Terry Lee Stokes

Terry Stokes passed away Sept. 11, 2014, near his home in Dewey, Ariz. He was a fortunate man to enjoy good health and an amazingly sharp mind for 94 years. He was born in Medina, Texas to Brown Henry and Ora Maude Kelley Stokes July 21, 1920. He spent his early years in and around Medina. In later years, he lived in Pipe Creek, Texas before moving to Arizona. He is survived by Sue Marie Guerrero Stokes, his wife of 22 years. Stokes entered the U.S. Navy in 1944 at the peak of WWII. Trained as an electrician, he was assigned to the USS Hugh W. Hadley, a radar picket destroyer destined for action in the invasion of Okinawa, which commenced April 1, 1945. Forty-one days later, the Hadley was all but sunk on May 11 in a suicide attack by three kamikaze aircraft. During this three-hour air-sea battle, the Hadley shot down 21 enemy planes - the most downed in a single engagement by any ship in its class during WWII. Terry was the crew's only surviving electrician and volunteered to stay onboard as it was towed back to the Mainland for repairs. The Hadley and crew received the Presidential Unit Citation for this action. During the Korean War, he was assigned to the USS Curlew, a minesweeper. He served 12 years in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a civilian at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, until retirement. Family members in Texas are his sister Ople Boyle of Bandera, Texas, son Brown H. and wife Sheila Stokes of Mountain Home, Texas, their three children, 15 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Brown Stokes served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years and 21 years as a Texas Peace Officer in Kerr County. An alcoholic for much of his adult life, Terry joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1967 at the age of 47. He stopped drinking and lived 47 more years in absolute sobriety. He helped many others overcome alcohol addiction as he had. In June, a new book on the USS Hadley (DD774) was released. 'Kamikaze Destroyer' was written by Jeff Veesenmeyer, the great-nephew of a crewmember killed that day off Okinawa. The book relates the complete history of the Hadley through the words of the remaining survivors. Terry contributed much material and figures prominently in the book, which can be found at Amazon.com and the Bandera and Medina community libraries.