Leonard D. Ellingwood collection

Leonard Donald Ellingwood was born on April 8, 1918 in Danbury, Connecticut. Ellingwood began his military service in 1936 and underwent recruit training in Connecticut and Rhode Island throughout the year. Throughout 1937, Ellingwood served as a Seaman Second Class on the USS :Cummings and after 1938, Ellingwood performed disbursing work on the USS Tucker as a storekeeper. In 1940, Ellingwood was transferred as a storekeeper to the USS Shaw shortly before it was bombed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. According to Ellingwood: “I heard someone shout, "We’re being attacked." We all ran to our battle stations. Mine was on the bridge.” On top of the Shaw, he viewed the Japanese attacking Battleship Row, where he stated that “one of the most sickening things I watched was the USS Oklahoma capsize. To see this big ship roll over and see it go belly up, knowing hundreds of soldiers could be trapped inside, made me feel ill… made me feel useless.” While Ellingwood ended up in the water after two bombs had struck the Shaw, he spent hours after the attack helping wounded soldiers swim to shore and removing the bodies of his former shipmates.

After surviving the attack on the USS Shaw, Ellingwood served as the Acting Pay Clerk on the USS Dixieand the USSFomalhaut until he attended flight training from 1942 to 1945. Yet in September 1946, Ellingwood joined the Supply Corps -- a career path which remained with him for the rest of his time in the Navy. By the time of his compulsory retirement in 1966, Ellingwood had attained the rank of Commander and his final duty in the service was as a Contracting Officer with the Office of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, USN. He retired on August 31, 1966. After leaving the service, Ellingwood worked at the Newport News Shipyard for an additional 17 years before officially retiring in 1984. Ellingwood passed away at the age of 90 at his home on June 19, 2008, and his ashes were buried at sea off the coast of Virginia at the request of his second wife, Gavin Ellingwood.