North High School Wall of Honor
Lloyd Eugene Michael
Class of June, 1943
Research done by Claradell Shedd, class of 1953.
Lloyd Eugene Michael
Lloyd Eugene Michael graduated from North High in June, 1943 class. His next of kin was shown as Mr. G.C. Michael living at 3306 Third Street, Des Moines, IA. Lloyd says that before graduating from North High in June, 1943, he was drafted in the US Marine Corps. He finished his high school work and was immediately "drafted" and sent to the US Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar, CA. His service number was 837883.
Lloyd Eugene Michael
Year x Rank/Event x Status
June, 1943 x x x Graduated from North High School
July 30, 1943 x Enlisted/
US Marines
x Drafted while attending North High. He graduated and then was immediately called into the US Marines; *21st Marine Air Group. His paperwork says he enlisted on July 30, 1943 in Des Moines, IA.
date, 1943 x x x San Diego training. US Marine Corps Air Station/Miramar, CA
August 16, 1943 x Award x Awarded Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal
November, 1943 x Enroute x Troop transport via **USS Orizaba from Marine Corps Air Station/Miramar to ***Efate Island, South Pacific
April 22, 1944-
June 1, 1945
x
xx x xx Spent six weeks aboard ship waiting for military approval to proceed to Guam. Did not go ashore. During that 6-week stint, we were running out of food. We were limited to one meal per day. Also, military personnel from other vessels came aboard for food (including my brother, Bobby Max Michael).
Proceeded to Guam to build and secure airstrip. (Agat Bay) Guam Northwest Airfield
date x x x Transport back to Seattle, WA. Then to US Marine Corps Air Station/Miramar, CA
April 1, 1946 x Discharged
Sgt/Tech4
x US Marine Corps Air Station/Miramar, CA
At the time of discharge, his monthly rate of pay was $114.00.
April 28, 1950 x US Marine
Corps Reserves
x In Des Moines, IA, for an indefinite period of time.
date x Civilian x In Des Moines, IA area.
May 12, 2016 x Deceased x Windsor Heights, IA 50324
*Marine Aviation and Training Support Group 21 (MATSG-21)
(MATSG-21) is a United States Marine Corps aviation training group that was originally established in 1922 as the 2nd Aviation Group. During World War II the unit was known as Marine Aircraft Group 21 (MAG-21). Squadrons from MAG-21 fought in many of the opening battles of the war to include the Battle of Wake Island, Battle of Midway and as part of the Cactus Air Force during the Battle of Guadalcanal[1] The group was deactivated following the end of the war and was not reactivated until 2000 when the Marine Aviation Detachment at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida was renamed MATSG-21. The core of the MATSG personnel is derived from 175 officer instructors and 550 student naval aviators/naval flight officers.

MAG-21 suffered 17 casualties and all 21 of their aircraft were destroyed during the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Squadrons from MAG-21 fought at the Battle of Wake Island, Battle of Midway and as part of the Cactus Air Force during the Battle of Guadalcanal but the group itself remained at MCAS Ewa until February of 1943 when they departed for Banika in the Russell Islands. By June 1943, MAG-21's squadrons were fighting large scale operations against Japanese installations in the northers Solomon Islands. The group moved to Efate in November 1943 and remained there until June of 1944. Their final destination during the war was on Guam where they were based from August 1944 until the end of the war.

**USS Orizaba (AP-24)
S.S. Orizaba, a 7652 gross ton (11,293 tons displacement) passenger liner, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company. She was requisitioned by the Navy when nearing completion in April 1918 and, in late May, was placed in commission as the U.S. Navy transport Orizaba (ID # 1536). During the remaining months of World War I the ship made six trips across the Atlantic, carrying over 15,000 American service personnel to France. Following the November 1918 Armistice, Orizaba briefly assisted in repatriating former prisoners of war. Early in 1919 she made the first of nine voyages transporting U.S. veterans home from the former combat zone. In early September 1919, after the completion of this important task, Orizaba was decommissioned and transferred to the U.S. Army. She was later returned to her owners and commenced commercial activity.

