Frank L. Allen Interview, 2001-10-16 [MilColl OH 11]

NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY Military Collection State Archives of North Carolina Frank L. Allen Interview Summary MilColl OH 11 Interviewee: Frank L. Allen Interviewer: W. Lee Johnson, Jr. Interview Date: circa October 16, 2001 Interview Location: Raleigh, N.C. Interview Runtime: 0:54:51 Biographical Sketch Frank Leonard Allen was bom on December 9, 1922, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Frank and Gina Allen. He was raised in Norfolk, V.A., and graduated from Matthew Fontaine Maury High School in 1941. During high school he served in the Home Guard of Norfolk. After graduation, Allen worked in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in the air traffic machine shop. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on June 7, 1942, during World War II. Allen completed his basic training at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. After basic training, he was assigned to the Naval Submarine Base in New London, Connecticut, from August to December 1942, to train as a machinist’s mate. From there, Allen was sent to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, and assigned to serve on the USS Drum (SS-228), a Gato-class submarine, where he served as a machinist’s mate. During his service, the USS Drum was stationed in the Pacific Theater out of Brisbane, Australia; the Midway Atoll; and at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After four tours aboard the Drum, Allen was assigned to the USS Ling (SS-297), until it was decommissioned in October 1946. He was released from active service in the U.S. Navy on April 2, 1948. Frank Allen married Jessie Elizabeth Mosby on February 20, 1944. After his military service, Allen worked for 29 years as a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service [believed in North Carolina], Frank L. Allen died on May 21, 2003, in Raleigh, N.C., and was buried in Montlawn Memorial Park in the same city. 1