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50S FROGS ZINE
Volume 13 Page 11
James H. "Hoot" Andrews,
SKCM, USN.
Training Class 7 LCK
06/51
Hoot loved music and when he joined
the Navy in May 1944 at 17 he sought to become a member of the Navy band.
After Boot Camp he shipped out to the USS Hillsdale iu the Pacific. His ship
was kamikazed and limped into Ikinawa for repairs at the lightening speed of
3 knots.
After Hoot's first enlistment he left the Navy, returned home to Bloomington, Illinois and enrolled in Wesleyan
College. During his academic year he joined the U. S. Marine Reserves. Upon completion of his
freshman year at Wesleyan, he decided civilian life was not for him, he
reinlisted in the Navy until his retirement in 1974.
Hoot entered UDTRA graduation in Class 7 at Little Creek, Virginia and assigned to UDT Two in August 1951.
Also he attended Explosive
Ordnance School and EOD qualified in 1953. Later he became a Plank Owner with the
newly formed SEAL Team Two. In January 1962 he became
their Chief Storekeeper.
Hoot married Shirley Shannon of Connecticut in July 1949. Kathleen (Andres) Hoskins was born in 20 June
1951. Subsequently the
family birthed grandsons: Patrick,
Ben, and Evan. He is survived by his wife Marla and children: Steven, Susan
and Thomas and grandchildren Tara, Amanda, and Adam, the light of his life.
Hoot was 32nd degree Mason in October 1988
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and is a charter Member and lifetime Member
of the UDT-SEAL Association, and Life Me4mber of the Navy UDT-SEAL MUSEUM in Fort
Pierce,
FL.
Hoot and Marla were married on August 31, 2001. Marla recalls Hoot sharing with her
that after he left the Navy, he went to work at an organization in the
Pentagon where he was sent to Saigon. He
operated a F. A. S. T. team that gathered information.
Also he worked for a federal agency on oceanographic studies around the world
for awhile looking at locations
for military assets. "Some of the details were not clear, but sounded
'spooky' to me."
Marla hopes sharing Hoot's amazing journey through life to you who loved him
as she did, Hoot will be honored and remembered at the Sunday morning
Memorial Service at Muster in November 2008.
A collection of photos and remembrances of Hoot Andrews,
put together by good friend and teammate E. Rojas. See website..As Bill "Bru" Bruhmiller said it, "Hoot
was a class act." Below, Don B., Hoot, O'Toole.
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