Abner James Dunn
October 23, 1922 ~ November 23, 2020 (age 98) 98 Years Old
Obituary
Abner James “A.J.” Dunn, 98 of Floresville, Texas passed away on 23 November 2020 peacefully at his home with his loving wife, Grace, by his side. A.J. Dunn was born in Corpus Christi on 23 October 1922. He dropped out of high school and tried to join the Navy at 17 but was not allowed to join until October 1940.
A.J. is preceded in death by his parents Rufus & Ruby Dunn; wife of 60 years Claudine Dunn; brother Bill Dunn and sister Mary Dunn Cutler. A.J. is survived by his wife Grace Dunn; daughter, Geneva Dunn Thorne; grandchildren, Kim Thorne and Jennifer Parker; great-grandchildren Joshua and Matthew Thorne (Kim) and Ryan, Mary and Bradley Parker (Jennifer); great-great-grandchild, Christopher Parker; Grace’s children Richard, Wayne, and Roger Moehrig.
A.J. had many jobs! Paperboy, field hand, US Navy Sailor, appliance store owner, residential home builder. Moved to Floresville to retire from home building but then build 22 additional homes. A.J. had a passion for sailing his 35ft Catalina named Sea Foam, as well as fishing and traveling the United States in his RV while playing dominos along the way which he was very skilled at.
Services for A.J. will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at Seaside Memorial Park.
The Pearl Harbor story of A.J. Dunn – Pearl Harbor Survivor
He was assigned to the USS OGLALA, a mine layer that was anchored at Pearl Harbor.
7 December 1941: Holiday routine was the order of the day aboard the 96 ships in harbor, for the first time since the 4th of July all the battleships were in harbor. Seaman First Class A.J. Dunn was returning rom leave as he had spent 5 days in Honolulu doing his Christmas shopping.
At 7:55 AM planes suddenly flashed overhead. As bombs began to fall and the wakes of torpedoes crisscrossed the harbor; the innocence of the day was shattered. A.J. Dunn and some of his buddies grabbed a taxi and started for the base. At the gate, the taxi driver paused only long enough for the sailors to disembark before wheeling his vehicle around and racing for safety. Dunn’s ship, a mine layer, the OGLALA, was at the pier several blocks from the gate. He and the others, still in their white liberty uniforms, started to run down the street. A Japanese pilot seeing this tempting bevy of white uniforms dropped down and opened up with machine guns. Sailors hit the dirt and sought shelter in a shallow ditch. As the plane flashed overhead, a Chief Petty Officer shouted, “Up boys, there’s 2 destroyers on fire in the dry-dock.” A.J. Dunn and his buddies found themselves on the working end of a fire hose, desperately trying to save a couple of sister ships. As the flames approached the depth charges on the fantail and the torpedoes amid ships, they were ordered clear just before the world exploded. He barely missed being hit by shrapnel.
Finally reaching his own ship, he found her sunk and turned turtle. A torpedo had passed under her to strike the cruise HELENA. The resulting explosion ruptured her bottom plates giving rise to the story that the old OGLALA had sunk from pure fright!!
Seaman First Class A.J. Dunn whose own ship was sunk, raced down the pier, and leaped onto the deck of a destroyer that was getting underway. The Captain yelled out “Strip Ship for Action.” He had never heard of that, but it meant anything that could burn had to be thrown off. At that moment, he thought “I’m never coming back.” Down into the magazine he went, to serve as a shell handler. As a deck sailor, he had never seen a power hoist before, but he figured it out and helped keep projectiles moving up to the guns. They did not encounter enemy action, but they did sink one submarine. At the moment and for the next 6 days the only things in the world that A.J. owned were the white liberty pants and skivvy shirt. His jumper and cap had been lost in combat along with all of his other possessions.
When the attack ended shortly before 10:00 that morning, 18 ships were sunk or seriously damaged. 188 Army Air Corps and Navy planes were destroyed; an additional 128 Army and 31 planes were damaged. 2,403 men and women were killed. If this were the end of the story the 7th of December would not only be a day of infamy, but it would also be an overwhelming tragedy. A.J. Dunn is a survivor. As a young man in the midst of the shock of an unexpected attack reached inside of himself and found the courage to carry on. A.J. continued to serve for 5 more years on 6 different ships. He has many stories that he gladly shares for all those interested.
