Oscar Duane Plunkett
1920-2000
Oscar Duane Plunkett was born February `10, 1910 at Greenwood, Sebastian Co., Ar.
to Oscar Hampton & Ina Victoria Gilliam Plunkett. He married
Marie Earmadene Spearman September 3, 1940 in Sebastian Co., Ar. They
divorced April 25, 1946 at Greenwood, Sebastian Co., Ar. His 2nd marriage
on December 24, 1948 was to Catherine Bridges from Greenwood, Arkansas.
Oscar registered for the military draft July 1, 1941 at Long Beach, California
where he was living at that time. He enlisted in the US Navy November 7, 1942.
His discharge date has not been found. January 1945 was the last muster report found.
His last rank was Momm1 or Motor Machinist's Mate 1st Class Petty Officer.
Oscar Duane Plunkett passed away December 29, 2000. His burial was in Liberty
Cemetery at Greenwood, Sebastian Co., Ar.
Hawaii, 1942
USS Vega remained in the Hawaiian Islands until 3 January 1942, when she got underway with a cargo of civilian
automobiles and pineapples. She arrived at San Francisco 10 days later and soon entered Mare Island Navy Yard for refit.
She returned to Hawaiian waters on 10 March. After detaching her tow, Progress (AMc-98), and unloading construction gear,
the cargo vessel loaded another cargo of pineapples and civilian dependents' gear and got underway for the west coast on 20 March.
Aleutian Islands, 1942-1944
Transferred to the operational control of Commandant, 13th Naval District, Vega departed San Francisco for Tacoma, Washington,
on 9 April. From then until 9 January 1944, the cargo vessel operated out of Tacoma and Seattle, carrying vital construction materials
and supporting American operations against the Japanese invaders in the Aleutian Islands. On one run, delivered a cargo
of naval stores and ammunition, as well as some 20 mm anti-aircraft guns for the garrison at Dutch Harbor - only a few days before
the devastating bombardment of that base by a Japanese light carrier strike force in early June 1942.
Supporting Pacific operations, 1944-1945
The ship returned to San Francisco early in 1944 and was soon assigned to Service Squadron (ServRon) 8. During the next year, the cargo
vessel supported three major amphibious operations - in the Marianas, the Western Carolines, and at Okinawa - carrying supplies and
construction materials to assist the "Seabees" in establishing the advance bases necessary to the smooth operation of the Fleet.
She picked up her first load of pontoon barges at Pearl Harbor and got underway for the Gilbert Islands on 31 January. However,
her orders were changed en route, sending her to the Marshalls. She arrived at Kwajalein Atoll on 6 March, unloaded the barges,
and returned to San Francisco for another load. Departing San Francisco on 18 May, she unloaded at Guam before steaming back to
the Russells to pick up another load at Banika Island.
On 23 October 1944, Vega commenced loading empty brass powder cans at Ulithi in the Carolines, while her embarked "Seabee" battalion
- the 1044th - assembled self-propelled barges brought out in SS Claremont. Subsequently, the cargo vessel sailed for Eniwetok where
she took on board another load of brass casings, heading for Pearl Harbor on 30 December, en route to the west coast. She made port
at San Francisco, a familiar terminus for the ship, on 18 January 1945. Vega departed the west coast with another load of barges on
9 March bound, via Eniwetok and Ulithi, for the Ryukyus. Dropping anchor off Okinawa on 13 June, Vega began assembling pontoon barges;
and, three days later, during a Japanese air raid on her anchorage, the cargo vessel shot down a twin-engined bomber before its pilot
could drop his bombs.
Departing Okinawa on 6 July, the cargo vessel sailed, via Pearl Harbor, for the west coast and arrived at San Pedro soon thereafter.
Offloading empty brass picked up at Pearl Harbor, Vega transported a cargo of dry stores to San Francisco.
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