CRESTVIEW — Albert Flowers, who grew up in Crestview, signed up with the U.S. Naval Reserve on June 14, 1943 at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
He soon was assigned to the U.S.S. Intrepid — an aircraft carrier commissioned Aug. 16 — as a steward’s mate, a position that many black warriors held during the war.
The next year, he made history.
KAMIKAZE ATTACK
In 1944, Flowers, promoted to steward’s mate first class, was assigned an action station as a crewman of a 20-mm. anti-aircraft armored cannon post, or “tub.”
By then, the Japanese had resorted to kamikaze attacks, in which a pilot would crash a plane with explosives into American ships.
On Oct. 29, 1944, as Flowers sprang into action, his duty took on an unexpected intensity.
“When a group of Japanese dive bombers launched a violent attack against the Intrepid and one fanatical pilot attempted a suicide dive on the ship, Flowers remained steadfast at his station, and although it was apparent during the last phase of the dive that the enemy craft would strike the tub, bravely continued his efficient performance of duty until the plane crashed,” Flowers’ presidential citation stated.
“The captain looked up and he saw the Japanese coming and he saw the planes coming right at the boat,” Albert Flowers Jr., the veteran's son, said. “My father ran up there and he grabbed the 20-mm. and he started shooting. He got shot but he just kept shooting. He started shooting and he wouldn’t stop shooting.”
Flowers Jr. said his father told him that he had to lower a seriously wounded comrade out of the tub to be able to man the gun.
“I imagine the captain on that boat knew what my father did,” Flowers Jr. said. “He said he saved them from sure death.”
'HE SAVED AMERICA'
Albert Flowers Sr. was again wounded on March 18, 1945, during the Okinawa Gunto Operation, which preceded the Battle of Okinawa.
After the war, he became a Florala, Ala., police officer, and owned a nightclub called the High Chaparral in Paxton. He died July 15, 2001.
Flowers Jr., said his father was modest about his war experiences.
“He just told me he shot down some planes and he won some medals and he came home and a lot of people were hugging him,” Flowers Jr. said.
Actually, his dad earned the Bronze Star, one of wartime’s highest honors, for action in the Pacific on Oct. 29, 1944.
And Flowers' heroism resounded around the country. Once, at a Chicago restaurant, his son said, he met some World War II Navy veterans. “I asked them if they had ever heard of Al Flowers,” he said. “Would you believe three of them had? ‘He was a real hero,’" they said.
On another occasion, "one lady said he saved America," Flowers Jr. said.
'THAT WAS AMAZING'
Flowers Jr. has purchased a commemorative brick at the Okaloosa County Veterans Memorial to honor his father and his military service. He has invited U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller to the Feb. 21 dedication ceremony, which is open to the public.
The battle during which his father’s heroism may well have saved the aircraft carrier — now a museum ship in New York — still staggers his imagination, Flowers Jr. said.
“How can you imagine — with … all that shouting and shooting and the smoke and noise — imagine being in the face of all that and have the presence of mind to grab a gun, and actually stop what was trying to hurt you,” he said. “That was amazing.”
“By his determined and courageous efforts in the face of almost certain death, Flowers materially aided in diverting the enemy plane from crashing on the flight deck,” Flowers Sr.’s Bronze Star commendation from President Harry S. Truman stated. “His conduct throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”
Albert Flowers Jr.’s praise of his father is a bit simpler.
“To me, he was my hero,” he said.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Brick-laying ceremony honoring World War II Bronze Star recipient Albert Flowers Sr.
WHEN: 10 a.m. Feb. 21
WHERE: Okaloosa County Veterans Memorial on the corner of Main Street and Courthouse Terrace, Crestview
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'He was my hero': Pavement brick to honor WWII Bronze Star recipient