Alec Carson Boatman was born in 1923 in Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., Ar. to Alexander Commodore & Carrie Janette Carson Boatman. In 1947 he married Eudora Jane Rogers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not First Draft Cards - a re-up 1941 USS Tennessee Tennessee was moored in Battleship Row when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. She was not seriously damaged, and after being repaired she operated off the West Coast of the US in 1942. Notice that Alec's brother is also on a couple of the musters along with him. 1942 USS Massachusetts Massachusetts was sent to support Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa, in November 1942. There, she engaged in an artillery duel with the incomplete French battleship Jean Bart and neutralized her. Massachusetts thereafter transferred to the Pacific War for operations against Japan; she spent the war primarily as an escort for the fast carrier task force to protect the aircraft carriers from surface and air attacks. In this capacity, she took part in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in 1943. 1943 USS North Carolina September 1942 USS North Carolina was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine but was not seriously damaged. After repairs, she returned to the campaign and continued to screen carriers during the campaigns across the central Pacific in 1943 and 1944, including the Gilberts and Marshall Islands and the Mariana and Palau Islands, where she saw action during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. USS Massachusetts USS Prince George On 16 December 1943, Prince Georges departed Pearl Harbor on her first Navy operation, which took her to the bloody shores of Tarawa, where she spent Christmas 1943, and New Year's Day of 1944, before returning to Pearl Harbor. In February, she steamed from Pearl Harbor to disgorge men and material on Kwajalein Atoll, Makin Island and Abamama, Kiribati. After a return to Pearl Harbor, Prince Georges was back in the Gilberts and Marshalls in April. She participated, as part of TF 51, in her only invasion - Saipan, 20 to 25 June, returning to Pearl Harbor in July. 1944