Dove Jr, Sylva
S1c SYLVA VESTER DOVE JR. 3 February 1945 – 11 June 1946
I Sylva Vester Dove Jr. was born 1 September 1926, at Fairfax, Virginia. I had black hair and my eyes are gray. I enlisted in the U. S. Navy at Washington D.C. on 6 June 1944 and went to boot camp for nine weeks at USNTC Great Lakes, Illinois. After Boot Camp, I was sent to Norfolk, Virginia for six weeks and then I was shipped to USS FRANK E EVANS DD-754 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I was assigned to the torpedo crew. I was there on board 3 February 1945 the day she was commissioned, and when she first got
We left the navy yard for a shakedown cruise with Commander Harry Smith as our captain, one of the best. We stopped at Bayonne, New Jersey to load ammunition supplies. We anchored at Bermuda. We started war training. Then we tied up at San Juan, Puerto Rico and from there headed back to Bayonne to resupply with ammunition. We travelled through the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor, then to picket duty around Okinawa.
After the war ended we went to the Yellow Sea to Manchuria where we picked up Japanese rifles for the men on board. Then we headed back home to San Francisco where we could see the rioting on Alcatraz. We spent 30 days leave there and then I was sent on to Shelton,
I remember a “long arm” shipmate who could swipe bread from the baker’s tray while he unlocked the bread locker. The bread was hot and we added butter. It was better than
A shipmate of mine served on board FRANK E. EVANS for the same period as me. He lived close to me in Warrenton, Virginia. We visited each other quite often. We lost him recently in 2005. He was a real gentleman. His name was Vernon Godfrey.
Sylva currently resides at 301 Tibbs Shop Road, Brightwood, VA 22715. You can reach him at bochsbox@gmail.com or 540-543-2707.
