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Joseph Lester “Joe” Carroll

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Joseph Lester "Joe" Carroll

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    LHS football squad, 1939    		 Placeholder
    LHS football squad, 1940
This March 11, 1943, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 1:

    Attending Flight School

    Joe Carroll has joined the navy as an aviation cadet and is now attending flight school at DePauw University, Green Castle. He left last week.
This February 17, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 1:
    The Charles Carrolls have received word from their son, A/C Joe Carroll, who has been stationed at Dallas, Texas, that he has been transferred to Pensacola, Fla., where he will take the last of his training before receiving his wings as a pilot. He expects to come home on furlough when his training is completed.
This February 24, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 1:
    Dallas, Tex., Feb. 15 -- 17 naval, four marine and four coast guard enlisted personnel, and 18 aviation cadets have completed their primary training at the naval air station here and have been ordered to the U.S. naval air station, Pensacola, Fla. There they will continue basic and advanced work which will qualify enlisted personnel as aviation pilots.
    The cadets, upon successful completion of this course, will be awarded wings and commissioned as Flight Officers.
    Cadet Joe L. Carroll, son of the Charles Carrolls, Lowell, is one [of the] prespective flight officers.
This March 2, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 2:
    The Charles Carrolls recently received letters from their two sons, A/C Joseph Carroll and Pvt. Alfred Carroll, both of whom are getting along fine and enjoying the rigors of life in the armed service.
    Joe, who recently transferred from the naval air station at Dallas, Texas, to Pensacola, Fla., will receive his wings upon completion of the final stages of his training at this field. A/C Donald E. Bailey, also stationed there, visited Joe after reading in The Tribune that he had been transferred to Pensacola.
    Pvt. Alfred, still stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison, writes that he is getting along O.K. in spite of having to do K.P. duty which consisted of helping prepare 750 pounds of navy beans and 150 pounds of turnips. Although he liked a little kitchen duty at home once in a while, Al said this wholesale scale was out of his line.
The following information was found on page 2, column 2 of the June 29, 1944, Lowell Tribune:
    Cadet Joseph Carroll will receive his wings this week when he graduates from the Aviation school at Pensacola, Fla.
The following August 3, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 3, column 1:

    Receives Navy Wings

    A telegram received by the Charles Carrolls last Saturday from their son, Joe, informed them that he had received his wings and was commissioned an Ensign that day. Joe will report at Green Cove Springs, Fla., for further training.
The following August 10, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 4, column 1:

    Wins "Navy "Wings of Gold"

    Joseph Lester Carroll, 21 son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll, Lowell, won his Navy "Wings of Gold" and was commissioned an Ensign in the Naval Reserve this week following completion of the prescribed flight training course at the naval air training center, Pensacola, Fla., the "Annapolis of the Air."

    Having been designated a naval aviator, Ensign Carroll will go on active duty at one of the navy's air operational training centers before being assigned to a combat zone.

The following December 14, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 5 column 3:
    The following guests spent a day with Ensign Joe Carroll at the home of his parents, the Charles Carrolls, when Joe was home on furlough recently: his roommate, Ensign Don Conroy, and mother, Lieut. Robert Eagan, wife and mother, all of Chicago. Upon completion of his furlough, Ensign Carroll flew to California, where he is now stationed.
A February 1, 1945, Lowell Tribune article (page 1, column 4) about Alfred Carroll, added this about his brother Joe :
    One brother, Ensign Joseph Carroll, is serving in the navy air corps, just recently leaving for the Pacific theatre.
This March 22, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 1, column 4:

    ENSIGN JOSEPH CARROLL MARRIED IN CALIFORNIA

    A phone call to his parents, the Charles Carrolls of Lowell, from Ensign and Mrs. Joseph Carroll, informed them that they were married at Community church, Ventura, California, last Saturday, March 17. The bride is the former Lee Joan Lavalle of New York.
    Charles Carroll, Jr., of Long Beach, Calif., brother of the groom, was best man and the bride's sister, Mary, was maid of honor. She was given in marriage by her uncle, Major Einsley.
    A letter which the Carrolls didn't receive until after the phone call told of their son's plans for the wedding.
This October 25, 1945, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 5, column 3:
    Ensign Joe Carroll and wife and Charles Carroll, Jr., are here for a few days' visit with their parents, the Charles Carrolls. Open house will be held at the Carroll home next Sunday afternoon for the many friends of the former Lowell boys.
From The Lowell Tribune, Sept. 14, 1950, page 2, column 1:
    Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll, Sr., Mrs. Harry Walker and daughter and Carl Villers recently returned from California, where they went to visit the Carrolls' son Joe, who as a member of the Naval Reserves, was called back to active duty. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Carroll have two children.
The following February 22, 1951, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 1, column 3:

    Lt. Joseph Carroll Injured In Bomber Crash In California

    Lowell friends and relatives are praying for the recovery of Lt. Joseph L. Carroll, 27, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll, Sr., who is in serious condition at the Hawthorne, California, naval hospital after surviving a torpedo bomber crash Friday.

