Name: William Howard HOUSTON
Rank / Rating: PHM2-Pharmacist's Mate Second Class
Service #: 721 82 98
DOB: 1921
From: Union, MS
Parents: William Grover Houston and Ida Velma Herrington Houston
Went Aboard: Oct 26, 1944
Age When Ship Went Down: 24
Spouse:
Children:
Grandchildren:
Bio Submitted By: Brenda J Hale & Marilyn Henry
Date Posted: Jul 30, 2025

William Howard Houston was born and raised in Union, Newton County, Mississippi. Howard, as his family called him, attended Union High School. His family owned the W. C. Houston grocery in Union. Siblings were Gertrude Lataine Houston Powell, Dr. Bobby Jack Houston

William Howard Houston was born and raised in Union, Newton County, Mississippi. Howard, as his family called him, attended Union High School. His family owned the W. C. Houston grocery in Union. ** Photo Left - Nurse Aunt Vertie on the left. ** Howard boarded USS Indianapolis on October 26, 1944 as a Navy Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class (PHM2). Pharmacist's Mates served in the sick bay or dispensary of a ship. PHM2's are petty officers who, under the direction of medical officers, administer medical assistance, treatment, and services to naval personnel. Vertie Johnson Caswell, a friend of Howard’s, was a Lt. Commander (LCDR) in the Navy Nurse Corps (NNC), The NNC had nearly eight hundred members serving on active duty by November 1941, plus over nine hundred inactive reserves. The nursing profession's vital role was quickly recognized, and it was the only women's profession deemed so essential as to be placed under the War Manpower Commission. Howard last wrote to his friend Vertie on June 12, 1945, from Indianapolis. According to a copy of a letter and envelope from a niece, Virginia, who sent this to the USS Indianapolis Legacy group, LCDR Vertie Caswell was stationed in Maryland, then was transferred to the Naval Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee: (See Letters Below)

"The two had been friends and he had lost track of her but saw her photo in a Naval publication. She had joined the Navy in the 1940s....I can understand why Pharmacist Mate Houston would have been attracted to my aunt as a friend. She was a lovely person, and from the tone of his letter, he must have been, too!"

Howard wrote in his letter to LCDR Caswell that he had seen her photo on page 24 in the March (1945) issue of Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin. Howard said, "I really like it aboard ship. This is the heavy cruiser that used to take FDR on his tours!" Maybe their friendship would have continued if not for the loss of Howard in the sinking of Indianapolis.