Paul Henry Carr

Carr's ship belonged to Taffy 3, escort carriers screened by a few destroyers and destroyer escorts that met a 23-ship Japanese force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita off Samar on October 25. Lt. Cmdr. Robert W. Copeland told his crew it would be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival could not be expected, then took the Sammy B in after the heavy cruiser Chikuma. Of her 224 men, 89 were killed and 25 died afterward, and the survivors spent about 50 hours in the water. Found in 2022, it was the deepest wreck ever located.

What the plaque says

Paul Henry Carr Checotah WW II 1924 - Naval Hero - 1944 Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Paul Henry Carr, USNR (1924-1944), heroic gun captain of the after 5- inch mount of the destroyer escort, Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), died during the Battle off Samar, Battle of Leyte Gulf, 25 Oct. 1944. He was awarded a posthumous Silver Star for his "out- standing technical skill" and "courageous initiative." Carr's mount fired over 300 rounds, crippling the enemy, but Japanese shells severely damaged the Sammy B. Carr and his crew continued to fire 6 charges by hand; however, a 7th shell prematurely exploded, wrecking the gun and kill- ing and wounding all but 3 men in the gunhouse. Although severely wounded, Carr continued un- assisted to try to fire one last available round before being dragged from the gun mount. He perished a few minutes later. The USS Carr (FFG- 52) was named in 1982 in honor of this enlisted man. Family: wife, parents (Thomas Henry and Minnie Mae Austin Carr, farmers east of Checotah) and eight sisters. To commemorate his heroism, this memorial is placed on Paul Carr Drive. Dedicated July 4, 1989

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Honey Springs Battlefield — 4.6 mi
  The July 17, 1863 battlefield on the Texas Road, the largest fight in Indian Territory, where Cherokee and Muscogee regiments fought on both sides and the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry held.
• Muscogee (Creek) Nation Council House — 27 mi
  The Muscogee (Creek) Nation's 1878 stone capitol on the Okmulgee square, where the House of Kings and House of Warriors met, lost at statehood and bought back by the Nation in 2010.
• Fort Gibson Historic Site — 28 mi
  The army's first post in what became Oklahoma, built at Three Forks in 1824, where removed nations arrived; deeded to the Cherokee in 1857, it later housed the Dawes Commission.

More markers nearby

• Green Corn Dance — 13 mi
• State's Earliest Oil Refinery — 19 mi
• Webbers Falls — 23 mi
• La Harpe's Council — 24 mi