Our Purpose

The USS Wilhoite Veterans Association serves as a dedicated organization for former crew members of the USS Wilhoite (DE-397), a U.S. Navy destroyer escort that served during World War II and beyond. The association fosters camaraderie and connection among its veterans by preserving the ship’s history, sharing personal stories, and honoring the service of those who served aboard. Through reunions, newsletters, and various initiatives, the association provides a platform for members to reconnect, support one another, and ensure the legacy of the USS Wilhoite remains alive for future generations.

Ship's Namesake

Thomas Mack Wilhoite was born on 12 February 1921 in Guthrie, Kentucky. He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on 16 June 1941 at Atlanta, Georgia, and received his aviation indoctrination training at the Naval Reserve Air Base, Atlanta, Georgia. On 7 August, he reported for flight instruction at the Naval Air Station Pensacola Florida, and was appointed an aviation cadet the following day. Transferred to NAS, Miami, Florida, on 15 January 1942 for further training, he became a naval aviator on 6 February. Three days later, he was commissioned an ensign and, at the end of February, reported to the Advanced Carrier Training Group, Atlantic Fleet, NAS, Norfolk, Virginia. There, he joined Fighting Squadron (VF) 9, then fitting out and, in time, became the assistant navigation officer for that squadron.

Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa, saw VF-9 assigned to the carrier USS Ranger. Each section of the squadron drew assigned tasks on 8 November 1942, the first day of the landings; and he flew one of five Grumman F4F Wildcats which attacked the French airdrome at Rabat-Sale, the headquarters of the French air forces in Morocco. Despite heavy antiaircraft fire, he pressed home a determined attack and set three French bombers afire with his guns. In a second strike directed at the Port Lyautey airdrome later that day, he flew as part of the third flight and destroyed one fighter, a Dewoitine 520 by strafing. However his Wildcat took hits from the intense fire and crashed about one mile from Port Lyautey. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.

Celebrating History of the Wilhoite

While we celebrate the early history of the USS Wilhoite and our brave shipmates from that era most of our current members came from the Vietnam operations so its only fitting that we mention some background of that era.

By the mid-1960s, however, further changes were in store for the veteran warship. The growing pace of incursions by North Vietnamese-backed Viet Cong communist guerrillas against South Vietnam had resulted in escalating American support of the latter. Wilhoite accordingly was deployed to the Western Pacific (WestPac) in the spring of 1965, beginning a cycle of WestPac tours that lasted into 1969.

Wilhoite conducted intermittent WestPac deployments, with corresponding Operation Market Time patrols off the coast of Vietnam, into January 1969. Hers was unsung duty—long hours of ceaseless patrol, aiding the fledgling South Vietnamese Navy in detecting and preventing supplies, weapons, and other materials from being infiltrated into South Vietnam by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese. Often assisted by only two small boats, a Coast Guard patrol boat and aircraft, Wilhoite upon occasion had the responsibility for patrol over 2,750 square miles (7,100 km2) of ocean—an ample assignment for a ship with the size and range of a radar picket destroyer escort.

On 19 June 1967, Wilhoite relieved Kretschmer on Operation Market Time station and assumed the duties of "mother ship" to two Navy "Swift" (PCF) boats, providing berthing accommodations for extra crew members and supplying them with food, fuel, and fresh water.

At approximately 20:00 on 11 July, a "Market Time" patrol aircraft detected a steel-hulled trawler running darkened some 55 miles (89 km) from the coast of South Vietnam, on a westerly heading. Wilhoite, notified by radio of the trawler's course, set hers to close and identify the ship, commencing covert surveillance as soon as she picked up radar contact. The next morning, 12 July, Wilhoite closed for identification purposes but later opened the range. By that point, the trawler had changed course, heading away from the coast; Wilhoite accordingly maintained surveillance for three more days. Entering the "Market Time" area, the trawler drew more pursuers – Gallup, Point Orient, and PCF-79. On 15 July, Wilhoite intercepted the unidentified trawler five miles (8 km) from the beach. Ignoring calls to surrender broadcast by a psychological warfare unit embarked in Point Orient, the trawler was soon taken under fire, running aground in flames on a sandbar at the mouth of the River De Say Ky in Quang Ngai province.

Throughout the night, Wilhoite and the other ships intermittently fired into the beached trawler; the following morning, a party went on board the wreck to inspect the damage and learn the nature of her cargo. The holds were found jammed with guns, ammunition, and explosives—the largest arms cache captured during the Vietnam War. Ultimately relieved of her "Market Time" patrol duties on 26 July, Wilhoite sailed for Hong Kong and a period of recreation.

Alternating the tours of duty on Market Time stations with periods in port at Hong Kong, Sasebo, and Yokosuka, Wilhoite periodically returned to such ports as Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay.

On 6 September 1968, Wilhoite was called upon to perform an SAR mission, while she was riding out the tail-end of Typhoon Bess. Assigned to locate a lost Vietnamese Navy PGM, Wilhoite centered her search on a point some 30 miles (48 km) from the port of Da Nang. Although she never sighted the PGM, however, the radar picket destroyer escort maintained contact via voice radio; and ultimately, the PGM was able to reorient herself and continue on her voyage. Later, while returning to her patrol station, Wilhoite came across an Army landing craft, LCU-1481, which had been adrift and lost for some 48 hours. Typhoon "Bess" had proved a nuisance to the LCU, for it had caused damage that had rendered the craft powerless. Wilhoite stood by while another LCU was dispatched from Da Nang to take the stricken LCU-1481 in tow and bring her to port safely.

Later that autumn, Wilhoite received an availability alongside the veteran destroyer tender Dixie at Subic Bay from 25 to 28 September. On the latter day, the radar picket destroyer escort sortied for "Market Time" once more, relieving the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Ingham on station. Wilhoite later saw her first action of that deployment when she was called upon to deliver gunfire support in an area north of An Thoi. There, Wilhoite shelled an area heavily infested with Viet Cong, destroying or damaging several enemy junks that had attempted to infiltrate matériel from the north.

Wilhoite departed Vietnamese waters on 15 January 1969, bound for Hawaii. She stopped for fuel at Subic Bay and at Apra Harbor, Guam, before she continued on, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 1 February. After a period of tender availability alongside Isle Royale, from 17 February to 3 March, Wilhoite underwent a restricted availability at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard before she conducted her sea trials at the end of May. On 2 June, the radar picket destroyer escort departed the Hawaiian Islands for the west coast; and she arrived at Bremerton, Washington, a week later. There, on 2 July, Wilhoite was decommissioned.