VFW Post in Albion named for Carl Strickland, killed in naval battle in 1942

Strickland VFW Post #4635 is located at 38 North Platt St. in Albion.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No.29

ALBION – On August 8-9, 1942, the first major naval engagement between the Allied Naval forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy took place in the South Pacific Ocean, near Guadalcanal.

Thus, this weekend marks the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Savo Island. It has since been described as one of the worst defeats in U.S. naval history. Three American cruisers: Astoria, Quincy and Vincennes and one Australian cruiser, Canberra, were destroyed. Almost 1,000 lives were lost.

Ensign Everett C. Strickland, 1918-1942, for whom the Albion VFW Post is named.

Ensign Everett Carlton “Carl” Strickland of Waterport was aboard the Astoria on the night of August 9. He was on the stern of the ship when it was hit by numerous torpedoes and gunfire from enemy planes.

Captain William Greenman, the ship’s captain, later reported that: “Ensign Strickland, in the heat of battle, recognizing the danger from the planes on the deck being hit by enemy shells, attempted to take off in one, but found that the mechanical releasing devices had been damaged. He then was attempting to shove the plane over the side with his own hands when he was fatally cut down by fire from a Japanese aircraft.”

Ensign Strickland had just celebrated his 24th birthday. Born in Carlton in 1918, he was the son of Everett Strickland and Elizabeth Tuttle Strickland. His father was employed by Bell Aircraft in Buffalo and his mother worked at the Albion State Training School.

Strickland graduated from the Waterport school in 1934, attended Lehigh University and enlisted in the Naval Reserve Air Force in 1941. He completed his training in Jacksonville, FL. in October 1941 when he received his gold wings and ensign’s commission. He remained at Jacksonville as an instructor for several months but requested to be transferred to active duty immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941). He spent a two-week furlough at home and was called into active service on February 1, 1942.

News of Ensign Strickland’s death in action “some time within the last two months” was not communicated to his parents until September. Reports of the incident did not appear immediately in the press. Analysis of the event continued for some time, as is evidenced by the following headline in The Buffalo News of December 7, 1946:

“Battle of Savo Island: Our Worst Sea Defeat, But Foe Muffed Victory”

Ensign Strickland had the rare distinction of having a U.S. Navy ship, a destroyer escort, named in his honor. The USS Strickland (DE-333) was launched in Orange, Texas on November 2, 1943, by the Ensign’s mother, Mrs. Everett Strickland and was commissioned on January 10, 1944. A plaque bearing a citation tribute to Strickland was placed on the ship and a photo of him was placed in the captain’s cabin. The USS Strickland was in service from 1944-1946 and from 1952-1959.

Ensign Strickland’s death was Orleans County’s first naval air force casualty of the war. An Albion post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars had been organized in 1946. On March 10, 1947, Thomas Hunt, Post Commander, announced that it would be named in Strickland’s honor.