    His mother and brothers, Alfred of Chicago and Charles Jr. of Lowell, flew to his bedside Sunday. A third brother, Robert, flew from his Norfolk, Va., naval base to join the family.

    Joe suffered internal injuries and facial cuts. He was conscious and able to talk to his family. He underwent surgery Saturday and hospital attaches are hopeful of his recovery.

    Three others perished in the plane which plowed into the Rocky Mountains during a sleet storm. Two others survived the crash which occurred while flying from the North Island Naval Air Station at San Diego to El Centro for gunnery practice.

    Lt. Carroll, a World War II veteran with service in the Far East, was recalled from the Naval reserve last July. He is a graduate of Lowell high school, where he was a star basketball player.

    He entered the University of Southern California in 1945 and received a degree in engineering. He has a son, Carl Joseph, 4, and a daughter, Jacqueline Ann, 10 months.

    Besides his parents and brothers, Lt. Carroll has three sisters who reside in Lowell. They are Mrs.Virginia Walker, Mrs. Al Mueller and Mrs. Abe Villers.

    The following news release concerning Lt. Carroll's training, was received by the Tribune last week:

      Lt. (jg) Joseph L. Carroll, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Carroll, Sr. of Box 401, Lowell, Ind., and husband of Mrs. Lee Joan Carroll of 5430 West 123rd St., Hawthorne, Calif., is presently undergoing training with Fighter Squadron 783, of which he is a member, in preparation for duty aboard a Naval aircraft carrier. The squadron, formerly based at the Naval Air Station, Los Alamitos, Calif., is now a unit of the Air Force, Pacific Fleet, operating from the Naval Air Station, San Diego, Calif.

      VF-783, is scheduled to travel to the El Centro, Calif., gunnery range where pilots will have an opportunity to fire rockets, cannon and heavy machine guns. In another phase of their constant training, groups of men and pilots are sent through a massive low pressure chamber to check their ability to withstand high altitudes. Close supervision is maintained on each individual in the chamber which can simulate actual conditions of altitudes up to 70,000 feet.

This March 29, 1951, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 5, column 4:
    Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll, Sr., received news concerning their son, Lt. (j.g.) Joseph Carroll, who entered the naval hospital in San Diego on March 17th for check up and treatment. Joe miraculously escaped death in February, when the torpedo bomber in which he was flying from North Island Naval Air Station, San Diego, to El Centro for gunnery practice plowed into the Rocky Mountains during a sleet storm. Although his condition was listed as critical he is making good recovery and is up and around. Three others were killed in the accident. Lt. Carroll is a member of Fighter Squadron 783. The Carroll's son Bob, also with the Navy, is now aboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea
The following April 19, 1951, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 1, column 1:

    Lt. Joe Carroll Returns To Active Duty

    Lt. (jg) Joseph L. Carroll, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Carroll, Sr., of Box 401, Lowell, was among the pilots of Fighter Squadron 783 qualifying for carrier operations recently aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard.

    All pilots in the squadron qualified, making the required number of take-offs and landings from the carrier. The operation was marked by a high degree of precision timing between the pilots and the ship's crew. It was the first operation between the newly "de-mothballed" carrier and the re-activated reserve crew.

    The squadron is now undergoing further training at the U.S. Naval Air Station, San Diego, Calif.

    Lowell folks will recall that Lt. Carroll narrowly escaped death February 16 when the torpedo bomber in which he was flying from the North Island Naval Air Station at San Diego to El Cantro for gunnery practice plowed into the Rocky Mountains during a sleet storm. Lt. Carroll's injuries were considered critical and three men lost their lives.

    Lt. Carroll, a World War II veteran with service in the Far East, was recalled from the naval reserve last July. He is a graduate of L.H.S. and received his degree in engineering from the University of Southern California in 1945.

This August 23, 1951, Lowell Tribune article was found page 5, column 3:
    Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll, Sr., were pleasantly surprised last Thursday by the arrival of their son and family, Lieut. and Mrs. Joseph Carroll, Carl Joseph and Jackie, from California. Mrs. Charles Carroll accompanied her son and family to New York Tuesday morning where they will visit relatives of Mrs. Joseph Carroll. They will return to Lowell Friday and on Sunday the senior Carrolls will hold open house honoring their son and cordially invite his former Lowell high school classmates and friends to call. Sgt. and Mrs. Alfred Carroll and two children of Chicago joined the family circle last weekend.
Last updated on January 11, 2005.

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