Robert E. De Vine

Robert E. De Vine was born in November 1924, in Plainfield, New Jersey. He served with the US Navy as a Second Class Motor Machinist Mate during World War II, from 1942 to 1945, in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, De Vine was fifteen years old. He was sixteen years old when Italy declared war on England and France in 1940. De Vine recalled hearing about those events through the newspapers and media of the day, but said he did not think much about them. The day after Sunday, December 7, 1941, he recalled being in school and hearing about the bombing at Pearl Harbor on the radio. At the time, De Vine was only seventeen and did not imagine he would join the war effort. Still, the war was a frequent topic of conversation in high school.

When asked about shortages in food and other necessities during the war, De Vine recalled that there were shortages of sugar and gasoline which led to rationing. He graduated from high school in June 1942; and, later that summer, in August 1942, he enlisted in the navy. De Vine was only seventeen years old when he joined the military. Many of his peers were enlisting, and he thought he could help the war effort.

Right after enlisting, De Vine was sent to boot camp at Newport, Rhode Island, where he had to pass a physical exam, receive a crew cut, and get several vaccination shots. He then spent six weeks in Basic Training at Newport, tying knots, marching, and using rifles. Following Basic Training, De Vine was sent to Florida, where he was assigned as a Motor Machinist’s Mate on a sub-chaser patrolling the coast of Florida and Georgia.

In January of 1943, De Vine’s ship was accidentally sunk by a Coast Guard cutter off the coast of Florida. It was an extremely foggy night, and procedure dictated that all boats patrolling the area had to keep their lights off, so as not to be seen by enemy submarines. Due to this lack of visibility, the Coast Guard ship hit theirs and sunk it. De Vine was rescued and sent home to recuperate for about a month, where he temporarily returned to civilian life. After returning to active duty, he was assigned to the battleship USS Alabama, as the ship needed Motor Machinist Mates, the specialty in which he was trained.

De Vine was transported on the USS Indiana to Sacramento, California, where he boarded the USS Alabama. Since they were sister ships, he became familiar with the vessel and its inner workings on his voyage, recalling that the ships were exceptionally large, with mounted 16-inch guns. Once aboard the USS Alabama, his duties included working with diesel engines for auxiliary power and air compressors, and other electrical jobs. He also recalled that there were over 2,000 crew members on board the USS Alabama. 

De Vine became close with a few men on board and stuck with them most of the time. He noted that he did not get seasick, save on one occasion, but did admit that it took him a couple of weeks to get his “sea legs.” A typical day at sea for De Vine involved taking turns firing boilers or keeping propeller watch. He noted that if he was working, most of the time he did not have time to eat a proper meal, so had K-rations. In their spare time on board, De Vine and his crewmates played chess or cards to keep themselves entertained.

At sea, De Vine recalled that the weather could be either exceptionally good or bad. He mentioned that once the Alabama was hit by a typhoon in the South Pacific near the Philippine Islands, while he worked in the hot and noisy engine rooms of the battleship. Towards the end of the war, De Vine recalled that Allied ships and aircraft from other countries would cruise along with them.

When asked about what type of Japanese weapons De Vine encountered, he remarked that it was aircraft like bombers and kamikazes. While he spent most of his time in the bowels of the ship, he recalled that he would hear about the Kamikaze suicide planes from crewmates who spent their time in the upper parts of the ship. One time De Vine recalled that he was told that a Kamikaze flew directly over their ship, but that it was aiming for the aircraft carriers.

De Vine recalled that somewhere off the Philippines, the fleet encountered five hundred enemy aircraft flying all over the place, which is why he referred to this incident as a “hornet’s nest.” He recalled that they shot down about four hundred of those planes, and did not lose any ships in the attack. On another occasion, the ship was put on alert for about eighteen hours; De Vine had to pull a double shift, which exhausted him so thoroughly that he slept through a subsequent Kamikaze attack. In total, his ship participated in nine battles, which meant that it earned nine battle stars. When asked about his feelings on the atomic bomb drop, De Vine remarked that he and his crewmates were glad, because it saved a lot of lives.

De Vine thought that visiting Japan was one of the most interesting moments of his time in service. It was after Japan had surrendered, so he remarked how it was interesting to be in the country that had been their enemy for a while. On shore leave during the war, De Vine also visited the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. About a third of the crew went on shore leave, yet only spent a few hours on land to take in the scenery of the palm trees and coral reefs.

After the war ended, the USS Alabama returned to California, and De Vine went home to Long Island, New York, receiving his discharge from the navy in December 1945. As a result of his service, he received various service awards and ribbons, including the Navy Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon, Golden Dragon Commemorative Ribbon, and Philippine Liberation Ribbon.

When asked if any relatives or friends had died during the war, De Vine remarked that several of his friends in the army were killed during fighting in Europe. When he was asked about what advice he would offer future generations about war, he said, “Stay out of them [wars]. Keep peace.”

Robert E. De Vine passed away on November 23, 2017, at the age of 92.