The Herald Remembers History

On Dec. 7, 1941, a rather quiet Sunday afternoon, Richard Loose remembers listening to the radio in the living room in his home in Martinsburg, when suddenly the radio program was interrupted to announce that the Japanese had made a surprise sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands.

The attack resulted in the death of 2,400 U.S. military personnel and damaged and destroyed many U.S. Navy ships. In addition, one-half of the United States aircrafts at Pearl Harbor were destroyed on that tragic day.

As Loose listened to that shocking announcement 80 years ago, it never occurred to him that in less than two years, he would be a radio operator in the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor, and he would be contributing to an effort affecting the entire world.

Loose, son of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Loose, graduated from Martinsburg High School in 1943. He was inducted into the Navy on March 1, 1944, at the age of 18. He first spent six weeks of boot training at the Great Lakes Station in Illinois, followed by radio operator training at he Naval Training School in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was transferred to Little Creek, Virginia, for further training, followed by a cross-country train trip to Los Angeles, Calif. There, he boarded a landing ship medium (LSM) for his first cruise to a Pacific port – Pearl Harbor.

After Loose’s stop at Pearl Harbor, he sailed extensively on the Pacific, China and Yellow seas, docking at ports including Guam, Marshall Islands, Okinawa, Inchon (Korea) and Saipan. While in the Pacific, Loose’s ship was involved in three typhoons.

Because the LSM is a flat-bottom amphibious assault ship, it is a rough-riding vessel. In one typhoon, it was blown off course by 200 miles. While at Okinawa, his ship encountered many air raids. At Saipan, Loose remembers seeing the endless stream of B-29s headed to Japan to drop their bombs.

When docked at Saipan, Loose and crew members were training for a massive invasion of Japan. Since the war with Germany ended on May 8, 1945, Loose’s brother, William (Bill) Loose, was also scheduled to be involved in the invasion of Japan, even though he had served extensively with the United States Army in Europe.

On Aug. 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was released over Hiroshima, Japan, causing massive destruction. Loose remembers being awakened by one of his radio operator shipmates telling him the news that a huge bomb developed by the U.S. was released over Japan and that the war would soon be over. This was the best news Loose could have heard.

On Aug. 9, a second atomic bomb was released over Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on Aug. 14, eight days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.

After the surrender of Japan, Loose spent additional time in the Pacific before returning to the U.S. by going through the Panama Canal and up the East Coast to Little Creek, Va. He was discharged from the Navy in June 1946.

After returning to Martinsburg, Loose, who will be 96 years old this month, was employed by the Morrisons Cove Herald for 43 years.

In 1952, he married Louise Kessler of Altoona, who died in 1973. In 1995, he married Christine Carper of Roaring Spring, who died in 2013.

He has one son, Dick Loose of Martinsburg, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

He is a lifetime member of Martinsburg Grace Brethren Church and has the longest membership in the church.

Loose is currently a resident at the Village of Morrisons Cove.