Frank M. Heuer Sr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in October 1923. He grew up with three sisters and one brother. He had wonderful parents. His mother was a hard worker and his father worked as a blacksmith for the railroad for 40 years. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], his father’s hours were cut short to four days. A lot of people were going through rough times. His father helped a friend by loaning him 25 dollars. Heuer remembers when the Streetcar strike in New Orleans began. His father took advantage of the strike by running people around to make a buck. Heuer’s family lived in a house that his father built, which was near his grandmother’s house and service station. His family lived in the house until after World War 2. To pass time, they would listen to various shows on the radio. His family liked to play card games and board games. He played hide and seek with his friends. He also liked to fish with his brother and father. Heuer attended primary school starting at age seven, and then graduated from Warren Easton High School [Annotator’s Note: in New Orleans] in the fall of 1941.

After he graduated from school in 1941, Frank M. Heuer Sr. went to work for Higgins Industries [Annotator’s Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] as an apprentice machinist. Heuer remained at Higgins until his father learned that his draft number was about to be called, at which time he left Higgins and enlisted in the Navy with his younger brother, Edward, in January 1943. Heuer, his brother, and several of their neighborhood friends took their boot camp training at Naval Training Station San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California]. Heuer was visiting his cousin when they heard over the radio that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He knew that the event was detrimental, but he had no idea how it would impact his life. While he worked for Higgins Industries, he and many of the workers were relieved to have a job and believed in the cause to prepare America for war. While he was working for Higgins, he did not see any women. Most of them worked at the other plant, especially when the men began to join the service. Heuer wanted to enlist into the Navy because his mother did not want him to go into the Army, and Heuer had a cousin that was on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) during the Pearl Harbor attack. His younger brother wanted to join the Navy too. His older sister worked in a government position during the war until she married an Army service man named Ervin Aden [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling].

In January 1943, Frank M. Heuer Sr. enlisted in the Navy with his younger brother, Edward. Heuer, his brother, and several of their neighborhood friends took their boot camp training at Naval Training Station San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California]. He enjoyed his boot camp experience, except waking up early for guard duty. After completing boot camp, Heuer was sent to motor machinist’s mate school in San Diego for 16 weeks. The students in the class were graded and those in the top ten percent of the class were sent for an additional six weeks of training at the Hall-Scott Motor Car Company in Berkeley, California which made engines for various military vehicles at the time. Heuer was one of those sent to Hall-Scott. He lived in a house with other guys close by. He spoke about the different engines and how he had to work on them in the boat if necessary. While he went to machinist school, his brother went to land craft school before he was shipped off to the Solomon Islands. He did not see his brother again until the end of the war. He and his brother wrote to each other often during their service. Heuer admitted that he was excited to leave home and go on an adventure. He made lifelong friends with the men he met in service.

In the fall of 1943, When Frank M. Heuer Sr.’s course at Hall-Scott Motor Car Company [Annotator’s Note: in Berkeley, California] was done, Heuer was assigned to the crew of a crash boat and deployed to Tarawa [Annotator’s Note: Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands] where he spent more than a year serving with ACORN 16 and ACORN 17. He arrived at Tarawa on a cargo ship that came from San Pedro, California, with a stop in Pearl Harbor [Annotator’s Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. He ate in the mess hall with the Merchant Marines who were running the ship. He had a friend and fellow machinist’s mate, who was so sick he could not get out of bed. When they stopped in Hawaii, his friend stayed there and was put on shore duty. Heuer was the only machinist’s mate in his unit while on Tarawa, so when he had to have an appendectomy on the island, the Navy had to send another person to replace him. Heuer did not get along well with his replacement. The new guy tried to tell Heuer what to do and told Heuer that he oversaw the engines. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:56:30.000.] Heuer talked about the ship he was assigned to and the type of engines it had. It was like the Higgins boats [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat]. Heuer remembered that when his ship stopped at Pearl Harbor before heading to Tarawa, there were still remnants of the attack [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He left the Hawaiian islands a month later, soon after the Battle of Tawara [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Tarawa, 20 to 23 November 1943; Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands]. His ship pulled into a canal and unloaded on the atoll.

In the fall of 1944, Frank M. Heuer Sr. left the Hawaiian Islands and arrived at Tarawa [Annotator’s Note: Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands] soon after the Battle of Tarawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Tarawa, 20 to 23 November 1943; Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands]. He lived on the crash boat with six other crewman. The boat had a small galley kitchen, a cabin for the skipper [Annotator's Note: captain or commander of a naval vessel or aviation unit], and two other cabins with bunks. When his crew was on duty, he ate in the galley, but when his crew was off duty, they ate at the mess hall on base. There was one guy on the boat who was second in command, but also made the food for the crew. He spent more than a year serving with ACORN 16 and ACORN 17. One day when he was off duty, the skipper gave him a letter from his sister that told him that his mother died. That was the hardest moment of his Navy experience.

Frank M. Heuer Sr. was assigned to the crew of a crash boat and deployed to Tarawa [Annotator’s Note: Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands] where he spent more than a year serving with ACORN 16 and ACORN 17. He got to see a Bob Hope [Annotator's Note: Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope KBE; British-American entertainer who was famous for entertaining American troops serving overseas during World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War] USO show [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] while on the atoll. One time, his crew took a trip to another area of the atoll and swam with the natives. He enjoyed this time and it felt like a vacation. Other days when they were off duty, he would take rides to the airstrip. He also talked about some of the interactions with the local population. His crew once dropped a depth charge [Annotator's Note: also called a depth bomb; an anti-submarine explosive munition resembling a metal barrel or drum] to fish. They were able to gather a variety of fish. When Heuer’s crew was on duty, they would go out to sea near the airfields to monitor plane crashes. Fortunately, they were never needed to rescue any downed airmen.

Frank M. Heuer Sr. was assigned to the crew of a crash boat and deployed to Tarawa [Annotator’s Note: Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands] where he spent more than a year serving with ACORN 16 and ACORN 17. He got to see a Bob Hope [Annotator's Note: Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope KBE; British-American entertainer who was famous for entertaining American troops serving overseas during World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War] USO show [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] while on the atoll. As the war progressed, Heuer’s crash boat followed the front. They moved from Tarawa to Makin [Annotator’s Note: Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands] then on to Kwajalein [Annotator’s Note: Kwajalein, Marshall Islands]. By the spring of 1945, Heuer had been away from home for more than two years, so his commanding officer gave him orders to return to the United States for a 30-day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. Heuer’s leave officially began in April 1945 when he got back to the United States mainland. He returned home at around 8:30 at night, and no one was home. He went to his grandmother’s house for a little bit and finally returned home and reunited with his father and sisters. When his leave was up, he reported to a facility in San Francisco, California then went by train to Long Beach, California where he learned that the Japanese had surrendered and the war was over. He then boarded the light cruiser USS Miami (CL-89) for transport to Hawaii. In Hawaii, he reported aboard his new ship, the net cargo ship USS Sagittarius (AKN-2). The Sagittarius steamed out of Pearl Harbor [Annotator’s Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] and made stops at numerous islands in the Pacific delivering nets for guarding harbor entrances.

In late 1945, the USS Sagittarius (AKN-2) returned to Norfolk, Virginia and Frank M. Heuer Sr. left the ship in February 1946. He returned to New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] by train and was discharged from the Navy the same month in Algiers, Louisiana as a motor machinist's mate second class. He transitioned into civilian life easily. He worked as a machinist for his career. Heuer is proud of his service and his experience in World War 2.