Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2018.6.12A |
Title |
Eng, Gooey, an employee of Royal Café in 1940's and early 1950's. |
Description |
Gooey Eng after getting out of the Navy in 1946 with rank of Chief Petty Officer. There are 3 images attached to this record. The third photo was taken not long after Gooey joined the Navy in the summer of 1942. Posing with him is Henry Wong, then age 14. Both were employees of the Royal Café in Baker City. In an email dated 3-21-2020, Gooey's daughter, Mary Lou Eng, wrote the following info about her father: "My father returned to Baker after 2 years in the South Pacific. He and Arthur Fong, brother of Margie Fong, left Baker in the summer of 1942 and went to Seattle to enlist into the Navy. ... My father and Arthur rode the train from Seattle down to San Diego for basic training. ... My father arrived at Guadalcanal at the end of the great battle in early 1943.... He said he saw the burial of many Americans and Japanese soldiers after his arrival at Guadalcanal. His ship was involved in transporting supplies and people, including Japanese prisoners. He was assigned to the Solomon Islands (near Australia) for two years, but his ship sailed as far as near the Philippines. My father was the Ship's Cook, [having learned] to cook while growing up at the Royal Café. After two years, the Navy assigned my father back to Honolulu, HI and then Alameda, CA and finally he had two weeks leave before reporting to Bremerton, WA to get on a Navy escort carrier. He came back to Baker as a three strip sailor (Chief Petty Officer). ... My father was in charge of one of the kitchens on the AP147, the new escort carrier of 3,000 men after the war ended until Jan 1946. His rank at discharge from the Navy was Chief Petty Officer. The young man with my father in the 3rd photo taken in the summer of 1942 is Henry Wong. ... Henry came to the USA in 1940. Henry enlisted in the Merchant Marines near the end of WW2 when he became of age. Although Henry is younger than my father by six years, they became best friends. Henry Wong was the oldest son of Jack Eng. Jack and Henry are both buried at Baker's Mt. Hope Cemetery." |
Date |
1942-1946 |
Photographer |
Rand, John Langdon, Jr. |
Place |
Baker City |
Photo Topic |
People |