Clarence Harold Schilperoot and his twin brother were born in October 1917 in Grandview, Washington. His family later moved to a farm in Sunnyside, Washington. Schilperoot grew up and graduated from high school there. He was the first in his family to complete high school. His brother decided not to go to high school but joined the Navy with Schilperoot in 1936. Schilperoot elected to join the service because of the Great Depression. He could not afford to go to college and jobs were scarce. The Navy rather than the Army was his preference after seeing a sailor with a woman on each of his arms. That confirmed his decision to join the Navy. He wanted to see the world and the Navy sounded like an adventurous life. It took five months before he was inducted into the Navy since there were so many applicants. Jobs were scarce at the time and the military was a good alternative to difficult to find civilian employment.

Clarence Schilperoot took a train ride from his point of enlistment in Seattle to San Diego. He was awed in seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time. After boot camp, his aptitude tests showed that he would fit as an electrician. His advanced training focused on electrical courses. He assumed the associated rating when he boarded his first ship, the battleship Mississippi [Annotator's Note: USS Mississippi (BB-41)]. The Mississippi, like other older battleships, was on the east coast when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Schilperoot transferred to the USS Houston (CA- 30) while his brother remained on the Mississippi. Schilperoot volunteered to transfer to the Houston after hearing about the good life sailors in the Asiatic fleet had experienced. He had to extend his enlistment by two years to obtain the transfer. The ship was overhauled at Mare Island prior to deployment. She went to the Philippines where Schilperoot saw a year of peace before the war started. Captain Oldendorf [Annotator's Note: then US Navy Captain, later Admiral, Jesse B. Oldendorf] was respected by the crew but he was relieved. The new skipper, Rooks [Annotator's Note: US Navy Captain Albert H. Rooks], turned out to a good leader as well. He would go down with the ship after the war started.

Clarence Schilperoot and the USS Houston (CA-30) were in the southern Philippines at the start of the war. They ran convoy duty from Australia before being assigned to the ABDA - American, British, Dutch and Australian fleet. The Japanese fleet outnumbered the ABDA forces. An air attack on Houston knocked out the number three turret with the loss of 48 men. A hole was blown in the deck and wiped out the repair party at their battle stations below. It was the first true feeling of warfare and was a scary thing. Nevertheless, the crew was well trained and operated effectively. They maintained good morale. The Battle of the Java Sea was a disaster when the Japanese sank a large number of ABDA ships. The Houston survived along with an Australian light cruiser, HMAS Perth. They retired to Jakarta. The two ships ran into a Japanese landing force when they proceeded through the Sunda Strait. Both sides were surprised but both ABDA ships were sunk with a terrible loss of life. Of the more than 1,000 crew on Houston, about 700 did not survive. Instead of floating on a life raft, Schilperoot opted to swim toward land. The men who were on the raft with him remained there and did not survive. Swimming for shore, Schilperoot became exhausted and his life jacket became waterlogged. Japanese ships were patrolling for survivors but passed him by. Schilperoot found that he was drifting out to sea before a small boat picked him up. It was a landing craft manned by Japanese. They cut away the heavy jacket and pulled him aboard. He was offered water and rice with seaweed. When Schilperoot went aboard the ship, he was brought before an officer who dressed well and spoke English well. Schilperoot was taken to the beach where other Houston survivors were gathered. The prisoners were put to work unloading cargo. The next day, Schilperoot and others were taken aboard a Japanese ship to load cargo. That went on for eight days before the prisoners were taken back to the beach to be transported to Sarang, Java. There were about 1,500 POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] gathered in an old movie theater in Sarang. Water was scarce and had to be boiled before drinking. Rice balls were given to them for one meal. A small loaf of bread was provided as a second meal. They remained there until the middle of March 1942 when they were transferred to a military camp in Batavia, now known as Jakarta.

