FREE ESSAY ON HISTORY OF AMERICA

HISTORY OF AMERICA

In studying the history of America's development from a colonial nation to the modern
world power of today, it is necessary to pay special attention to the several major wars
the United States was involved in. These wars varied in severity ranging from "minor"
skirmishes such as the Spanish American war, to more costly conflicts. Costly in terms of
money and loss of life, the Civil War, Vietnam, and both World Wars left lasting
impressions on the people who endured them. These wars often defined entire generations
of Americans. More often than not, everyone alive in each of these major campaigns was
somehow affected in the war. Some served in the military, some worked in the factories
that made weapons, while others had relatives who actively participated in the war
effort. Recently, the topic of World War II has become a "hot topic" for Hollywood
filmmakers. Movies such as "Saving Private Ryan", and "The Thin Red Line" used graphic
scenes of violence and depictions of the hardships of the average soldier on the front
line in ways previously unseen in prior World War II movies. The goal of the directors
was to remind the younger generations of the bravery and selflessness of the soldiers who
served in World War II. The soldiers in these movies were purposely portrayed as a group
of men from diverse backgrounds who came together to fight for a common cause. These
soldiers were also depicted as average men, not the superhuman men portrayed in earlier
films, of which John Wayne is an example. Yet in these movies, these "average men" were
the ones who committed the greatest acts of bravery. In conducting my interview, I
realized that this depiction was not far off the mark. The subject of my interview was a
man by the name of Richard Albert Lockyer. He is the Grandfather of my girlfriend. He
lives in Brewster, Massachusetts, in a small beachfront community of fellow retirees. My
previous knowledge of his World War II experience was very limited. All I knew was that
he served on a battleship. After interviewing him, I was amazed to hear just how
extensive his World War II experience was, and felt honored to know a man who had risked
so much for his country.
Richard Lockyer joined the Navy on Washington's Birthday in 1942. Much the same as many
others of his generation, he volunteered for service. He finished his military duty on
Christmas Eve in 1945. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Second-Class Quarter
Master. For his service he received six medals. Four were for service in several
different campaigns. One was a Victory medal, and the final medal was for good conduct. I
asked him if this was because of his exemplary behavior, and he replied that he was just
good at not getting caught. His assignment on the ship was standing watch on the bridge
for his first year of service, after which he was in charge of steering the ship for the
next two years. His ship, a destroyer by the name of U.S.S Hambleton received seven stars
for battle.
After completing Basic Training, Richard Lockyer was assigned to serve on the U.S.S
Hambleton. The first mission assigned to the Hambleton during Mr. Lockyers' time of
service was that of convoy duty in the North Atlantic, beginning in 1942. This was an
extremely important assignment. World War II was a war unlike any other war before it.
New advances in technologies, weaponry, strategies, and tactics changed the face of
warfare immensely. Supplying the giant armies who used these items was as important to
success as winning battles. Winning a battle meant nothing if it was not possible to
supply the soldiers and keep them in place. The North Atlantic was a main supply line for
the allied forces in World War II, as well as the main supply and transport route between
America and Britain. The Atlantic was also basically the main route for America to enter
Europe with troops, supplies, and munitions. Knowing this, Germany realized that in order
to starve Europe, especially Britain, control of the Atlantic was crucial. All of the
oil, weapons and food supplied to Britain from America could be sent to the bottom of the
ocean very easily. The main transport craft for these goods were American merchantmen.
These ships were not made for battle, and soon proved no match for German U-boats.
Millions of tons of American supplies were sent to the bottom of the Ocean. This became
so rampant that Roosevelt amended the Neutrality acts and allowed U.S battleships to be
used as escort convoys. At first, even these armed convoys proved ineffective. Their
methods of fighting were obsolete in dealing with the smaller, faster German U-boats. The
old method of convoy fighting involved the battleships waiting for the German U-boats to
attack. This was ineffective for several reasons. One was that the German U-boats often
attacked in teams called Wolfpacks. They were united under one commander, as this made it
easier to command a large fleet. The battleships often had several different commanders,
and this made it harder to organize an effective counter-attack. Another reason the
convoys were ineffective was their method of fighting the U-boats. The battleships were
made for long-range combat, and were not as mobile as the U-boats, who used speed and
concentrated close range attacks to win the sea battles. Several changes were made in the
traditional method of fighting these U-boats. Radar was used, new torpedoes that could be
launched over the side of boats were utilized, and the battleships began aggressively
pursuing U-boats, instead of waiting for attack. The Hambleton was one of the ships that
was primarily used in the latter fashion, that is as an attacker.