecting Americans at Pearl Harbor. As America recovered from their shock, they began assimilating an immense fleet to strike back at their aggressors. In response, Jesse was transferred to the Navy Yard in Philadelphia where they boarded the newly commissioned fleet carrier USS Princeton (CV-23) on February 25, 1943. They sailed into Pearl Harbor on August 9, 1943, to join the coming fight with Japan's remaining fleet.
On October 20, the Princeton sailed forth with Task Group 38.3 as they supported the Leyte landings at Dulag and San Pedro Bay. She sent her planes against enemy airfields to prevent their aircraft from attacking Allied ships gathering in the Leyte Gulf. On October 24, 1944, the US fleet was located by enemy planes from the mainland. Around 10:00 AM, the Princeton was attacked by a "Judy" bomber. The dive bomber dropped a single bomb, which struck the carrier between its elevators, tore through the wooden flight deck and hangar before exploding. Although structural damage was minor, it caused a fire that quickly spread througout the ship causing subsequent explosions. At 15:24, a larger explosion shook the carrier to the extent that it severely damaged the cruiser Birmingham that was alongside to help with the carrier's fires.
With the fires out of control, efforts to save the carrier failed. At 1706 hours, the remaining personnel were evacuated, and torpedoes were fired into her, sinking the great carrier at 17:50. The casualty list included 108 men lost on the Princeton and 233 killed and 426 injured aboard the Birmingham.
Back home, Myrtle was notified at her home in San Diego that Jesse was missing in action. His sister Reubenia Christina Suarez Kime (1906-1999) was told that under the circumstances there would be no recovery. Some records reflect that he was one of those hastily buried at sea. After the war, Myrtle would marry again to Thomas A. Milstid.
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