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James M. Shea

James Shea Story

James M. Shea was a MM1 First Class in the Navy stationed in Pearl Harbor Hawaii before the U S joined in WW2 He was on many Naval Ships but one in particular The USS NEVADA which grounded during the Attack at Pearl Harbor which lead to the U.S. fighting the Japanese and then the rest of the AXIS countries in WW2 He and others got the beach repairing the ship then got it to the beach watching the the Horrific attack on Pearl! A DAY THAT WOULD FOREVER LIVE IN INFAMY!!! He was also on the North Hampton in the Battle of the Coral Sea that was torpedoed and sunk in shark infested waters got rescued by another ship. He then was transferred after that on a Destroyer which also sunk and he was lucky to survive that because he was on deck when a bomb hit the ship he was blown out of his shoes into the water! He was supposed to be working in the engine room 120 degrees where those men met their death. Another sailor traded with him deck duty and if he did not agree to trade I wouldn't be here today!!He stayed in the Navy until March of 1946 and then became a plumber in the Bronx . He then met my grandmother Florence Hust in Queens where they had one son,my father,James M Shea who also served his country in the US Navy from 1963 until 1967 and then become an Account then returned to the Navy in the 80's as a Commissioned First Class Ensign Officer . They moved to Lindenhurst in 1950 where they had 2 daughters and He lived to be 92 years old and my grandmother lived to be 95 They both served their Community kindly volunteering at their Church OLPH All of us in the family miss them both so very much.