Resource Type

[Historic Marker Application: Best-Lucas House] (open access)

[Historic Marker Application: Best-Lucas House]

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Best-Lucas House, in Galveston, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, and photographs.
Date: September 29, 2005
Creator: Texas Historical Commission
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Al Jowdy, September 21, 2008 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Al Jowdy, September 21, 2008

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Al Jowdy. Jowdy enlisted in the Navy in July 1942 at the age of 15, with his parents’ consent. His first assignment was pulling bodies out of sunken ships in Pearl Harbor. At Guadalcanal, his ship was torpedoed. Due to the presence of enemy subs, he could not be rescued initially and spent two weeks floating in a raft. Then he joined a rescue effort to aid the USS Wasp (CV-7), only to be torpedoed again, spending another four days in the water. Jowdy was then assigned to the USS Salt Lake City (CA-25), patrolling the Bering Sea and participating in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands as a second loader on a 40-millimeter. After witnessing the Marianas Turkey Shoot and also seeing MacArthur film his famous return, Jowdy participated in the bombardment of Iwo Jima, amidst kamikazes and suicide boats. After the war, he survived a typhoon and served occupation duty in Japan, later transporting troops as part of the demobilization effort before being discharged in January 1946.
Date: September 21, 2008
Creator: Jowdy, Al
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Historic Marker Application: Powhatan and Mattie Wren House] (open access)

[Historic Marker Application: Powhatan and Mattie Wren House]

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Powhatan and Mattie Wren House, in Galveston, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.
Date: September 7, 2007
Creator: Texas Historical Commission
System: The Portal to Texas History