SEBASTIAN — As Veterans Day approaches, Henry John “Hank” Allers is set to turn 99 on Nov. 11, a date that doubles as a tribute to his service in World War II.
The New York native, now living quietly in Sebastian, enlisted in the Navy at 17 and shipped out aboard the USS Walter C. Wann, a destroyer escort that packed serious punch for its size.
Allers described the ship in a recent interview as a small vessel about 380 feet long, equipped with one five-inch mount, six 50 calibers and 20-inch mounts, three torpedoes and six depth chargers to handle submarines, adding that it packed a lot of firepower—his memory still sharp despite the decades.
Allers dropped out of high school at 14 to work at Macy’s, but the call to serve was stronger. He tried joining the Marines at 15, only to get turned away over his teeth. Undeterred, he took a job at a bowling alley, setting pins for 25 cents a game, to pay for dental work.
Allers recalled that his dad had to sign him in because he wasn’t old enough for his eventual Navy enlistment as the war raged on.
He kept a diary through it all, chronicling daily life and battles at sea. One entry from May 2, 1945, notes the ship’s first anniversary in commission at Guam — and word of Hitler’s death.
His most vivid memory? The Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 was a chaotic clash amid a brutal monsoon.
Allers recounted that they were planning to go into the Philippines on the 24th of October, where MacArthur was going to land, but they got caught in a monsoon, with two full days of rolling side to side that saw some ships lose their chimneys and, he believes, one sink from the storm.
The storm eased just enough for the invasion to proceed, with Allers’ ship firing on land targets and downing enemy planes. The Japanese fleet closed in, sinking the lead ship ahead of his.
Allers remembered that they were the first to make it in, with air power coming in to take out one of the Japanese carriers, and that he did a lot of praying.
Discharged after the war’s end, Allers briefly worked in carpentry with his family before returning to the sea in the merchant marine, circumnavigating the globe seven times on oil tankers and even ferrying war brides from Europe.
He married Virginia, and they raised five children — four boys and a girl — in Bellport on Long Island. When she put her foot down on more voyages, Allers switched to law enforcement, serving 20 years with the Marine Bureau as a New York conservation officer.
The couple later moved to Alaska, then Tennessee at their son John’s urging, before settling in Portland in 1985. Virginia died in March 2018 at 92, just shy of their 70th anniversary.
Allers also shared tales of a mysterious plane crash in Alaska carrying rumored Chinese gold, which led to his interview for the book “Flight of Gold” by Kevin McGregor and Marc Millican. Expeditions found wreckage and remains, but no treasure.
These days, Allers treasures his mementos — the diary, photos and artifacts from a life defined by duty and adventure. As one of the dwindling members of the Greatest Generation, his stories serve as a living link to history.
The Sebastian Daily team wishes Allers a happy 99th birthday, and we thank him for his service.
