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Bill Wray Sees Naval Action In Two Wars
Best Remembers Helping
Young Boy
By Paul Culp
Bill Wray, 83, a North Dallas resident, volunteered
for the Navy in 1942. He left
San Francisco aboard the US Navy
Destroyer USS Tingey shortly thereafter. He
saw continuous action in the Pacific
throughout WWII. His ship supported landing
assaults from Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima,
Saipan, and Tinian to the Marshall Islands.
Kamikaze attacks were frequent problems.
He was constantly at sea for over three
years, finally touching land when his ship
made Tokyo Bay after the war. In 1946 he
became a civilian and went back to his
home town, Chicago…for a short while.
Bill was recalled in 1950 for the Korean
War. That year he joined the crew of the
heavy cruiser USS Helena (CA 75) as
Gunners Mate 3rd Class. The ship had 8
inch, 5 inch and 20 mm and 40mm guns.
Once again Bill sailed from San Francisco
to serve his country.
The Helena, the third ship named in
honor of Helena, Montana, went into action
on April 2, 1951, firing more than 35,000
rounds at the Communists along the Korean
Coast during a long tour of duty. During the
ship’s eight month tour, the Helena took two
direct hits on its decks from shore batteries.
One of the hits tore a 4ft x 4ft hole in her
main deck. The ship remained in action and
continued firing on both occasions. As part
of Task Force 95, Helena received the
Korean Presidential Unit Citation, awarded
by President Syngman Rhee of the Republic
of Korea.
The ship headed home to Long Beach,
California from Korea in December, 1951.
On the way home the crew decided to collect
money to help a deserving, disadvantaged
young person from Helena, Montana.
The Helena Chamber presented several
choices and the sailors selected seven-yearold
Terry Wayne Ellis.
Wray’s story ended here. He had no idea
what happened to young Ellis, but he would
love to know. So a search of Ellis’s in
Helena found a Terry Ellis, but no answer to
the phone number listed. It might not be the
right Ellis. The story in a 1951 newspaper
clipping from Long Beach listed a Mr. and
Mrs. Ralph Samson as foster parents.
USS Helena (CA 75)
“Of all my war experiences I will never
forget the look on the boy’s face as he
stood at the wheel of the ship and
‘steered’ the Helena,” said Wray, who
posed in a picture with Terry that
appeared in the press world wide.
Checking the name found Ralph
Samson, unlisted. So I called another
Samson at random. A Lucille Samson
answered. She was not a relative, but knew
that Ralph was dead, but his wife was still
living. She was at her Helena home just for
a few minutes before returning to her lake
home, but she would love to try and find
more information. In fifteen minutes she
called back with Mary Samson’s phone
number and the phone number of the place
where Terry Ellis worked.
A call to the Country Club where Ellis
worked got a return call from Terry Wayne
Ellis. Then, a call reached his “mother,”
Mary Samson, alive and well. She confirmed
what Ellis had said. Ellis is now
nearly 64 years old. He has lived in various
places around the U.S., but he returned to
Helena about 14 years ago. This is his story.
Terry Wayne Ellis had been abandoned
by his mother at birth in California. He
never knew his father, who died. Ellis suffered
from serious intestinal problems that
required special treatment not available in
California at that time. As a ward of the
state, he was sent to a hospital in Helena,
Montana.
Mary Samson, a nurse at the Helena hospital,
who was an Army nurse in Europe
during WW II, knew of a children’s hospital
in Boston that could perform the complicated
life saving surgery. She went with the
boy to Boston. The surgery was completed
successfully when Terry was about 3-1/2
years old.
During the Boston trip the young boy
kept asking Mary if he could live with them.
When he returned to Helena he asked
Mary’s husband, Ralph, the same question.
Finally, the Samsons got permission from
the authorities to take the child, as long as
they lived near the hospital where he could
receive emergency treatments.
In kindergarten, he was not allowed with
the other kids. But, Mary got permission for
him to attend regular classes from first
grade on, which he did for the rest of his
schooling.
At seven years old he was selected to
meet the USS Helena in California.
Terry, with his “parents,” went to meet
the Helena at Long Beach, California
December 9th, 1951. In a shipboard gala
presentation attended by the Governor of
Montana and the mayor of Helena, Ellis
received a check for nearly $6,500. Ellis
said that Mr. Samson worked at a local bank
and invested the money, which he used for
education after high school. He became an
ordained minister in 1971 and has three
children, one of whom is adopted.
“I really appreciate what the sailors did
for me and would love to get in touch with
some of the crew,” he said during the recent
phone interview.
“Of all my war experiences I will never
forget the look on the boy’s face as he stood
at the wheel of the ship and ‘steered’ the
Helena,” said Wray, who posed in a picture
with Terry that appeared in the press world
wide. “I plan on calling him for a phone
reunion,” he added.
After the Korean War, Wray pursued his
career with the Philips Electronics company
and served with Philips several years on the
West Coast before being promoted to Dallas
in 1965. He retired as area Sales Manager
for Philips in 1997.
The USS Helena was launched on April
28, 1945 and commissioned on September
4th, 1945. It is the third U.S. Navy ship to
bear the name of the capital of the State of
Montana. She was one of the first cruisers to
shell the enemy during the Korean War.
Stricken from the Naval Register on 1
January 1974, Helena was sold for scrap
November 13th the same year.
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The Graybeards March-April 2008