Immortality (December 15, 2017) -- John Andrew Tew II

John Andrew Tew II (1945)

"Immortality Lies in Being Remembered by Family and Friends." -- John D. Tew

My parents are each the eldest child of their respective nuclear families and I am the eldest of their four children as well as the eldest of my generation. When I was born, I was named John David Tew after the brothers of my parents. My mother's brother, David Otis Carpenter, died on May 9, 2005. Today I returned from attending the funeral of my father's brother, John Andrew Tew II. 

My Uncle John was born on October 22, 1926 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He was the second of the three children of Arnold G. Tew, Sr. and his wife, Huldah A. [Hasselbaum] Tew.

John Andrew Tew II (1927)

John Andrew Tew at left holding his dog "Blacky" and
my father holding their sister Priscilla

John grew up in Rhode Island and when WWII broke out he joined the Navy before he completed high school. After his service he attended and graduated from Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts as a member of the Class of 1948.

Seaman John Andrew Tew with his older brother Arnold G. Tew, Jr.
and their sister Priscilla E. Tew (1944)

John served aboard the cargo ship U.S.S. Cybele (AKZ-10) during WWII. He was first received on board April 16, 1945 as a S1c (Seaman 1st Class) and the Muster Rolls show he served on Cybele until at least June 1946.  The U.S.S. Cybele was originally built by Delta Shipping Company in New Orleans and it was launched as the SS William Hackett under a Merchant Marine Commission on October 9, 1944.  It was later transferred to the Navy on November 14, 1944 and underwent some conversion construction at Tampa Shipbuilding Co. in Tampa, Florida.  On April 16, 1945 the ship was commissioned in full as a Navy ship under the command of CDR J.H. Church, USNR. This made my Uncle John a "plank owner" by virtue of being among the first crew after the ship was fully commissioned in the Navy fleet. 

U.S.S. Cybele October 1, 1945 Muster Roll 

U.S.S. Cybele

While John was serving onboard, Cybele departed Galveston, Texas on May 15, 1945, and then loaded general stores at Bayonne, New Jersey, before sailing on June 4^th for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on June 30.  She cleared on July 31 for San Pedro Bay, Philippines where she issued stores to ships until August 21, 1945. Cybele then arrived in Tokyo Bay on August 31, 1945. Cybele provided stores for ships engaged in the occupation of Japan until October 12^th when she sailed to Samar to load cargo for Tsingtao, China. Between December 4, 1945 and January 15, 1946, Cybele issued general stores at various Japanese ports. After reloading at Saipan, she issued cargo to support the occupation troops at Tsingtao and Taku, China, and Jinsen in Korea until April 15, 1946 when she sailed to San Francisco, California, arriving on the 22^nd of May. Cybele was finally decommissioned on August 22, 1946 at Pearl Harbor and, after being towed back to San Francisco, was transferred back to the Maritime Commission for disposal April 24, 1947. Cybele was ultimately scrapped in April 1965. 
   

Gen. Douglas MacArthur signing the Japanese surrender papers (September 2, 1945)

The battleship U.S.S Missouri (“Big Mo” or “Mighty Mo”) had a long history and since 1998 she has been a museum ship at Pearl Harbor. Her place in history is probably most preserved as the location where the surrender of Japan was signed in Tokyo Bay.  The Missouri entered Tokyo Bay on August 29, 1945.  Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and General of the Army Douglas MacArther boarded the Missouri and on September 2, 1945 the unconditional surrender of Japan was signed on the deck of Missouri. As indicated by the operations history of the U.S.S. Cybele above, John was present in Tokyo Bay when the surrender was being signed and when WWII officially came to a long-awaited end! 

When my uncle returned home from the war he completed his education, married and had four children -- two daughters and two sons. He began his ultimate career when he joined S.S. Kresge, one of the largest discount retail store chains in the U.S. during the 20th Century. Kresge stores were the foreunners of what became Kmart in 1977 and eventually, in 2005, Sears Holdings Corporation (parent of both Kmart and Sears) after Kmart bought Sears. John worked his way up within Kresge/Kmart at stores in New England and New Jersey and also at locations in Indiana and Pennsylvania. He retired from Kmart. 

John Andrew Tew II at right with his brother Arnold and sister Priscilla (2008)

My Uncle John died at age 91 on December 8, 2017 -- 76 years and one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor that resulted in his enlistment in the Navy and his service in WWII. He was interred yesterday afternoon at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Newtown, Pennsylvania. 

REST IN PEACE UNCLE JOHN!

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Photos of USS Cybele and of the surrender aboard USS Missouri from U.S. Government photogrphers and thus in the public domain.

John A. Tew's class portrait and biography from the Cushing Academy yearbook, the Penquin 1948.

All other photos in the personal collection of the author.

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Copyright 2017, John D. Tew

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