"I'm allergic to loud and sudden noises," wrote Crowe following the Lexington's sinking.

John William Crowe Jr. was born in Santa Cruz, California, on January 29, 1915, to Mr. and Mrs. John W. Crowe. John Jr., the couple's only child, was raised in the community and educated in local grammar schools. At Santa Cruz High School, Crowe majored in science and math and graduated with honors in 1934. Following high school he studied photography at the California Institute of Technology before entering the University of Southern California, where he earned his degree.

With the threat of war growing, John joined the US Navy on April 9, 1941. After completing boot camp in San Diego, he was assigned to the carrier USS Lexington as a photographer's mate. Crowe served aboard that vessel through the battles of the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands and Coral Sea, where the Lexington was sunk.

On May 8, 1942, John Crowe was selected to attend a special naval engineering school at Annapolis, Maryland, to qualify him as a naval engineering officer. After completing the school in January 1943, he was commissioned an ensign and assigned to the USS Saratoga. Later he served as a damage control officer aboard that carrier where he once again heard "loud noises."
“On 21 February 1945, Saratoga was detached with an escort of three destroyers to join the amphibious forces and carry out night patrols over Iwo Jima and night heckler missions over nearby Chi-chi Jima. However, as she approached her operating area at 1700 [hrs] on the 21st, an air attack developed, and taking advantage of low cloud cover and Saratoga's insufficient escort, six Japanese planes scored five hits on the carrier in three minutes. Saratoga's flight deck forward was wrecked, her starboard side was holed twice and large fires were started in her hangar deck, while she lost 123 of her crew dead or missing. Another attack at 1900 [hrs] scored an additional bomb hit.”

Lieutenant (jg) John W. Crowe Jr. was killed in action during the attack and was buried at sea. He was later memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memo- rial. His awards include the Purple Heart.

(ABMC, SCHSC Pg. 8, SCR June 19, 1942: 3, SCSn March 5, 1945 1:4, SCR March 9, 1945 -1; DANFS, USS Saratoga CV-3)