USS Orizaba during WWII:
After her reacquisition by the War Department, Orizaba completed one round trip to the Panama Canal Zone. Upon her return, she put in for a refit by the Bethlehem Steel Company at New York. After she was transferred to the Navy on 4 June 1941, she was commissioned as Orizaba (AP-24) on 15 June 1941.

USS Orizaba (AP-24) underway at sea painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 11F, c. 1944Following several months of coastal operations, Orizaba, now armed with two 5-inch (130 mm) guns and four 3-inch (76 mm) guns, departed New York in April 1942 on the first transatlantic run of her second world war. Sailing via Iceland, she steamed to England, Cape Town, Recife, and Norfolk, Virginia, from which she got underway for Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Returning to Norfolk in January 1943, she plied the eastern seaboard for a month, then took up transatlantic duties again. Until July she traversed the ocean to Oran, Algeria, carrying troops over and prisoners of war back to New York.

On 5 July she departed Oran in Task Force (TF) 81. The next day, she rendezvoused with TF 85 and on 9 July stood off Gela, Sicily, disembarking troops into landing craft. On 11 July, she sustained slight damage during an enemy air attack and retired to Algeria with casualties and prisoners on board the next day. She returned to Sicily at the end of the month to discharge troops and cargo at Palermo and then, on the night of 1 August, weighed anchor and stood out for home.

Arriving at New York on 22 August 1943, she underwent an overhaul, then took on runs to Brazil and the Caribbean. At the end of the year she departed the east coast, passed through the Panama Canal, and sailed on to the Southwestern Pacific. After calls at Samoa, Nouméa, Brisbane, and Milne Bay, she returned to the west coast in March 1944, only to depart again for another Central Pacific run. Back at San Francisco in June, she underwent repairs; completed a run to the Marshalls and Marianas; and then sailed north to the Aleutians. Completing her northern run at Seattle, Washington on 1 December, she carried men and supplies to Hawaii, then returned to San Francisco, later sailing to New Guinea, the Philippines, and Ulithi to add men and materiel to forces gathering for the Battle of Okinawa.

From Ulithi, Orizaba sailed east, passed through the Panama Canal again, and, as the battle for Okinawa raged, arrived at Tampa, Florida. Decommissioning on 23 April, she underwent an overhaul and on 16 July 1945 she was transferred to Brazil under the terms of Lend-Lease. The ship was permanently transferred to Brazil in June 1953 and struck from the US Naval Vessel Register on 20 July of that same year. Orizaba received one battle star for her US Navy service in World War II. As of 2008, no other US Navy ship has been named Orizaba.

***Efate Island

Efate is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in The Republic of Vanuatu. It is also known as Île Vate. It is the most populous (approx. 50,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of 899.5 square kilometres (347.3 sq mi) makes it Vanuatu's third largest island. Most inhabitants of Efate live in Port Vila, the national capital. Its highest mountain is Mount McDonald with a height of 647 metres (2,123 ft).
During World War II, Efate served an important role as a United States military base.

U.S.S. Orizaba; (see text above for WWII) Built 1918; To Brazil, 1945.
Efate Island WWII Construction/Agat Bay
Lloyd Eugene Michael
Technical Sergeant 4
21st Marine Air Group
United States Marine Corps

US Marine Corps Insignia
21st Marine Air Group



Marine Air Station; Miramar

Sergeant; Tech4

 Marine Good Conduct Medal awarded August 16, 1943
Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal with Service Ribbon
References
(1) The World War II Army Enlistment Records contain information on more than nine million indivdual enlistments. These records can be found online at http://www.archives.gov/.

(2) The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of North High School graduates can be found online at: http://www.ndmhs.com/. Lloyd Eugene Michael's 1943 class page is: http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1943(2008.65).html.
08/23/10: Lives in IA.Died 05/12/16.
Music: "Semper Fidelis"
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