Travis Cherry of Long Beach, Calif., is on a furlough from the U. S. Navy and is visiting relatives and friends in Edna. This is the young man's first visit home since joining the navy 14 months ago. He was recently promoted to the rank of a first class seaman.

Edna Weekly Herald, Thursday, July 8, 1937
 

Our Boys In Service

When the first USS Houston went down in the Soenda Straits in February, 1942, we mourned the loss of two fine Jackson County boys, Travis Cherry and Elmo Kennedy. Later we were happy to learn that Elmo had been picked up by the Japs and was a prisoner, and later was released in a safe and sound condition. But no word has ever heard from Travis. Elmo said that after they had abandoned the Houston he swam to a life boat filled with soldiers, and that Travis was among them. He talked to Travis for a few minutes and left for another life boat which was not too badly crowded. That was the last ever heard of this Jackson County youth. The letter below to his father shows that the Navy considers him dead. Travis was the first Jackson County boy to give his life for his country in World War II.

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Washington, D. C.

Mr. Eugene Oliver Cherry,
Edna, Texas.

My dear Mr. Cherry::

Your son, Travis Joshua Cherry, Gunner's Mate first class, U. S. Navy, has been carried on the official records of the Navy Department in the status of missing as of 1 March, 1942. He was serving aboard the USS Houston when the ship was sunk during an engagement with enemy ships in Soenda Straits while enroute from Batavia, Java to Tjilatjap, Java.

The Houston engaged the enemy about 11:00 p. m. on 28 February 1942. The night was dark, clear and starlit and the sea was calm. The HMS Perth accompanied the Houston and participated in the engagement but was hit early during the encounter with the enemy and sank almost immediately. During the engagement, hits by the enemy shells on the Houston occurred on the after engine room, breaking the steamline, on the paint locker, setting it afire, on the number two turret, on the number 1.1 gun mount and on the hanger deck. Two enemy torpedoes hit the starboard side approximately abreast the bridge and another hit the port side, the exact location being unknown. The hanger area on the port side was strafed by enemy machine gun fire.

The Houston was afloat for approximately thirty minutes after the damaging hits were received and, therefore, the possibility of all personnel alive being to abandon ship before sinking, was very good. A large number of enemy combatant ships and army transports were present in the enemy area. Personnel who had abandoned the ship were in life rafts, hanging on to floating wreckage and swimming towards shore. Some of the personnel who were seen by survivors in good physical condition in the water in the vicinity where the ship sank, have not been seen or heard from since. It has been reported that the natives of Java were very hostile in some localities.

In view of the additional length of time that has now elapsed since your son was reported missing in action, and because of the strong probability that he lost his life as a result of the shell or torpedo explosions or in the water after abandoning ship, and because there have been no official nor unconfirmed reports that your son survived or was taken prisoner of war, I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that he is deceased. In compliance with Section 5 of Public Law 490, 77th Congress, as amended, the death of your son is, for the purpose of termination of pay and allowances, settlement of accounts, and payment of death gratuities, presumed to have occurred on 15 December 1945.

I extend my deepest sympathy to you in your sorrow. It is hoped that you may find comfort in the knowledge that your son gave his life for his country, upholding the highest traditions of the Navy.

Sincerely yours,
James Forrestal

Edna Weekly Herald, Thursday, January 10, 1946