Person:Clifford Starr (1)

COLONEL CLIFFORD JOHN STARR (1903-1950)

He was raised by his father and grandfather - and on occasions, his grandmothers. Attending grade school and high school in Morris, he was a good athlete who loved baseball, football, and riding horses. In those days his nickname was "Moon", and I've gathered from listening to his friends that he was a "hell raiser" in high school, enjoying practical jokes.

He attended Colgate University for two years, disliked it and left. He found out that he had an I.Q. of 147 (he thought it was stupid to put a number to brain power). Not wanting to be a farmer, he left Morris and joined the Army in 1925. As a private in the Seventh Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas, he rode with the Texas Rangers along the Mexican border.

Later he was transferred to Denver where he met and married my mother in my grandparent's home. Monsignor William Higgins presided. My parents first home was in Colorado Springs. While located there, I was born at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Aurora, CO.

Dad was promoted and we moved to Cheyenne, WY, spending weekends and holidays in Denver. Then on to San Luis Obispo, CA where my father helped to open the post. I remember the rain, mud, and mildew smell. Still climbing the military promotional ladder, he was sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I don't recall what he specifically did, but he wore civilian clothes and dealt mainly with businessmen.

As World War II approached, we went to Fort McDowell on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, CA. By now Dad was a Captain, and we occupied a three-story house - complete with Japanese servants, wonderful capable people, gardeners, drivers, house cleaners, etc. I remember Grandpa and Grandma Carey, Auntie, Gene, and Grandpa Starr visiting us. We had a wonderful time!

Then it was off to Washington, DC. He first worked at the War Department in the Army-Navy Buildings and, when they were torn down, at the Pentagon after Pearl Harbor. Dad became a Lieutenant Colonel and was Chief of Transportation. It was a terrible job. He knew every troop ship's whereabouts and, if they were sunk, how many men died. He also had to handle any labor disputes or strikes in this country which would hinder the movement of men or machines. During this time, my Mother christened a liberty ship.

We lived in Arlington, VA. about a half-hour drive from the Pentagon. A Cabinet member lived across the street, and Jim Carey (president of the AFL CIO) lived next door. Most of our close friends were in the Navy. They were quite social in Washington, and had dinner with Roosevelt in the White House.

When the war ended, Dad was asked to go to China. He decided it would be too tough on the family. He was the youngest enlisted man ever to become a full Colonel, and one of the three youngest men to retire at age 40. We moved to Morris, and my folks renovated the Churchill Farm which Dad had inherited from Aunt Bertha. He had a heart attack about two years later. The doctors said he had one during the war that damaged his heart, severely, but had caused no pain. He was supposed to slow down, quit smoking and drinking, and not work on the farm. He did none of these, and on June 1st, 1950 (while Mother was attending Auntie's funeral in Tulsa), I found him dead in the bedroom. He was 46 years old.

Related by Patricia Starr Newquist Fort McDowell - Angel Island

In April 1900, at the behest of the War Department, the military installation on Angel Island was officially renamed Fort McDowell in honor of Maj. Gen. Irwin McDowell, and its various installations were given new names. Thus Camp Reynolds, on the western shore of the island, became "West Garrison." Fort McDowell, on the eastern shore, became "East Garrison." These new military terms did not take hold of the popular imagination, however, and the various installations on Angel Island continued to be known by their old names. Thousands of recruits passed through the island each year. A typical recruit's stay lasted only a few days, during which he was given medical and dental examinations, clothing, and some equipment. The post grew into the country's largest overseas discharge and replacement depot: at peak recruitment times, four thousand recruits could occupy the island at a time, and by 1939 there were nearly three hundred permanent staff members on the island. Angel Island had a grade school for children of the permanent staff, a library, and a bowling alley. There was also a cinema that showed films every night as well as a Catholic church.(9)

On the evening of August 12, 1940, a fire broke out in the administration building. Soldiers from Fort McDowell rushed to the scene, where they assisted the detainees in dousing the blaze. No one was injured, but the building was completely destroyed. A board of inquiry, after interviewing everyone who may have had information about the fire, determined that it had not been set deliberately. However, deliberate or not, the fire finally demonstrated that the immigration station was dangerously unsafe and that it was no longer able to fulfill the purpose for which it had been constructed. The detainees and officials of the station were moved to San Francisco, and arrangements were made for the U.S. Army to take over its grounds. A skeleton crew remained at the station until early 1941, when the army officially assumed control. After making some improvements to the structures there, the station was again used, during World War II, to house enemy aliens.

World War II Enemy aliens were defined as citizens of Germany and other Axis countries. Current and former members of the military were especially considered to be alien enemies, and many were arrested and detained. During this war, however, Angel Island was merely a temporary holding camp for prisoners, who were sent to permanent quarters in various places around the West. Many of them stayed on the island only for a few weeks. One group of Germans, for example, was the crew of the SS Columbus, a German merchant marine ship scuttled off the U.S. coast in 1940. Faced with choosing between fleeing to the British ship that sunk them and an American ship nearby, the crew of the Columbus chose the Americans. In so doing, they became the guests of the U.S. government rather than the prisoners of the British government. They retained this status until December 1941, when war between the United States and Germany was officially declared. The crew of the Columbus was moved to New Mexico, where they sat out the war in a special facility near Roswell.(40)

The arrival of World War II also brought an end to the Chinese exclusion laws. The United States, as an ally of China against Japan, no longer desired to exclude its allies, and the laws were repealed in 1943. Angel Island was a busy place throughout the course of World War II. Tens of thousands of recruits passed through Fort McDowell on the way to duty overseas. In fact, the Overseas Discharge and Replacement Depot at Fort McDowell was the largest such establishment in the United States. When the war was over, thousands of soldiers again passed through Fort McDowell as they returned from duty in the Pacific region. In 1945 a sixty-foot sign directed at returning soldiers was erected: "Welcome Home, Well Done." The soldiers continued to return until 1946, when their numbers were reduced to nearly zero. At this time, the army closed Fort McDowell and withdrew from the island, declaring it to be surplus territory.

The area that had been the quarantine station was turned over to the state of California for use as a parkland in 1954. The next year, however, the military returned to Angel Island, in order to fight the cold war. A missile site was completed in 1955, and Nike missiles were installed on the western shore of the island. In 1958 more of Angel Island was given to California for use as a state park. The missiles remained there until 1962, when they had become obsolete. At this time, the rest of the island was given to the state of California.

Note: Clifford Starr and family were stationed at Fort McDowell prior to WWII.