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Topic: Last Patrol - Clay C. Cooper Jr.- CO PT 324 |
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scooper
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 7:20am
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My Dad, Clay Cooper, 89, passed away on May 31 in Columbia, Missouri. He was the XO and later CO of PT 324 (Ron 21). His boat was engaged in combat operations in the Philippines. After VJ day, he was reassigned to the USS Pinnacle (AM 274) where he participated in post-war minesweeping operations in the East China Sea. The Pinnacle returned to the US in early 1946 and Dad was assigned to the Alameda Naval Air Station. He was discharged from active duty in May of 1946.
He was a wonderful father to his 8 children and we miss him very, very much. Up until the last few weeks of his life, he was an incredibly active, extremely sharp and humorous guy. He was playing tennis just three weeks before his death from complications related to pancreatic cancer. He very much enjoyed receiving the All Hands newsletter, but had never attended a reunion. Last fall he told me he wanted to attend the 2007 reunion, as it was within driving distance and close to where one of my sisters lives. We sent in the registration in February, but sadly, he didn't get the chance to attend. As a retired member of the military myself (LtCol USMCR), I was so looking forward to taking him to the 2007 reunion. Below is a link to his obituary, if you have the interest and time to read it. He was a college coach at the University of Missouri his entire career.
http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2007/jun/20070603obit003.asp
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Frank J Andruss Sr
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 Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 11:48am
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Dear Scooper
First let me pass along my sincere sorrow over the loss of your Dad. He sounded like a wondereful guy. Rest assured that he is once again at the Helm of his boat, bow high riding into the wind, his Crew at the ready. I am not sure where your Family is located, but it would be so nice to have you attend my PT BOAT EXHIBIT in SPRINGFIELD MASSACHUSETTS. I know your Dad would have been very proud to have seen it. You can see it by checking out the Post about Franks Exhibit in Springfield on this message board. God Bless to you and your Family..........
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scooper
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 12:22pm
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Dear Frank:
Thank you very much for your kind condolences on the passing of my Dad, Lt Clay C. Cooper Jr.. I must admit I shed a tear when I read your sentence:Quote:Rest assured that he is once again at the Helm of his boat, bow high riding into the wind, his Crew at the ready.
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Amazingly, I actually have an old photo of him in which he is doing exactly what you described. I would love to share it with the PT Boat community, but because I'm new to this forum, don't know how to upload and post photos on this message board. If someone would give me some instructions on this, I'd be happy to post the photo.
Thank you too, for the invitation to visit your display in Springfield, MA. It sounds facinating. In the summer of 2003, I was on a business trip to Providence, RI. Because one of my father's sisters lives in Boston, I took him with me so that he could visit her, and so that we could check out the PT Boat Museum at Fall River. Because he was a PT boat veteran, the folks at the museum gave us a personal tour and allowed us to walk on the deck of the PT boat they had on display. It was so incredible to see my Dad walk the deck of a PT boat, 60 years later, and talk about his experiences as the CO of the 324 boat. While in Providence, we visited one of the old downtown hotels, where he stayed while on liberty from the PT Boat School in Mehlville.
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Steve Tuhy
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 12:39pm
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MR. COOPER;
I KNOW THAT WE ARE ALL PROUD OF YOUR DAD'S SERVICE AND I HOPE THAT YOU CAN FIND COMFORT IN THE FACT THAT HE'S IN EXCELLENT COMPANY.
Steve Tuhy |
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ducati650
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 1:14pm
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What more can one add beyond what Frank has already posted. Very well said Frank. I'm very sorry for your loss.
If you have the photo on a hosting site site already, all you do is type IMAGE surrounded with brackets [ ] and paste in the url to the photo then follow it with /IMAGE inclosed in brackets[ ].
Like:
[IMAGx]your photo's address[/IMAGx] . Replace the x with E. i had to do the x or it would have tried to post a photo and you could not have seen the fromat.
If you do not have a hosting site, i would be proud to use mine and post the photo here for you.
Just e-mail the photo file to me using the e-mail icon above my post and will take it from there.
Ed
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scooper
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 5:18pm
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Steve-
Thank you for your condolences. He really made some great friends during the war. One of them was Lenny Tom (Thom?) whom Dad met when Lenny was on his second tour of duty in the Pacific. As most of you know, Lenny was Jack Kennedy's XO on PT 109. Dad played football at the University of Missouri before the war and competed against Lenny in the 1939 Missouri vs. Ohio State game in Columbus.
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scooper
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 5:29pm
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Ed-
Thank you for your words of condolence. Thanks, too, for offering to post the photo of my Dad on the bridge of PT 324. I will e-mail it to you shortly. Thanks again.
Shep Cooper
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ducati650
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 6:40pm
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ducati650
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2007 - 6:44pm
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Great photo. Your dad looks like he is on top of the world. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Ed
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Frank J Andruss Sr
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Posted on: Jul 11, 2007 - 1:56am
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What more can one picture say. We now know why on any given day these old warriors would not have traded their experiences on a PT BOAT for anything in the World.
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