|
An Invitation from Sisco Deen, Archive Curator at Flagler Historical Society.
Plan to join the Booe/Deen family members and other music lovers at the Flagler Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 18, 2022, for the Navy Band South East concert!
The band will honor my great uncle James Brazier “Jim” Booe for his military service as a military band director in World War II.
Jim moved to St John's, now Flagler, CO, FL with his parents and four bothers in 1913 when his father assumed the position as manager of the Haw Creek Farms, which consisted of 1,973 acres in the Haw Creek area (Volusia County at the time).
He enlisted in the Navy on June 4, 1919, and went through boot training at Hampton Roads, VA. A story in the June 5, 1919 edition of the Flagler Tribune says, " James Booe of Haw Creek, this county, enlisted in the United States Navy at Jacksonville, being rated as a musician, entering the service immediately. James is the youngest son of Zeb E Booe, one of Flagler county's most influential and progressive farmers." According to a story in the Flagler Tribune, he was in Bunnell on 19 days of furlough from Hampton Roads on 16 Jun 1921.
He loved music and continued his music study in the Navy; he was assigned to a band unit and sent to the Panama Canal aboard the USS Birmingham. In 1922 the band was transferred to the USS Cleveland.
In the winter of 1925, he passed the examination for Band Master and began to serve as Assistant Bandmaster for the band stationed at Pensacola. In Nov 1927, he was transferred from the Pensacola NAS to the USS Wright (airplane tender) in port at Norfolk, VA; in March 1928, he was assigned to the carrier US S Lexington based in San Pedro, CA.
In March of 1928, he was back home to Bunnell for a visit while his ship, the new USS Lexington, naval plane carrier, was at Pensacola. He was to rejoin his ship after the visit in Bunnell, which was expected to sail for the Pacific Coast.
In July 1928, he notified his parents in Bunnell of Lexington's record-breaking run from San Pedro, CA, to Honolulu, Hawaii, a distance of 2,544 land miles in 72 1/2 hours, or an average of 35 miles per hour.
He was back in Pensacola in 1932 as he was injured in an accident west of the town on Saturday, 5 Mar 1932. He was returning from a trip to AL and, about 40 miles west of Pensacola, ran into the rear of a parked log truck.
In October 1934, he was promoted to Bandmaster and served aboard the USS California at Guantanamo, Cuba.
| 
