Fireman Third Class (F3c) Ira Duane Hudson, United States Navy. Service Number: 2238131

Early Life

Ira Duane Hudson was born on 6 April 1921 in Staten Island, Richmond County, New York. His father, Wesley Patton Hudson, born 27 August 1878 in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York, died 17 July 1953 in Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida, was a Machinist. His mother, Hilvia Charlotte Lawson was born in about 1882 in Chicago, Illinois and died on 7 December 1951 in Staten Island, Richmond County, New York. Ira’s parents were married on 12 August 1899 in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. Ira was the youngest of six children in the family; he had three older brothers and two older sisters.

Military

Ira Duane Hudson enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 23 August 1940 in New York City, New York. After boot camp and additional follow-on training, he was assigned to the Battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48), which was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii when the Japanese attack occurred. He reported aboard West Virginia on 29 October 1940.

On the morning of 7 December, 1941, two bombs hit the battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48), and at least 7 torpedoes, which blew two immense holes in her port side. She did not capsize but sank to the harbor bottom. When the attack was over, 106 of her crew were killed. She was salvaged, repaired, and returned to active service in July 1944.

Death and Burial

Ira Duane Hudson was Killed in Action on 7 December 1941 aboard the USS West Virginia during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal. Initially buried in the Halawa Cemetery on Oahu, Hawaii, he was reinterred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, Section: F, Site: 681 on 24 March 1949.

Sources

https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor-raid/battleship-row-during-the-pearl-harbor-attack/uss-west-virginia-and-uss-tennessee-during-the-pearl-harbor-atta.html

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/636582561/ira-duane-hudson

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3778480/ira-duane-hudson

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=365618

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2590/images/40479_1521003240_0499-00976?pId=1666247

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2324/images/32456_1220705235_0011-00199?pId=38913

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you may contact the author by clicking on this link:
https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=Profile&type=Person&ID=148728 (Mulvanny, Robert (Red) (SBTS Historian), CDR)

Hudson, Ira Duane, F3c