textstookeydavidjames1953.html

North High School Wall of Honor
David James Stookey
Class of June, 1953

Research done by Claradell Shedd, Class of 1953.

David James Stookey

Dave graduated in the June, 1953 North High class. His service number was 3247539. David's next of kin was listed as Mrs. Alice Stookey, 1450 Ohio Street, Des Moines, IA.

David James Stookey

Year		Rank		Status

June, 1953		Graduated		Graduated from North High School, Des Moines, IA
June, 1953- May, 1955	x	Employment	x	Iowa Power and Light
to May, 1955	x	Employment	x	Delivery person for Millie's Tenderloin, 2nd and University
1954	x		x	Met Shirley at Reed's Ice Cream, 6th and College
May 23, 1955	x	Enlisted/ US Navy	x	*Enlisted in downtown Des Moines, IA
May 23, 1955- August,1955	x	Training	x	**Completed boot camp. Company 245, Recruit Training Command, USNaval Station, Great Lakes, IL
December 11, 1955	x	Family	x	Marriage to Shirley Stevens, Woodside High School, Class of May, 1955.
1955	x	Training	x	***Norfolk Naval Station, Norfolk, VA
September,1955- May, 1959	x	Stationed	x	****USS Monrovia (APA-31)
December 17, 1956- Mar 1, 1957	x	Training	x	MM "A" Training from December 17, 1956 to March 1, 1957
May 8, 1959	x	US Navy/ Discharged/ MM2	x	Discharged from Regular Navy. Released from active duty and returned to Des Moines where Dave became a member of the Active Ninth Naval Reserve Unit there.
1959-1964	x		x	Iowa Power and Light
May 22, 1963	x	US Navy Reserves/ Discharged	x	Honorable discharge from Naval Reserves through Hdqtrs., Ninth Naval District, Great Lakes, IL
January, 1965	x	Employment	x	American Republic Insurance Company; State Manager, Insurance Sales
1973	x	Employment	x	Globe Life State Manager in Minneapolis, MN
1999	x	Retirement/Civilian	x	Living in MN
August 16, 2016	x	Deceased	x	Apple Valley, MN. Interment: Lebanon Cemetery


*Des Moines Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station (AFEES at KRNT)		***Naval Station, Norfolk, VA	1957: Evaporators making water Cannes, France



	November-India- Delta-Whiskey
****Insignia and photo of USS Monrovia (APA-31)

USS Monrovia; APA-31 Awards, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
Second Row - Navy Unit Commendation - Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba) - China Service Medal (extended)
Third Row - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6)
Fourth Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Fifth Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (3-Lebanon, 1-Cuba, 1-Dominican Republic) - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)

**United States Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, IL
A veteran of two world wars and the Korean conflict, Great Lakes has served primarily as a recruit training establishment--bridging the gap from civilian to military life--by introducing recruits to Naval customs and discipline and preparing them through intensive training for the requirements of Naval service.

During WWII, approximately 1,000,000 Blue-jackets were trained at Great Lakes--about one out of every three in the wartime fleet and twice the number trained at any other installation. At the end of WWII, Great Lakes consisted of approximately 1,000 buildings. Since then, these facilities have been utilized in the continued training of recruits and in the Great Lakes' expansion as an important advanced school center for the Navy.

****USS Monrovia (APA-31)
USS Monrovia (AP-64) was a Crescent City class attack transport of the United States Navy, built from a C-3 Delta commercial freighter design, and was named for the birthplace of President James Monroe, located in Westmoreland County, VA.

Monrovia (AP 64) was laid down as MC hull 152 by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland, 1942-03-26; launched 1942-09-19; sponsored by Mrs. John M. Carmody; and commissioned 1 December 1942-12-01, Capt. C. D. Leffler in command.

Reclassified APA 31 (Attack Transport) on 1943-02-01, Monrovia conducted shakedown and amphibious training exercises in Chesapeake Bay through the winter months of 1943.

Following the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, Monrovia was recalled to active service. Recommissioned 1950-11-30, she joined the Atlantic Fleet’s Amphibious Forces the following spring, 1951, to train for fall operations off Greenland. On 27 December, she departed Norfolk, Virginia for the first of her annual deployments to the Mediterranean, which continued, with few interruptions, until 1967.

Assigned to PhibRon 8, she carried fleet marines while deployed with the 6th Fleet and conducted amphibious exercises with them while operating along the east coast and in the Caribbean. The maintenance of a defensive readiness throughout this period enabled her to react positively during the many intervening crises such as occurred at Beirut, Lebanon, July 1958; Cuba, October, 1962; and the Panama Canal Zone, January 1964. In 1968, Monrovia was again ordered deactivated. Decommissioned 31 October, she was struck from the Naval Register the following day and was sold for scrap.

Great Lakes: David Stookey


Great Lakes: David Stookey	Great Lakes: David Stookey	Great Lakes: David Stookey


Dave Stookey, Garey Bryan	Garey Bryan, Bob Hutchins, Jerry Carper, Dave Stookey


May, 1955: Laundry at Boot Camp	1958: Beirut, Lebanon	David Stookey


Rona, Mitch, Shirley, Dave, Kevin Stookey	Dave and Shirley Stookey

David James Stookey Machinist Mate 2 United States Navy

National Defense; Navy Occupation Medal Good Conduct Medal

References

(1) Information was obtained from the Records on Military Personnel Who Died, were Missing in Action, or Prisoners of War as a result of the Vietnam War. This document can be found online at the National Archives and Records Administration 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/. David James Stookey's 1953 class page is: http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/invite.html.

08/05/13: Currently living in MN. 08/16/16: Died in Apple Valley, MN.

Music: "Anchors Aweigh" by the U.S. Navy Band.