James H. Hudlow - CHIEF YEOMAN

The last of nine children, Jim graduated from high school in 1940. With no money for college he hitch-hiked to St. Louis, Missouri where he joined the Coast Guard before the war on August 3rd 1940. After basic training, he first served aboard the 250-foot ‘Lake Class” cutter Sebago (CGC-51) before it was transferred to England by President Roosevelt as part of the 1941 Lend-Lease agreement. He was then given shore duty in Florida before receiving orders for the 165-foot patrol craft “Class B” cutter Pandora (WPC-113) which did convoy escort and rescue duty from New York down to Key West, Florida.

He served as Chief Yeoman on the Pequot from May 9th 1944 to January 24th 1945 when he was transferred to the Coast Guard station on Nantucket Island. Even though he was only on the Pequot for about nine months he become very good friends with sailors Moore, Zinner and Weber. Like many of his shipmates he thought the Pequot was laying and repairing standard telecommunications cable. He had no idea many of the cables they worked with were part of the top secret indicator loop detection system. Jim was discharged out of Miami, Florida on August 2nd 1946. He held a variety of jobs after the war and then, at the age of 45, he went to work for the Internal Revenue Service. He retired from federal service in 1982 at the age of 60. He now lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.