Hometown: Checotah, OK
Branch: U.S. Navy
Unit: U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413)
Military Honors: Silver Star, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: October 25, 1944 - KIA in the Leyte Gulf off Samar Island, Philippine Sea 
Age: 20
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

Born in February of 1924 to a family of sharecroppers in Checotah, Oklahoma, Paul Henry Carr was the only son among eight sisters. He attended Checotah High School where he excelled as a center on the football team.

After working on the farm following graduation, Carr joined the United States Navy and was assigned to a destroyer escort ship, the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) in WWII’s Pacific theater.

As a Gunner’s Mate Third Class, he led a gunnery crew that manned one of the Roberts’ 5-inch gun mounts. In October of 1944, Carr’s ship sailed to the Philippines as part of a small flotilla, looking to protect an amphibious assault and free the islands from Japanese control.

On October 25, off the island of Samar in the Gulf of Leyte, it quickly became clear that the Japanese naval forces were much larger than U.S. Navy planners had anticipated. Before the battle began, LCDR Robert W. Copeland announced to his crew on the Roberts, “This will be a fight against overwhelming odds, from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”

Author Wilfred P. Deac, in the December 1966 issue of American Heritage, writes:

“The over-all Battle for Leyte Gulf, spread across a total area twice the size of Texas, was the greatest sea fight in history. Every element of naval warfare, from submarine to aircraft, was involved. And when it was over, the Imperial Japanese Navy had ceased to exist as a fighting unit. The United States and her allies had undisputed control of the Pacific Ocean.”

The Samuel B. Roberts launched its torpedoes against the Imperial Japanese cruiser Chokai, crippling the enemy ship. To protect the American escort carriers, LCDR Copeland ordered the Roberts’ two 5-inch guns to fire on the Japanese heavy cruiser Chikuma. GM3 Carr and his aft gun crew fired almost all their 325 rounds, causing extensive damage to the Chikuma’s bridge and superstructure.

Enemy shells then struck the Roberts, disabling one of its boilers and cutting power to Carr’s gun, forcing his crew to fire manually until the gun overheated. A breech explosion resulted, killing or wounding Carr’s entire crew. Though mortally wounded himself, Carr refused to leave his gun mount, trying to manually load the last shell until he succumbed to his wounds.

After the order was given to abandon the Samuel B. Roberts, the ship sank into the Philippine Sea, less than six months after being commissioned. Of its 228 crew members, 89 were lost—but not before they played a crucial role in preventing a superior Japanese force from attacking the Allied amphibious invasion fleet.

The heroism and ferocity of the Samuel B. Roberts in one of the U.S. Navy’s fiercest battles is legendary, and the Roberts is referred to in Navy circles as “the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship.”

The full story of the Samuel B. Roberts is conveyed through the memoirs of LCDR Copeland—who survived the battle and later rose to the rank of Rear Admiral—in his book, The Spirit of the Sammy B.

For his bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, GM3 Carr was awarded the Silver Star. His citation reads:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Gunner’s Mate Third Class Paul Henry Carr (NSN: 8497679), United States Naval Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Gun Captain of a 5"/38 Mount on the USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (DE-413), in action against enemy Japanese forces off Samar Island during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, on 25 October 1944. With the power of the rammer lost and mechanical failures in the ammunition hoist, Gunner’s Mate Third Class Carr manned his station steadfastly in the face of continuous close-range fire of enemy guns during an attack by a numerically superior Japanese surface force on the SAMUEL B. ROBERTS. By his outstanding technical skill and courageous initiative, Gunner’s Mate Third Class Carr was instrumental in causing rapid and heavy fire from the gun to inflict damage upon an enemy heavy cruiser. Although mortally wounded by the premature detonation of a powder charge, fired by hand, Gunner’s Mate Third Class Carr tried unassisted to load and ram the only projectile available to that mount after order to abandon ship had been given. His aggressive determination of duty reflected the highest credit upon Gunner’s Mate Third Class Carr and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

The Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame cites LCDR Robert W. Copeland, who wrote to Carr’s wife, Goldie Lee, that Paul Carr “…was one of our most outstanding men…His gun was the pride of the ship’s ordnance department, due not alone to his tireless energy…but due to his inspiring leadership, which shown forth like a beacon during the battle of October 25th. Gun “2” was always the outstanding gun, that day it was superb…from anyway we looked at it Paul was the outstanding example of American inspiration [and] courage on board the Samuel B Roberts that day, a courage and devotion to duty which was with him until his last breath.”

The Navy guided-missile frigate USS Carr (FFG-52), commissioned in July of 1985 and decommissioned in March of 2013, was named in his honor.

Sources
Card Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command
Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame: Paul Henry Carr
The Hall of Valor Project: Paul Henry Carr
Muskogee Phoenix—Three Forks History: Carr Was Local Hero
Historical Database Marker: Paul Henry Carr
Together We Served: Carr, Paul Henry, GM3
American Heritage: The Battle Off Samar
USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) Survivors Association
Navy Vessel Register: CARR (FFG 52)
Burial site: Find a Grave