John David Muirhead's Obituary
John David Muirhead
Jan 23, 1920 – Oct 16, 2022
Resident of Fremont, CA
John was born in Fannin County Texas to Samuel Tillman Muirhead and Tessie Booher, January 23, 1920. He lived in Fannin County until 1927, when his mother passed away. After her death, his father moved his two sons, Travis, John, and sister Clydia, to Tula, Texas. Growing up in the late 1920s, and the 1930s was hard. You had to contend with the Depression and the Dust bowl. While young and going to school, he spoke of his daily chores before dinner. “Go out and get two chickens for dinner.” After the eighth grade, John’s full-time job was walking behind a mule, plowing his father’s fields. In 1937 John joined the CCCs to help his family. The $25 sent home every month helped them considerable. By coincidence John’s first CCC job was at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, just north of his hometown of Tulia, TX. Seventy years later, he, his daughter, went to visit a nephew in Plainview, Texas. While there they went to visit the state park. Once the employees at the park found out a CCC worker from the 1930s was there, a video interview was set up. And for the next few hours John became the star of a video the state of Texas produced for their archives explaining the work to constructing the Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
The attack on Pearl Harbor changed John from a farm boy to U.S. a Marine, on January 2, 1942. He, and others boarded a train in Oklahoma City and headed west to California and a Marine training camp. Thirteen weeks later they boarded a troop transport and headed west across the Pacific Some days later the Marines on the transport received an up close and personal view of Pearl Harbor. John description of seeing the capsized USS Oklahoma, and the damaged to other vessels was still vivid fifty years later when he would describe what he saw.
While in Hawaii he was assigned to the 4th Defense Battalion, and trained as an aerial gunner, tasked with shooting down Japanese planes. After training he, and other Marines of the 4th Defense Battalions boarded the USS President Hayes and headed west, arriving in New Zealand in late 1942.
The Defense Battalion left New Zealand on July 4, 1943. John said, he remembered that day because it was snowing. The ship sailed north to the
Solomon Islands. They arrive at Guadalcanal, stayed a while, and then moved on to Vella LaVella in August 1943. John’s gun position was on an airstrip. The Marines of the 4th Battalion had an up-close view of Marine Fighter Squadron 214, the Back Sheep Squadron, comings, and goings, while being led by Major Gregory Boyington. They also had an up-close view of what Japanese bombers looked like. In 1944 John was transferred back to Guadalcanal. One day John read a notice on the Battalion’s bulletin board. He remembers it well. John David Muirhead was being transferred back to the U.S. He remembers folding his hands in prayer, and saying, “Thank you Lord, thank you Lord.” It got better, thirty-four days later he saw the best sight he ever saw, the Golden Gate Bridge. “I think I cried.” He often said. His next assignment was as a Marine guard at the 12th Naval District prison in Dublin, CA. On days off he and his fellow Marines spent many a day in Castro Valley, CA. On a trip to Oakland, CA a friend introduced him to a young lady named Leona D Day. On a summer day in August 1945, while driving from Dublin to San Ramon, CA, they heard the announcement that the was war over. On October 13, 1945, John was discharged from the Marine Corps. A month later John and Leona were married November 3, 1945, in Texas. Initially they lived with Leona’s mother in Oakland, then moved to Hayward, and lived there many years. They had two daughters Sheila and Sammie. John started work for Owens Illinois in Oakland, CA. in 1946, and retired thirty-six years later at the age of sixty=two. It should be noted that John was retired for forty years, four more years than he worked. During his retirement years, John and Leona traveled in a small motor home, and flew to other areas, such as Japan, Europe, and the middle east. Motor home travel became easy when one day John and Leona walked into the Stardust casino in Las Vegas. When they walked out, they were $18,000 richer. The small motor home was sold, and a large class A motor home was purchased. More travel ensued, and winters were spent around or in Yuma, AZ. After Leona passed away in 1992, John continued to go to Yuma in the winter, and come home in the summer to stay with his daughter Sammie and her family in Fremont. Each year once October arrived, he was off to Yuma, to visit his second family of friends there. In 2020 Covid forced him to come back to Fremont early. John is preceded in death by wife Leona, and a grandson, John Keeth. He leaves behind two daughters, Shelia Greer, and Sammie Buckley, and her husband Chuck, four grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and five great
great grandchildren. John also leaves behind friends in Yuma, AZ, Marcia Fischer, and Royce Drysdale.
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