Sam Harris Moates has the distinction of being the first Alabama resident who was drafted into the United States Navy during World War II. Born on the 6th of November 1924 in Coffee County, Alabama, Sam was the son of Von David and Callie Mae (McGee) Moates. His Dad, Von Moates, died of illness in 1928. He had five sisters (one died as an infant), and one brother, Von David Moates, Jr. who was in service with the Marine Corps. for four years during WWII.

Sam Moates graduated from Coffee County High School and completed his Draft Registration card on 29 December 1942. He was 5’11” tall and weighed 160 lbs. He was then selected for service in the United States Navy. He was enlisted on the 3rd of February 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama. After training, Moates was first stationed aboard the USS Essex and then on 30 October 1943 was received aboard the USS Lexington.

USS Lexington (CV-16), nicknamed "The Blue Ghost", is an Essex-class aircraft carrier built during World War II for the United States Navy. Originally intended to be named Cabot, word arrived during construction that USS Lexington (CV-2) had been lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The new aircraft carrier was renamed while under construction to commemorate the earlier ship.

After training maneuvers and a shakedown cruise, Lexington joined the Fifth Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The Fifth Fleet was established April 26, 1944, at this time it was Central Pacific Force. During World War II, the carrier participated in nearly every major operation in the Pacific Theater and spent a total of 21 months in combat. Her planes destroyed 372 enemy aircraft in the air, and 475 more on the ground. She sank or destroyed 300,000 tons of enemy cargo and damaged an additional 600,000 tons. The ship’s guns shot down 15 planes and assisted in downing five more.

Covering the Leyte landings, Lexington's aircraft scored importantly in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the climactic American naval victory over Japan. While the carrier came under constant enemy attack in the engagement, her aircraft assisted in sinking Musashi and scored hits on three cruisers on 24 October 1944. The next day, with Essex aircraft, they sank Chitose, and alone sank Zuikaku. Later in the day, they aided in sinking Zuihō. As the retiring Japanese were pursued, her aircraft then sank Nachi with four torpedo hits on 5 November 1944 off Luzon.

Later that day, Lexington was introduced to the kamikaze as a flaming Japanese aircraft crashed near her island, destroying most of the island structure and spraying fire in all directions. Within 20 minutes, major blazes were under control, and she was able to continue normal flight actions, as well as shooting down a kamikaze heading for the Ticonderoga. Casualties were considered light despite the island structure's destruction. Unfortunately, Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class V-6 Sam Harris Moates of Alabama was among those men killed by the crash on board his ship. He died one day before his 20th birthday.

On 9 November, Lexington arrived in Ulithi to repair battle damage while hearing that Tokyo once again claimed her sunk. The Japanese reported the Lexington sunk no less than four times! Yet, each time she returned to fight again, leading the propagandist Tokyo Rose to nickname her “The Blue Ghost.” The name is a tribute to the ship and the crew and air groups that served aboard her. She was the fifth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington. Since 1992, the ship has been docked in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she operates as a museum.

Memorials for Sam Harris Moates are located at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines and also at Enterprise City Cemetery, Enterprise, Alabama. In July of 1946, his mother was awarded his Purple Heart medal.

Sam Harris Moates' name is on the Wall of Freedom war memorial located in Enterprise, Alabama, dedicated “In honor of those who have fallen on the field of battle to protect our freedom”.

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.

SBTSProject/Alabama/Coffee

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Newspapers.com

Wikipedia

https://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=539

https://usslexington.com/about-the-uss-lexington/the-ship/