View source for SGT JONAH E KELLEY T-APC 116

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<h3>Ship Name and Designation History</h3>
This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during 
its lifetime.
The list is in chronological order.
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Sgt. Jonah E. Kelly Class Coastal Transport<br/>
Laid down January 29 1945 as MV LINK SPLICE a Maritime Commission type (C1-M-AV1) hull<br/>
Launched March 17 1945<br/>
Delivered to Maritime Commission August 28 1945 under contract to Moore-McCormack Line for operations<br/>
Returned to Maritime Commission June 20 1946 and assigned to Army Transportation Service (ATS)<br/><br/>
<li>'''USAT SGT. JONAH E. KELLY'''<br/>
Renamed and Commissioned October 31 1947 - Decommissioned July 1 1950<br/>
Turned over to U.S. Navy July 1 1950<br/><br/>
<li>'''USNS SGT. JONAH E. KELLEY T-APC-116'''<br/>
Placed In Service July 1 1950 - Out of Service November 24 1969<br/>
Transferred to MARAD December 22 1969<br/>
Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA<br/><br/>
Struck from Naval Register (date unknown)<br/>
Sold October 3 1972 to Union Minerals and Alloys Corp., New York, NY for scrap<br/><br/>
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<h3>Naval Covers</h3>
This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the 
ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for 
example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same 
ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 
Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't 
take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date 
range for covers on that page.
<ol>
<li>[[USNS SGT. JONAH E. KELLEY T-APC-116_Covers_Page_1 | Covers Page 1 ]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(1968)</li>
</ol>
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<h3>Postmarks</h3>
This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a 
separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, 
the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one 
postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of 
earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an 
image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN 
THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
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>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the
existing example.
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Postmark Type<br/>---<br/>Killer Bar Text
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Postmark<br/>Date</th>
<th align="center" width="350">Thumbnail Link To<br/>Postmark Image</th>
<th align="center" width="120">Thumbnail Link To<br/>Cover Image</th>
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NO POSTMARKS<br/>REPORTED
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POSTMARK DATE
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Other Information</h3>
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...Nation Defense Service Medal<br/><br/>
'''NAMESAKE''' - Staff Sgt. Jonah E. Kelley, a West Virginian serving with Company E, 311th Infantry, 78th Infantry Division, was killed in action as his squad spearheaded furious house to house fighting in Kesternich, Germany, on January 31 1945. On the 30th, he had led his squad through intense mortar and small arms fire in repeated assaults against barricaded German positions. Twice wounded, once in the back and once in the left hand he had refused all but initial first aid; continued to lead his men forward; and, after clearing the way to one house by using hand grenades pulling the pin with his teeth and tossing the explosive with his good arm, he had forced snipers to vacate a second house with his impaired, but still accurate, rifle fire. That night, he had sought medical attention; but, with dawn on the 31st, he had rejoined his squad as it continued its advance through the town. Twice that morning, he had located and silenced enemy positions. In dealing with the second, a machine gun in a heavily protected house, he ordered his squad to remain low; then dashed into the open and attacked the position. Hit several times, he fell to his knees 25 yards short of his objective; but, summoning extra strength, he emptied his rifle into the enemy position and silenced it before he died. For his courage, leadership, and sacrifice, Sgt. Kelley was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

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<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
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[[Contact_Us | contact the Curator]] or edit this page yourself and add it. 
See [[Editing_Ship_Pages | Editing Ship Pages]] for detailed information on 
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