Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501300063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It was the worst disaster suffered by the Coast Guard during World War II. The lives of 250 men were snuffed out in an instant. Among the dead were 193 Coast Guardsmen, 56 Army personnel and one civilian doctor.
Seaman First Class Kelsie Kemp of Barren Springs in Wythe County and his buddy, Seaman First Class George S. Kennedy of San Marcos, Texas, were the only survivors.
Today, Kemp will join a Coast Guard admiral at Arlington National Cemetery in laying a wreath at a memorial to the dead of the Serpens. Kemp also was asked to speak, but he declined.
``I can't talk; there's no use in me trying,'' he said.
It will be Kemp's first trip to the memorial, which was dedicated in 1949 when the remains of the 250 dead - few of them identified - were returned from Guadalcanal and reinterred at Arlington in 52 caskets.
Kemp joined the Navy at 17 and was 19 when the Serpens exploded. He returned to Wythe County after the war, took barber training in Richmond under the GI bill, practiced barbering in Pulaski and is now retired.
The Serpens had just come from a refitting at New Zealand dry dock and was at anchor and taking on a cargo of depth charges when it met disaster.
At first, the Japanese were thought responsible. Kemp said another ship had been torpedoed somewhere in the area, which may have led to that conclusion. After the war, however, a court of inquiry ruled out enemy action but left the cause of the blast classified as unknown.
Kemp and Kennedy were in their bunks in the botswain's locker, a tool-storage locker in the farthest reaches of the Serpens' bow, when the ship exploded. It was about 11:30 p.m., but Kemp said he didn't remember afterward whether he was asleep when it happened.
An eyewitness said screeching shells filled the air after the explosion.
``The water was filled only with floating debris, dead fish, torn life jackets, lumber. ... The smell of death, fire, gasoline and oil was evident and nauseating,'' the sailor said.
Most of the ship was ripped to shreds, but a small section of the bow with Kemp and Kennedy inside remained intact. A pocket of air held it afloat for about an hour.
Kemp, who suffered a fractured skull and numerous cuts and bruises, found a hatch door and climbed out to rescuers. Kennedy, who had a broken collarbone, swam down and out of the sinking bow. Eight other members of the Serpens' crew, including its commanding officer, were on shore at the time of the blast and also survived.
Kennedy and Kemp were awarded Purple Hearts. Kemp's wounds were bad enough that he was discharged about six months later. Kennedy recovered and went on a War Bond drive in the United States.
The two survivors were good friends.
``He was my buddy; we worked together,'' Kemp recalled. After the war the two lost touch, though. Kemp said the Coast Guard was unable to track down Kennedy for today's memorial service.
Kemp said he's generally in good health, although his ``nerves are kind of bad.'' He spends his time taking care of his grandchildren.
What happened 50 years ago is something that Kemp said he will take to his grave.
``I'll never get over it,'' he said.
by CNB