Lt. Colonel Joseph Lloyd
Wosser, Jr USMC (Ret.)
Joseph was born April
13th, 1923 in Mill Valley, Marin County, California, where both his father and
grandfather were born in neighboring towns of Tiburon and Belvedere. His great
grandfather came to California from
Ireland in 1850 and was the chief engineer on the1st ferry boat between
San Francisco
and Marin County, the Princess.
Joe had one brother who was a year younger than he. They grew up in San
Pedro and Berkeley, Joe graduating from Berkeley High in 1940. He went to the
University of California, Berkeley for 2-1/2 years, majoring in mechanical
engineering. He was a record-breaking swimmer and champion water
polo player. He was in the Naval ROTC and joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Fraternity. As the Naval ROTC was going to be going into submarine training, he
applied for and was accepted into the Naval Aviation Cadet program in early 1943
and sent to Stafford, AZ for
pre-pre-flight training. Pre-flight
training was in Monterey. He finally got his first chance to fly in
Norman, Oklahoma in the N2S-1
Stearman bi-plane.
His father, Joseph Lloyd Wosser, Sr. was on a Matson merchant marine ship
in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. His ship was damaged, but he was
able to help serve the cause of the United States throughout the war. Joe Sr.
first went to sea at age 14; received his 1st Engineer's License at 16, and his
Chief Engineer's License at age 19 - youngest in the fleet at that
time. He worked for the Los Angeles Steam Ship Company until 1935 when it was
bought out by Matson. and moved the family to Berkeley.
After graduation from the Naval Aviation Cadet program, flying the SNV "Vultee
Valiant" and the SNJ "Texan" at
Corpus Christi,
Joe made the smart move and opted to go into the Marine Corps! He then
completed Operational training flying the SBD "Douglas Dauntless" at DeLand,
Florida as a 2nd Lt. in the Marine Corps.
He then returned to Berkeley, and on August 17, 1944, fulfilled his fondest
desire by marrying Mary Helen Brother. They will celebrate their 57th
anniversary this year in Lincoln, California, near Sacramento, which is probably
a miracle, as one of his first assignments after their wedding was
an air base in the Mojave Desert! Not exactly the honeymoon spot of their
dreams!
During this period in 1944 & '45 with VMSB 474 in El Toro & VMTB-624 at
Mojave MCAS, he flew SB2C's, the Curtiss "Helldiver" everyone referred to as a
"dog" (!) and TBM & TBF "Avenger" torpedo bombers. He also did practice
catapult and carrier landings, rockets, strafing, and bombing training. He was
carrier qualified on the USS Wake Island in October of '45.
He started training in the Vought "Corsair" F4U in March, 1946 with
VMF-512. By June, he was with VMF-115 in
China, flying
Corsairs from South Field in Peiping to Tientsin and Tsingtao, among others. He
also participated in a "Sky Parade" on the 4th of July in China!
Joe's 1st of 4 daughters, Joellen, was born while he was in China. When
his tour was up, he flew from Peiping to Shanghai, then to Okinawa, where he
boarded the USS Tarawa Jan 6, 1947 to Hawaii. He flew Corsairs until June, 1947
in Hawaii. His Flight Book indicates he did Instruments, Fleet Problems, air
spotting, navigation, division tactics, acrobatics, and dummy gunnery hops while
in Hawaii.
August, 1947 took him to Quantico for a year of F4U training in bombing,
CAS, gunnery strikes, rockets, and instrument chases. His 2nd daughter, Susan,
was born in Quantico while Joe went through ordnance school.
September of 1948 brought him to
El Toro and further Corsair
experience with VMF 312. Here, he gained experience in the Goodyear FG-1D
"Corsair," and the SNB Beech "Navigator."
In 1949, he participated in "Exercise Miki" with VMF-323 under MAG-12
aboard the USS Boxer (CV-21) in a "war games" exercise involving over 50,000
officers and men in Hawaii. This provided excellent experience in war tactics
as well as carrier takeoffs & landings on the Boxer and the USS Rendova
(CV-114).
January, 1950, he was flying with VMF(N)-513 at MCAS,
El Toro when his 3rd daughter, Nancy, was born - the 1st birth he was
available to drive his wife to the hospital for!
