Fireman Second Class Gene William Hooper
United States Navy, World War II
USS Taylor (DD-468) – USS Kidd (DD-661)
August 8, 2025 - Gene William was born on June 4, 1927, in Los Angeles County, California, to Geraldine Howell and John Brinson Hooper. He was the oldest of four children that included sister Marion (1930), sister Maude (1932), and brother Jon Ben (1935). Gene was less than two years old when the family moved to Shelby County, Texas where his father was employed as an oil field laborer.
Gene was fourteen years old when World War II began on December 7, 1941, following the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As required by law, he registered for the military draft on his eighteenth birthday, June 4, 1945, at the county seat of Center in Shelby County, Texas. At that time, he was working for the Consolidated Steel Corporation in Orange County, Texas. His registration card described him as white, five foot, eleven inches tall, 135 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair.
Two months later and just seventeen days before World War II ended, Gene joined the US Navy on August 16, 1945. Following boot camp, he was received on board the Destroyer USS Taylor (DD-468) on March 31, 1946) Just six months earlier, the USS Taylor, due to her exemplary battle record, had been given the honor of leading the US fleet into Japanese waters and was anchored in Tokyo Bay awaiting the formal surrender of the Empire of Japan. On May 1, 1946, Gene’s navy rank changed to Fireman Second Class, and at the end of May, he was transferred to the Destroyer USS Kidd (DD-661). There he remained until his honorable discharge on August 7, 1946, having served his country for twelve months. Obviously, his early release from active duty was due to the demobilization of troops following the end of the war.
Returning to Texas, Gene worked as a construction foreman in Houston, and on December 20, 1951, he and Miss Louise Beatrice Camazzola were wed in Brazoria County, Texas. They would be blessed with a son, Sam, and a daughter, Frances, along with six grandchildren. They returned to Shelby County at an unknown date and lived out their lives. Gene died at the age of 65 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Timpson, Shelby County, Texas, where Louise joined him in 2012. The day is done, and God is nigh.
Research and biography by Larry E. Hume, VFW Post 8904, Center, Texas. If you can add to Gene’s story, please contact me at chiefhume95@gmail.com.
Sources:
(1): Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 7, Shelby, Texas; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 2342124
(2): National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Texas, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 716
(3): National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, United States; Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 01/01/1939 - 01/01/1949; Record Group: 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1798 - 2007; Series ARC ID: 594996; Series MLR Number: A1 135
(4): National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, United States; Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 01/01/1939 - 01/01/1949; Record Group: 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1798 - 2007; Series ARC ID: 594996; Series MLR Number: A1 135
(5): Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
(6): United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Houston, Harris, Texas; Roll: 2730; Sheet Number: 1; Enumeration District: 263-527
(7): Brazoria County Clerk's Office; Angleton, Texas; Brazoria County, Texas, Marriage Records
