Billy Joe Blair
1925-2002
PHOTO from Fighting Men of Arkansas
Billy Joe Blair was born August 4, 1925 at Kennett, Dunklin Co., Missouri to
Carl Bransford & Nellie Aleva Brown Blair. November 8, 1946 he
married Reva Bernice Hill at Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., Ar. as both were
residents there,
Blly registered for the miiitary draft December 16, 1942 at Fort Smith,
Arkansas. He was working at the Times Record newspaper in Fort Smith at that
time. He enlisted in the US Navy October 6, 1943 and server until December 12,
1945.
His rank was SON 2/c. More can be found about his service in the biography below
and from the Navy muster rolls at the bottom of this page.
Billy Joe Blair passed away September 12, 2001 in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. His
burial was in Gracelawn Cemetery at Edmond, Oklahoma Co., Oklahoma.
Biography from Fighting Men of Arkansas
The Daily Oklahoman
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Sept 14, 2001
Musters below show 2 ships Billy Joe Blair served on,
USS PCS 1422, a Patrol Craft and USS Fulton AS-11. Very little information
was found on USS PCS 1422 but much was found on the USS Fulton.
USS Fulton (AS-11)
From Wikipedia
USS Fulton (AS-11) was the leader of her class of seven submarine tenders.
(A submarine tender is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines.)
Fulton was underway on her shakedown cruise out of San Diego when the Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. She was ordered at once to Panama, arriving on 9
December. During the next month, she established advanced seaplane bases in the Gulf
of Fonseca, Nicaragua, and in the Galapagos Islands, then returned to San Diego to prepare
for Pacific duty. She tended Pacific Fleet submarines at Pearl Harbor from 15 March-8 July
1942, putting to sea during the Battle of Midway. She transported many of the survivors of
the sunken aircraft carrier Yorktown back to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 8 June. She was at
Midway until 17 October; and at Brisbane from 9 November. There she established a
submarine base and rest camp, and in addition to refitting submarines between their war
patrols, acted as tender to other types of ships. Milne Bay, New Guinea was her station
from 29 October 1943 - 17 March 1944, when she sailed for a west coast overhaul.
Returning to Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1944, Fulton gave her services to submarines there
for a month, then at Midway from 18 July-8 September, and then at Saipan until 25 April
1945. She returned to duty at Pearl Harbor from 7 May-9 June, and then sailed for Guam,
where she refitted submarines for the last patrols of the war.
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