Family members of the late Martin J. Johnson, a World War II veteran who was killed during the West Loch Disaster of May 21, 1944, visited West Loch Pearl Harbor to honor Johnson and other fallen service members, Feb. 3.
Carol J. Gleason, Johnson’s sister, together with her son, Josh, military service members and Jim Neuman, Navy Region Hawaii historian, gathered together to pay tribute to the victims on the site where the tragedy 73 years ago.
Neuman, who helped organize the event on behalf of the Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs Office, gave a small history lesson for those who were not familiar with the West Loch Disaster.
“On May 21, as they were loading LST 353 (tank landing ship), which is the one your brother was on, an explosion went off on the landing dock. It is not clear what happened or how it happened. As the explosion on LST 353 occurred, several of the other landing craft caught on fire.”
The disaster was the direct consequence of an ammunition explosion. A total of 163 men lost their lives in the disaster, and another 396 were wounded. Of the 34 LSTs in the area, six had been lost completely and several more suffered extensive damage.
“My mother, Marjorie Rundecker, came to Hawaii in the 70s in search of information about her son, Marty,” said Gleason. “Unfortunately, we found out nothing.”
Gleason said, back then, most of the information about the West Loch Disaster was classified. She said her mother, who passed away in 2002, always blamed herself for letting her son Marty join the Navy. Marty was only 17 when he enlisted and he needed his mother’s permission to do so.
“My brother was very patriotic,” said Gleason, “He persuaded my mother to let him join the Navy.”
Gleason visited the Arizona Memorial looking for her brother’s name, but with no luck. She recently discovered her brother was honored, like many of the men who lost their lives during WWII, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. She was very touched when she visited the site.
“I’m thankful to the Navy and to everyone who made our visit to West Loch possible,” said Gleason. “My mother and brother were both devout Catholics and to have a Catholic chaplain here to perform a ceremony, not only for my family but everyone else, is a very emotional experience. ”
Upon arrival at West Loch, Gleason was presented a certificate and a flag that was flown in Johnson’s name, followed by a small religious ceremony performed by Air Force Capt. Hoang Nguyen, a Catholic chaplain assigned to 647 Air Base Group at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
“When I saw the request for the ceremony, I volunteered right away,” said Nguyen. “I was very touched by their story, and it is such an honor to be able to say a prayer here to provide a little peace to the family who has searched for it for such a long time.”
The wreckage of LST 480 still remains visible in West Loch and serves as a reminder of the life lost during the disaster and the heroic actions of those who struggled to save their fellow service members and control the damage.
Cmdr. Chad Teasly, executive officer of Navy Munitions Command East Asia Dvision, said he was very moved by the ceremony in honor of Seaman Johnson, and the Sailors and Marines who died in the West Loch Disaster.
“It was a tremendous honor to have the Gleason family here today,” said Teasly. “We handle weapons all day, every day. In the wake of the West Loch disaster, the Navy took a hard look at the way we handle our weapons and implemented many safety programs in the decades since.”
As a result of lessons learned from the disaster, and despite the continued aggressive pace of operations during the war, the Navy has not had an accident of the same magnitude since the West Loch disaster of 1944.