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Elgin Staples

Supported by His Mother at Home and at Sea

In the night and early morning of August 8 and 9, 1942, Japanese cruisers launched shells that struck the USS Astoria off the coast of Guadalcanal, causing devastating explosions. Serving aboard the ship in support of the landings on Guadalcanal were 19-year-old Navy Signalman 3rd Class, Elgin Staples, and his crewmates. The Astoria’s No. 1 eight-inch turret exploded, knocking Staples into the air and overboard. Dazed and wounded by shrapnel, Staples kept afloat with an inflatable rubber life belt he had donned shortly before the explosion.

The USS Bagley rescued Staples and other survivors and returned to assist the Astoria, which was trying to beach itself in the shallow waters off Guadalcanal. But the Astoria began to list dangerously and finally sank. Still wearing his life belt, Staples ended up back in the sea.
More than 200 crewmen died in the attack and sinking of the Astoria, but Staples survived.

Rescued a second time by the transport USS President Jackson, Staples was evacuated to New Caledonia before getting leave to return home. While on board the President Jackson, Staples examined the life belt that had saved him and noticed that it had been made in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, by the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. Staples also noticed an unusual set of numbers stamped on the belt.

Returning home to Akron, Staples brought along the life belt to show his mother, Vera. According to Staples’s account, written in 2001.

After a quietly emotional welcome, I sat with my mother in our kitchen, telling her about my recent ordeal and hearing what had happened at home since I had gone away. My mother informed me that “to do her part,” she had gotten a wartime job at the Firestone plant. Surprised, I jumped up and, grabbing my life belt from my duffel bag, put it on the table in front of her.

“Take a look at that, Mom,” I said, “It was made right here in Akron, at your plant.”
She leaned forward and, taking the rubber belt in her hands, she read the label. She had just heard the story and knew that in the darkness of that terrible night, it was this one piece of rubber that had saved my life. When she looked up at me, her mouth and her eyes were open wide with surprise. “Son, I’m an inspector at Firestone. This is my inspector number,” she said, her voice hardly above a whisper.

We stared at each other, too stunned to speak.  Then I stood up, walked around the table, and pulled her up from her chair. We held each other in a tight embrace, saying nothing. My mother was not a demonstrative woman, but the significance of this amazing coincidence overcame her usual reserve. We hugged each other for a long, long time, feeling the bond between us. My mother had put her arms halfway around the world to save me.  

The Akron Beacon Journal published Staples’s remarkable story. He and Vera then appeared on a radio program on October 18, 1942. On the program, Staples and Vera spoke about the importance of supporting the war effort. “There are millions of women whose sons are in the fighting forces right now. We’ve got to help them come back. And the best way is to get into war work,” said Vera.

Elgin Staples soon returned to active duty. Vera was honored by the War Congress of American Industry in New York in December 1942 for her “initiative, skill and constructive aid” in industry. Staples survived the war and reunited with his mother afterwards.

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USS Astoria.jpg
USS Astoria
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