Clarence Schilperoot remained in Jakarta [Annotator's Note: at that time called Batavia] until October [Annotator's Note: 1942]. They were then transported to Singapore. Some of the men were sent to Burma to build the railroad. Schilperoot and others were routed via ship to their destination. While en route, American bombers dropped bombs on them. It was very frightening. The ship was damaged but not sunk. The POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] were brought to a former leper colony. Afterward, they were put to work on the railroad. Quotas were given to build the railroad. Men were driven to achieve the difficult targets. At first, it was not too bad, but, after poor diet and sickness, men began to fall out. As that happened, quotas were increased. Eventually, the sick outnumbered the well POWs. Food was withheld from the sick. Schilperoot was fortunate not to get sick during that period. He was responsible for boiling drinking water instead of performing hard labor. That may have aided him in surviving. The Japanese instituted a "speedo" program for the POWs to work faster. Workers had to rise early and sometimes not return until after midnight. Men were beginning to weigh less than 100 pounds. Loss of 25 percent of the men occurred during the first year. There was little food and no medicine. It was a terrible jungle and mountain area to build a railroad. It was completed and used by the Japanese until Allied bombers wrecked it. A large crew of POWs had to be maintained to keep it running.

Clarence Schilperoot was still healthy after the railroad was completed. [Annotator's Note: The Burma-Thai Railway, also referred to as the Railway of Death, was completed by Allied POWs on 17 October 1943.] The Japanese brought the fit POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] to Saigon, or today's Ho Chi Minh City. They were going to be brought to Japan to work in the coalmines. Until being shipped out, the prisoners worked loading and unloading ships. The war ended before they could be moved. The Japanese transferred the former POWs into a French military barracks where the prisoners had the luxury of sleeping in bunks. The Vietnamese people were gathering in the streets and demanding their independence from France. Rifle shots broke up the mob. The French sought Japanese protection in the camp where the former POWs were housed. Schilperoot volunteered to help the OSS [Annotator's Note: Office of Strategic Services, pre-runner of today's Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA] man a radio station in a hotel. It was there that he learned of the supplies coming for the POWs. Schilperoot also discovered that he would be flown out the next day to Karachi, India. From there, he flew across North Africa to Washington, D.C.

Clarence Schilperoot returned home by train after reaching the United States. He had a reunion with his parents upon his arrival in Yakima, Washington. Things were much different because of fuel, food, and clothing rationing. He wore his uniform until his discharge. He was on 90 day leave. When he returned to base, he was promoted to chief petty officer. He was subsequently offered a commission and retired as a lieutenant in 1957 after 21 years of service. He served on multiple ship types and even served as a judge advocate of courts martial. He studied law and could either prosecute or defend. Sailors were deserting the military and their family because of their inability to support their dependents. They often were found working in the lumber camps in the Northwest. Schilperoot found it to be an interesting job. After a year, he was assigned to another cruiser, the USS St. Paul (CA-73) which was assigned to the Philippines. The executive officer was John McCain, Jr. from Washington. He was the father of Senator John McCain. The McCains made a name for themselves in the Navy. The senior John McCain became Pacific Fleet commander during the Korean War. His son would become a prisoner of war during Vietnam. Schilperoot and his family were close to the McCains and felt favorably toward them. Schilperoot, at 90 years of age, feels fortunate that he survived all that he did.

