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Howard C. Corsberg

NAME
Howard Charles Corsberg
NICKNAME
How
SERVICE NUMBER
285376
UNIT
Marine Detachment
USS Houston
HOME OF RECORD
1207 East Custer Street
Laramie, WY
NEXT OF KIN
Parents, Alfred & Helen Corsberg
DATE OF BIRTH
May 1, 1920
at Greeley, CO
ENTERED SERVICE
June 7, 1940
at Denver, CO
DATE OF LOSS
March 1, 1942
alt. February 28, 1942
REGION
Java Sea
CAMPAIGN / AREA
Sunda Strait
CASUALTY TYPE
Missing In Action
Declared Dead December 15, 1945
CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS
PFC Howard C. Corsberg was a member of the Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Houston.

Corsberg’s battle station was a magazine for one of the ship’s 5″ guns. On the night of 28 February 1942, he was at his post passing ammunition to the gunners when the order came down to abandon ship. He made his way to the deck along with two companions but hesitated to jump overboard – he never learned how to swim. Fear of the water overpowered his fear of sinking, and Corsberg stayed aboard the Houston until she slipped beneath the waves. He was likely pulled underwater and drowned.

Corsberg’s body was never found, and he was officially declared dead on 15 December 1945.

INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS
Purple Heart
LAST KNOWN RANK
Private First Class
STATUS OF REMAINS
Lost at sea
MEMORIALS
Manila American Cemetery

Biography:
Coming soon. Contact the webmaster for more information about this Marine.

We were caught in a flooded magazine two decks below the waterline. Two of the shell compartments were flooded and both hatches had been bolted down to keep the water out of the hoist room. We managed to open the armored plate hatch ten feet above us, but the hatch on the next deck was closed securely and bolted down. There was no way that we could open it from our location. Water poured into the magazine. We could only conclude that this was the end…. At least, I told myself, we would be drowned and not killed by the enemy, but this was cold comfort. I suddenly found that I had no desire to die by any means. I was not yet twenty.
Suddenly there was the sound of a hatch being opened and, looking up, I saw what I thought must be an angel, but was in reality the face of Marine Corporal [Joseph H.] Faulk, who had risked his own life to run back and unbolt the hatch, thus saving the entire magazine crew…. We lost no time getting topside. Two other Marines, [PFC Floyd I.] Owens and Corsberg, and I, covered in oil, soot, and sweat, clambered into a foot of water on the deck of the ship. Gaping torpedo holes and shell holes made her sides look like a cheese grater.
There were no life preservers or life rafts available and the dark, oily waters beneath the sinking ship seemed the only desperate means of escape…. We had another problem, however, when we learned that Corsberg could not swim. He refused to leave the ship with us, and we refused to leave without him. We were standing on the fantail just over the propeller screws, trying to persuade him, when a salvo landed just behind us and we jumped.
The last we saw of Corsberg, he was still standing on the deck of the Houston staring into the water. He had not jumped with us. The ship was sinking slowly. She was still brightly lit by enemy searchlights. On top of the mainmast, the American flag fluttered bravely in the tropical night. It was, indeed, our only symbol of hope.
As the Houston went to her grave, the last thing I saw was the American flag – and the marine standing on her shattered deck.
James Gee, “Prisoner of the Samurai: Surviving the Sinking of the USS Houston and the Death Railway.”

Gallery:

2 thoughts on “Howard C. Corsberg”

  1. We lived in the house at 1207 E Custer, Laramie, WYO from 1965-1967 before our family moved to a different state. Since that was Howard Corsburg’s home of record, we do have that connection to him.

    For Memorial Day 2021, I read this page to my brother, sister, and mother and other relatives. We now have a different perspective on the house that we once lived in,

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