July 12, 1950, he flew
his F4U-4B from El Toro to San Diego and boarded the USS Badoeng Strait
(CVE-116) Jeep Carrier headed for the Korean "Conflict" for the United Nations.
His 1st overseas flying there was August 2 around our air base at Itami, Japan.
His 1st CAP was August 9, and his 1st "strike" flying with the VMF-323 Death
Rattlers Squadron of the 1st Marine Air Wing was August 10, 1950. His last
flight in Korea was "armed recon Chang Choe-ri" on February 12, 1951.
(To read his Korean War Diary for a day-to-day description of his
participation in
the war Click Here.)
First Lieutenant Joseph Lloyd Wosser, Jr., 27 years old, flew 89 combat
missions in Korea (1950 to 1951) totaling 287 combat flight hours with 81
carrier catapults and landings. He was decorated for bravery 8 times, and his
Squadron, VMF-323, he flew with from the Jeep Carrier Badoeng Strait for
the first 8 months of the Korean conflict received 3 Presidential Unit
citations.
After Korea, he had a two year tour with the Marine Corps flight
demonstration team at Quantico, Virginia flying the F8F Grumman "Bearcat," the
F6F "Hellcat," the F7F "Tigercat," and the OY-1 Convair "Sentinel" with AES-12.
Subsequently, periodically throughout his studies, he qualified in the
Lockheed TV-2, the Vought AU-1 Corsair, and the AD Douglas "Skyraider."
His "studies" included going to the
University of Maryland to
finish the BS he had started at UC Berkeley before
America
entered WWII. He was then appointed to the
Naval Postgraduate
School at Monterey, California, where he graduated in 1956 with a BS in
aeronautical engineering.
Continuing his education, the Marine Corps sent him to MIT for a Master's
Degree in aeronautical engineering which he received in 1957. During this time,
his 4th daughter, Lynn, was born, and he was promoted to Major.
Following a jet refresher course at Olathe, Kansas, he spent a year in
Japan flying the FJ-4 North American "Fury," and the A4D Douglas "Skyhawk"
with the 1st MAW.
He returned to Washington, DC in 1958 to join the Office of Naval Research
for a 5 year tour. July 1, 1960, he was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel,
USMC. At ONR, he did some of the initial technical papers on GEMs ("Ground
Effect Machines"), later referred to as hovercraft.
He retired from the Marine Corps in February, 1963 and joined Bell
Aerosystems Co. in Buffalo, NY as Assistant Vice President, Engineering. There,
he was in charge of the company's hovercraft development for 3 years.
He then moved his family West where he built and operated Viking
Metallurgical Company in Reno, Nevada. He founded and was president of Titanium
West, Inc., an exotic metals producer making parts for jets, missiles, and
rockets in Reno from 1968 to 1972. During this time, William
"Bill" Lear, who was developing a steam engine vehicle on the adjacent property
to TiWest at the former Stead AFB outside Reno, often conferred with him on
engineering issues. Bill and Joe remained great friends for the rest of Bill's
life.
After TiWest was sold to Whitaker Corp., Joe founded and was president of
Silver State Silver, a jewelry manufacturing company; Nevapro Corp, an SBIC;
Wosser Laster Enterprises, an Engineering/General Contracting firm; and has been
instrumental in several other start-up operations, including a US Dept. of
Energy program providing expert knowledge and practical business
experience, mentoring inventors of energy-saving devices and procedures such
that their "ideas" could be brought to fruition and the market.
He has accumulated extensive educational background in advanced
mathematics, aerodynamics, propulsion systems, high temperature metallurgy and
naval architecture. In addition to the BS degrees from the
University of Maryland and the Naval
Postgraduate School, and the MSAE from MIT, he has an Engineering Management
Diploma from the University of Minnesota.
Many have asked him if he regrets not having a son, to which he answers,
"With four daughters, there were always more males around than you could shake a
stick at... and believe me, I often did!" His four daughters have all married
and each has presented him with two grandchildren.
His years with the Marine Corps not only provided him with an education, a
job, and an adventure, they defined his character and those of his family, and
gave him the opportunity and the honor to serve the Country he loves. Joe
Wosser is proud to be called a Marine.
We are looking for stories about 323 Death Rattlers both past and present to highlight on this page. A great Sea Story about a Death Rattler or something unusual that happened in 323 would suffice.