Everyone has their own memories of former president, but mine is a
little different. My uncle played basketball against Gerald Ford, in
the elevator well of an aircraft carrier during World War II. And I
have the picture to prove it. Naturally, there's an even more
interesting story behind that.

My uncle, Bill Howell, joined the navy right after Pear Harbor
was attacked. In February, 1943, he reported to the Philadelphia
Navy Yard to join the crew of the new light carrier Monterey. He was
the first enlisted member of the crew to report to the ship. Yeoman
Howell became a Chief Petty Officer in January, 1944, at age 24.

The USS Monterey (CVL-26) reached the fleet in Fall of 1943, and was
heavily engaged, but was damaged only in the December 1944 typhoon,
when several aircraft on her hanger deck broke loose, causing
potentially disastrous fires, which were put out with some
difficulty. Future president Gerald R. Ford was later decorated for
his part in the damage control effort. Ford led a team of men to the
hanger deck, where they secured the aircraft, and other large objects
being tossed about.

Commissioned an ensign in the Navy in April 1942, Ford served as a
gunnery officer aboard the light carrier Monterey from 1943 to the
end of the war, earning ten battle stars. He was discharged in
February 1946 as a lieutenant commander.

Ford and my uncle Bill knew each other because CPO Howell worked for
the executive officer (XO) of the ship. That made CPO Howell one of
the more important CPOs on the ship. For example, he handled the
paperwork for all personnel and disciplinary matters. All the ships
officers and chiefs met with CPO Howell frequently because the XO ran
the ship (the captain commanded it), and the XO's chief took care of
a lot of the details.

During World War II, it was not unusual for an able young sailor to
make CPO while still in his 20s or 30s. Thus, on the Monterey, there
arose the tradition of holding basketball games between the chiefs
and the junior officers. Someone took a picture of the play during
one of those games, and that picture made its way into the National
Archives photo collection. Fifty years later, Al Nofi and I were
working on a book about the Pacific War (The War in the Pacific
Encyclopedia), and the publisher (Facts on File) wanted some
pictures. So Al got in touch with the National Archives, and asked
for pictures. One of the pictures he obtained was of some men playing
basketball in the elevator well of the USS Monterey. I knew my uncle
had served on that ship, and one of the players in that picture
looked like him. So while on a trip to Florida, I dropped by and
showed uncle Bill the picture and asked if that was indeed him. He
said yes, and commented in passing, "and that's lieutenant Ford right
there." What a coincidence. Well, it shouldn't have been, as Ford was
a star athlete (football) in college, and was still in good shape ten
years later. So when we sent the picture to the publisher, we added
to the caption, that little footnote on World War II, and
presidential history, that my uncle Bill played basketball with
president Ford.

Uncle Bill passed away ten years ago, having, like Gerald Ford,
survived the war and gone on to live a full life.

Jim Dunnigan