Clarence Schilperoot was aboard USS Houston (CA-30) on 1 February 1942 as it departed Jakarta, Java. The cruiser was en route to the Sunda Strait and the Indian Ocean. The objective was to escape destruction by the Japanese fleet. They encountered a Japanese destroyer and opened fire on it. The Houston was accompanied by HMAS Perth which also opened fire on the enemy. The battle began. At that point at around midnight, the ships stood and fought. The crew was fatigued from the previous battle at the Java Sea. They went to their battle stations and shot at anything they saw. The Perth was sunk first. Houston stood against multiple enemy ships which were armed with effective torpedoes. The first torpedo struck Houston's after engine room. Everyone was killed and the space was put out of commission from the damages. The forward engine room manned, by Schilperoot, was not impacted. It remained fully operational but could propel the ship at only 15, instead of 30, knots. The Houston was struck by two more torpedoes before the Captain [Annotator's Note: US Navy Captain Albert H. Rooks] gave the abandon ship order. Even though Schilperoot's battle station was below deck in the Plotting Room, he could hear the shrapnel hitting the side of the ship as shells or bombs exploded. Electrical power went off-line following the torpedo hit at the aft engine room. Schilperoot and the crew in Plotting moved to the Central Station which was the adjacent space. There, Schilperoot stood by the ladder to exit the space for the open deck. Others were exiting the ship. Schilperoot went forward through officer's country and saw that flames were everywhere. Life jacket storage was afire. Schilperoot and another man managed to launch a large life raft but did not secure it to the ship. The raft floated away without anyone on it. There had been no training on evacuating the ship using the rafts. Schilperoot stood along on the foredeck as Japanese destroyers approached the ship. He was in awe of the live sea battle going on around him. The enemy veered off after launching torpedoes. Houston was firing machine guns at the enemy. As the aft end of the ship sunk and the bow lifted up, Schilperoot jumped off the mortally wounded cruiser. He had no life jacket but saw a mattress that he threw overboard and swam toward. He then observed an overcrowded life raft and swam toward it. Several of Schilperoot's friends were on the raft and he managed to get a life jacket and swam to shore. The others on the life raft were never found. Captain Rooks relieved Captain Oldendorf [Annotator's Note: then US Navy Captain, later Admiral, Jesse B. Oldendorf] before the war. Rooks was very capable at maneuvering to avoid Japanese bombs. One bomb did penetrate the Houston's deck and hit the mess hall where a repair party was stationed. It wiped them out. Schilperoot was pallbearer for an electrician who had just replaced him in turret three. The man had been killed doing the job formerly done by Schilperoot. Schilperoot was fortunate not to be in that turret. He was lucky that he left the life raft and swam to shore. A brother of one of the survivors on the raft who did not swim with Schilperoot asked him after the war about the situation. The man who remained behind was a good swimmer. Schilperoot must have had a guardian angel guiding him to safety.

While a POW at Sarang, Clarence Schilperoot had the opportunity to bathe in a running stream. When he went to midstream, he observed raw sewage floating in it. He was on the way back to land when he skinned his leg. It became infected. At Batavia [Annotator's Note: today known as Jakarta], there was a captured Texas field artillery unit [Annotator's Note: Battery A, 131st Field Artillery Battalion] which still had its doctors and medicines. If he had not encountered them, he likely would have died in the jungle. There were terrible diseases in the jungles that would kill a prisoner if not properly medicinally treated. Schilperoot and a friend took care of one another while they were POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. They bedded down next to each other and tried to tend to the others when they needed it. One day, the friend grew very sick. By the end of the day, after Schilperoot returned from work detail, the man had already been buried. Schilperoot contacted his friend's family when he returned home. Schilperoot helped other families through the loss of their loved ones. The Houston [Annotator's Note: USS Houston (CA-30)] had a chaplain named Rentz [Annotator's Note: US Navy Commander George S. Rentz] who gave his life jacket to another man. The Chaplain then disappeared. A ship is named after him for his sacrifice. Ship survivors are often invited to Navy ceremonies related to their ship. Schilperoot feels like he is a lucky guy. In retrospect, he would not have volunteered for the Houston if he knew then what was going to happen.

Clarence Schilperoot feels World War 2 should continue to be studied. Many of his memories are personal. They are the ones that have stuck in his mind. Admiral Halsey [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey] hated the Japanese so much that he admonished his men to "kill Japs" [Annotator's Note: period derogatory term for Japanese]. The Japanese killed themselves rather than surrender. That came from their background and education. Americans could not understand that. Schilperoot came to better understand their philosophy later in life. POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] have stuck together and believe in each other's stories. Reunions of POWs are held, and Schilperoot has been to Australia six different times to attend them. Schilperoot's POW experience changed him. He no longer hates the Japanese like he did before. The captives were treated so badly that nothing nice could be said about the guards. The new generation of Japanese is now different from the old generation. The older generation still needs to be watched. Schilperoot tells of the abuse that he and other prisoners had to endure after the Japanese found out that they had gotten liquor from some of the natives around their prison camp. Schilperoot feels he still suffers from some of the beatings. He has had multiple surgeries as a result of injuries. The abuses have affected his mathematics and electronics capabilities compared to the past. Schilperoot was abused by the Japanese plus he witnessed the local population being mistreated as well. The POWs and the locals ended up hating their Japanese captors as a result.