Remember...
Dellet Junior Proudfoot
1918-1942
"Think of him still as the same I say. He is not dead; he is just away."
Inscription on cenotaph for Dellet Junior Proudfoot in Mary's Chapel Graveyard
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Remember...Dellet Junior Proudfoot
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Dellet Junior Proudfoot was born on February 28, 1918, in Barbour County to Dellet T. Proudfoot and Lillian Grace Duckworth Proudfoot. Lillian was known by her middle name, Grace. Dellet was known by his middle name, Junior. Dellet's siblings included Ruby, Isaac, Glen, Leland, Martha, Naomi and Thomas. The family lived in the Pleasant District, near Philippi, and were farmers.
According to articles published after his death, Dellet Proudfoot married Evelyn Corder, but a year is not given. It was she who stood for her husband to receive the medals that he earned for his service. ("Mrs. Proudfoot Gets Purple Heart Award," Philippi Republican, 24 February 1944).
Dellet Junior Proudfoot joined the Navy on December 1, 1937. He was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, for training and was assigned to the USS Boise ("Killed in Action," Philippi Republican, 29 July 1943.) He had served in the Navy for nearly five years when the USS Boise entered the Pacific theater.
According to the World War 2 Facts website, the USS Boise was commissioned in 1938 and was stationed in the Philippines when World War II began. The USS Boise became part of the fleet of Task Force 64. (Mack Dean, "USS Boise [CL-47]," Ships and Submarines, 4 July 2021, accessed 4 July 2022, http://www.worldwar2facts.org/uss-boise.html.)
The Allied goal of early naval campaigns in the Pacific was to stop the progress of the Japanese and take islands then occupied by the Japanese that were likely to provide bases of operations that could successfully reach the United States. Taking the islands further west would provide bases of operations for Allied forces. As part of these campaigns, the USS Boise was part of the fleet that conducted the first and second battles of Savo Island. The second battle was also known as the Battle of Cape Esperance. During the preparation for the battle, the 164th Infantry Regiment was moved to Guadalcanal, protected by Task Force 64 ships, which included the USS Boise and its new improved radar system. ("Battle of Cape Esperance," [Fandom Military Wiki site], accessed 4 July 2022, https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Esperance.)
The Battle of Cape Esperance began on October 11, 1942. On the second day, the USS Boise and another ship turned on searchlights to help the U.S. fleet target enemy ships. The result was that the USS Boise became an easily located target for the Japanese. After a narrow escape from one attack, a second attack against the USS Boise was successful. Two shells from a Japanese ship struck the USS Boise in the main ammunition magazine. Only the ocean waters rushing into the breach stopped the magazine from exploding. The hit killed approximately 100 men, including Dellet Proudfoot. Dellet's body was not recovered, and he was considered lost at sea.
The USS Boise survived the attack. After the fires were extinguished, it rejoined the formation approximately three hours later; however, in the aftermath of the battle, it traveled to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for repairs. The ship became known as the "one ship fleet" in the press because of its successes during the Battle of Esperance.
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Dellet Junior Proudfoot is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery. Although Dellet Proudfoot's body was not recovered, his family chose to remember him with a cenotaph in Mary's Chapel Graveyard in Philippi. Engraved on the memorial is the following:
He volunteered his service and gave his life that others might live. Think of him still as the same I say. He is not dead; he is just away. Dellet Proudfoot's death was announced in the Philippi Republican on July 29, 1943, and a Purple Heart Medal awarded to him and received by his widow in February 1944.  |
Article prepared by Cynthia Mullens
July 2022
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.