Conrad "Cooney" Schwartz operated
a Tavern Down Neck on Ferry Street for many a long year. He had
a great and loyal clientele much impressed with his offerings of
rare and exotic foods for it's time. Always available were pheasant,
rabbit, deer and other game animals which Cooney housed in his back
yard zoo or refrigerator.
Few people understand the tragic event that befell him during
World War Two. He had a son Howard Schwartz a few years younger
than me who hung around with the gang that met in the candy store
next to Engine Sixteen Firehouse on Ferry Street. We all performed
silly teenager pranks, nothing really serious mostly all in fun
nothing destructive.
When Howard reached eligible age he enlisted in the United States
Navy. After finishing Boot Camp he was assigned to the new aircraft
carrier USS Franklin CV-13, a ship of the Essex Class affectionately
known to her sailors as "Big Ben". Finishing shakedown
she transited the Panama Canal and steamed to Pearl Harbor. There
the carrier joined several Task Forces, she saw action at Eniwetok,
Iwo Jima and the Philippines. Off Layte on October she was hit by
a Kamikaze and sailed to Puget Sound Ship yard for repairs.
Returning to the Western Pacific she was on a mission off Honshu,
the main Japanese island when on 14 March 1945 she was hit by two
bombs which penetrated the flight deck and started huge fires, resulting
in the loss of 725 killed and 265 wounded. She was able to stay
afloat and began the long journey back to the Brooklyn Navy Yard
for repairs.
Unfortunately Howard Schwartz was not able to make that voyage
back home, he was one of the many Blue Jackets who made "The
Supreme Sacrifice" that day in March 1945. That's one of the
reasons why "Cooney" helped sponsor the Howard Schwartz-American
Legion Post Number 408.
|
