Willard Olson’s Ship, The Kanawha, Sunk In the Pacific
From the Randall Review
Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Olson received a letter Tuesday from their son Willard who is in the navy, and was on the Kanawha, a tanker which was sunk near Guadalcanal on April 7.
They had received a card signed by Willard and dated April 8, stating “I am well.” But it was not until the government made public the sinking of the Kanawha on Thursday of last week that they knew how much “I am well” meant.
Both card and letter came through the Red Cross.
Bill has been in the service since October, 1941, and was assigned to the Kanawha immediately following his boot training. Twice before his ship had been damaged, both times by torpedoes. This time the attack was by planes, twenty-seven of them having been reported to be in the heavy air attack.
The Kanawha was a tanker, carrying over three million gallons of gas.
Following the second time it was attacked, the Kanawha was in port nine weeks for repairs, and Mr. and Mrs. Olson visited their son on the west coast during the winter.
At the time of the second attack, the SOS sent out by the Kanawha was answered by the ship on which Ensign Dorrance Anderson was serving, and he and Bill had a short visit near the Solomon Island by permission of their commanding officers.
Source: The Ellsworth News, Ellsworth, Iowa, May 26, 1943
Willard Ernest ‘Bill’ Olson was born Mar. 16, 1921 to Hiram Irving and Emma Larson Olson. He died Feb. 10, 2001 and is buried in Lawncrest Memorial Park Cemetery, Redding, CA.
Petty Officer Olson served with the U.S. Navy in World War II. He was aboard the USS Kanawha (AO-1) when she was sunk near Guadalcanal by air attack. 19 men were lost in this attack. He also served aboard the USS Arided (AK-73).
Source: ancestry.com
