Horry County family to receive dog tags of late Navy seaman

A U.S. Navy dog tag dropped by a sailor on the deck of the U.S.S. Yorktown as it was sinking in June of 1942 is being returned to his family.

Seaman Calvin Clyde McCrackin, an Horry County native, lost or discarded the dog tag before jumping into the Pacific to cling to a lifeboat full of men. He survived. He and his wife, Irene, were living in Ash, N.C., when he died in February of 2011 at 92 years old.

Recently in New Jersey, Jim Askew was helping pack his parents’ belongings to move them to a nursing facility near his home in Delaware. He saw the dog tag in his father’s jewelry box and asked about it.

During World War II, his father, Bill Askew, now 96, was on the Destroyer U.S.S. Hughes, which was in the fleet with the U.S.S. Yorktown and in the midst of the Battle of Midway.

In 2011, the Tri-Town News in New Jersey reported on a ceremony commemorating the Battle of Midway. Bill Askew was quoted as saying that he got onto the Yorktown after it was listing and abandoned to look for survivors and “destroy stuff.” He had to crawl to make his way forward, and went down as many decks as he could until he hit water.

But he did not talk about the dog tag he found on the top deck until Jim asked about it. Bill Askew, who received 16 battle stars and a Bronze Star for heroic achievement against the enemy off Okinawa, said he had thought many times about trying to return the dog tag, but he did not know if Clyde McCrackin had survived or not — and that made the decision difficult.

On the internet, Jim Askew found that Clyde McCrackin had died. He found Clyde’s brother, Windell McCrackin of Myrtle Beach, a veteran of World War II and Korea, and Horry County’s senior practicing attorney. Jim Askew contacted Windell and plans to bring the dog tag to him this month. Jim said his father is very happy and excited to know the dog tag will be returned to the family.

Windell McCrackin said his brother did not talk much about the war. After the sunken Yorktown was found in 1998 and “Return to Midway” was published, Windell gave Clyde a copy, and Clyde talked just a little about it. He worked in the boiler room five decks down. He said that he had to take his shoes off to cross the oil-covered top deck while the ship was listing.

About a month earlier, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, Clyde McCrackin was in the boiler room when a Japanese bomb penetrated about 50 feet into the ship, exploded in a compartment near him and did major damage. The Yorktown made it to Pearl Harbor, was repaired and returned to action, taking part in the Battle of Midway, one of World War II’s most decisive battles.

Windell McCrackin is looking forward to receiving his brother’s dog tag.

“It’s a marvelous thing,” he said. “It’s a personal deal and it’s very touching in a way.”

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 6:39 AM with the headline "Horry County family to receive dog tags of late Navy seaman."