A.J. is preceded in death by his parents Rufus & Ruby Dunn; wife of 60 years Claudine Dunn; brother Bill Dunn and sister Mary Dunn Cutler. A.J. is survived by his wife Grace Dunn; daughter, Geneva Dunn Thorne; grandchildren, Kim Thorne and Jennifer Parker; great-grandchildren Joshua and Matthew Thorne (Kim) and Ryan, Mary and Bradley Parker (Jennifer); great-great-grandchild, Christopher Parker; Grace’s children Richard, Wayne, and Roger Moehrig.
A.J. had many jobs! Paperboy, field hand, US Navy Sailor, appliance store owner, residential home builder. Moved to Floresville to retire from home building but then build 22 additional homes. A.J. had a passion for sailing his 35ft Catalina named Sea Foam, as well as fishing and traveling the United States in his RV while playing dominos along the way which he was very skilled at.
Services for A.J. will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at Seaside Memorial Park.
The Pearl Harbor story of A.J. Dunn – Pearl Harbor Survivor
He was assigned to the USS OGLALA, a mine layer that was anchored at Pearl Harbor.
7 December 1941: Holiday routine was the order of the day aboard the 96 ships in harbor, for the first time since the 4th of July all the battleships were in harbor. Seaman First Class A.J. Dunn was returning rom leave as he had spent 5 days in Honolulu doing his Christmas shopping.
At 7:55 AM planes suddenly flashed overhead. As bombs began to fall and the wakes of torpedoes crisscrossed the harbor; the innocence of the day was shattered. A.J. Dunn and some of his buddies grabbed a taxi and started for the base. At the gate, the taxi driver paused only long enough for the sailors to disembark before wheeling his vehicle around and racing for safety. Dunn’s ship, a mine layer, the OGLALA, was at the pier several blocks from the gate. He and the others, still in their white liberty uniforms, started to run down the street. A Japanese pilot seeing this tempting bevy of white uniforms dropped down and opened up with machine guns. Sailors hit the dirt and sought shelter in a shallow ditch. As the plane flashed overhead, a Chief Petty Officer shouted, “Up boys, there’s 2 destroyers on fire in the dry-dock.” A.J. Dunn and his buddies found themselves on the working end of a fire hose, desperately trying to save a couple of sister ships. As the flames approached the depth charges on the fantail and the torpedoes amid ships, they were ordered clear just before the world exploded. He barely missed being hit by shrapnel.
Finally reaching his own ship, he found her sunk and turned turtle. A torpedo had passed under her to strike the cruise HELENA. The resulting explosion ruptured her bottom plates giving rise to the story that the old OGLALA had sunk from pure fright!!
Seaman First Class A.J. Dunn whose own ship was sunk, raced down the pier, and leaped onto the deck of a destroyer that was getting underway. The Captain yelled out “Strip Ship for Action.” He had never heard of that, but it meant anything that could burn had to be thrown off. At that moment, he thought “I’m never coming back.” Down into the magazine he went, to serve as a shell handler. As a deck sailor, he had never seen a power hoist before, but he figured it out and helped keep projectiles moving up to the guns. They did not encounter enemy action, but they did sink one submarine. At the moment and for the next 6 days the only things in the world that A.J. owned were the white liberty pants and skivvy shirt. His jumper and cap had been lost in combat along with all of his other possessions.
When the attack ended shortly before 10:00 that morning, 18 ships were sunk or seriously damaged. 188 Army Air Corps and Navy planes were destroyed; an additional 128 Army and 31 planes were damaged. 2,403 men and women were killed. If this were the end of the story the 7th of December would not only be a day of infamy, but it would also be an overwhelming tragedy. A.J. Dunn is a survivor. As a young man in the midst of the shock of an unexpected attack reached inside of himself and found the courage to carry on. A.J. continued to serve for 5 more years on 6 different ships. He has many stories that he gladly shares for all those interested.
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