Eric Allen Jr – Sacrificed His Life for Our Freedom

Eric Allen was born in Massachusetts on July 22, 1916. From the U. S. 1930 Census, we learn that Eric’s father, also Eric, 38, was minister in the Congressional Church in Bethel, Connecticut. His mother Sarah 37, had five children living at home at this time: Eric, 13, Jimmy, 11, Sally, 10, Patricia, 8 and Benjamin, 4. They lived at 7 South Street, in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

After high school, Eric graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary. From there he became a Naval Cadet in Annapolis. After graduation in 1938, he was commissioned as an Ensign with a service Number of O-081275.

His first duty was to muster aboard the USS Trenton in July of 1938. The USS Trenton (CL-11) was an Omaha-class light cruiser, originally classified as a scout cruiser, of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named for the city of Trenton, New Jersey. She spent most of her pre-war career moving between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Trenton joined the Special Service Squadron in 1934, for a good-will tour of Latin America. In May 1939, she would join Squadron 40-T in protecting American interests during the Spanish Civil War and not return to the US until July 1940, when she carried the royal family of Luxembourg, fleeing from the Nazi occupation of their country.

In November of 1940, Allen was transferred to the **Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, **for flight training. He became a carrier fighter pilot in the F4F Wildcat. The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that began service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlantic, the Wildcat was the only effective fighter available to the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater during the early part of the Second World War.

After flight training, Ensign Allen mustered aboard the carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) in the Fighting Squadron VF-5. This took place in April of 1941 after the Yorktown was transferred from the Atlantic Fleet to San Diego.

From The Rutland (Vermont) Daily Herald June 10, 1941 (Special to the Herald) MANCHESTER, June 9 – News of the heroic rescue yesterday of a fellow Navy flyer, who had crashed at sea off the California coast, by Ensign Eric Allen Jr., formerly of Manchester (VT), has reached friends in the vicinity. According to the information received here, Ensign Allen, swam some 300 yards through breakers to rescue Lieutenant F.T. Corbin, who had crashed into the sea off the North Island Air Station near San Diego. Ensign Allen, aloft in another plane, saw the accident and hastily landed his craft on North Island. Plunging into the surf, he swam to the scene and brought Lieutenant Corbin back to shore, uninjured.

Eric Allen was then assigned to the Fighting Squadron VF-6 aboard the carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6). The USS Enterprise had one of the most fortunate pieces of good luck during the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. They, along with other carriers were out at sea, thus avoiding the surprise air attack. Unaware of the Japanese attack, Enterprise launched eighteen of her SBDs - the CAG's aircraft, 13 aircraft from Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6) and four aircraft from Bombing Squadron Six (VB-6) - at dawn on 7 December to scout an arc extending from the northeast to southeast of the ship, and to land at Ford Island at Pearl Harbor after completing their search routes. As these aircraft arrived in pairs over Pearl Harbor, they were caught between attacking Japanese aircraft and defensive anti-aircraft fire from the ships and shore installations below. Seven SBDs were shot down, either from enemy action or friendly fire, with the loss of eight airmen killed and two wounded.

Enterprise received radio messages from Pearl Harbor reporting that the base was under attack, and she was later directed to launch an airstrike based on an inaccurate report of a Japanese carrier southwest of her location. The strike was launched around 17:00, consisting of six Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters of Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6), 18 Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6), and six SBDs of VB-6.

Unable to locate any targets, the torpedo and dive bombers returned to Enterprise, but the six fighters were directed to divert to Hickam Field on Oahu. Although word of the planes' expected arrival had been broadcast to all ships and anti-aircraft units in the area, the appearance of the Wildcats in the night sky over Oahu triggered panic firing, which shot down three of them, killing their pilots, while a fourth aircraft ran out of fuel, forcing the pilot to bail out.

Tragically, Eric Allen was killed in action on the first day of the attack, December 7, 1941. Fighting Squadron 6 arrived over Oahu during the initial attack on Pearl Harbor and were shot down by the Japanese or possibly by friendly fire. After being shot while still in his aircraft, Lt Allen bailed out at a low altitude over Pearl Harbor and suffered internal injuries. He landed in the oily water near the minesweeper Vireo (AM-52).

Incredibly and with an indomitable spirit, Allen was able to swim, making his way in great pain through the oil and debris past the crippled battleship USS California toward Ford Island. At the Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1938, he had been a strong swimmer. As he passed the minesweeper USS Viero (AM-52), sailors pulled Allen from the oily water and rushed him to the naval dispensary. Only when they tried to clean the fuel oil from him did they realize he had been struck by a bullet. By that time, it was too late and LtJG Eric Allen died at 2:00 a.m. on December 8th.

After his death, he was buried in Halawa Naval Cemetery on Oahu but was later laid to final rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. Eric was awarded a Purple Heart posthumously.

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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 here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Resources:

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=365888

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https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60656/images/32271_1020703348_1814-00014?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=77f10e1c021da23fa833214279bc4e85&usePUB=true&_phsrc=vvO2106&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=9112278

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https://norwalkctheroes.org/2020/07/02/allen/

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https://www.newspapers.com/image/659454260/?terms=Eric%20Allen%20Jr&match=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Trenton_(CL-11)

Allen, Eric, Jr., LTJG