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Lorene (Ezzell) Hester, Foy B. Hester
and their daughter Nancy.
Photo taken at Lorene's parents home.

Foy Benton Hester enlisted in the service for his country August 15, 1925, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and he entered into active service  September 15, 1925.

The vessels he served on during his term of service were the USS Marblehead, USS-18, USS Dayton, USS Argonaut, USS Neraus (AS-17) and the USS Nautilus.

He served on the submarine Nautilus for eight years. The Nautilus achieved fourteen war patrols and Foy served the first thirteen.

Foy was awarded the Bronze Star, a Presidential Unit Citation, American Defense - Fleet Clasp, Asiatic Pacific - 5 stars, Good Conduct - 4 stars, and the Philippine Liberation medals.

Foy stated that he never got used to the dives on the submarine. He said,"Each time it was the same thing all over, half scared to death and the other half mad. You had to hold on to something and brace your foot or else you would go to the forward end of the compartment with a crash."

He also stated that it was after 13 months at sea when back at Mare Island for another overhaul that he began to to have hopes and to see that it was possible to live through the war.

Foy served in the Navy until September 7, 1947 when he went home to Muscle Shoals, Alabama.   After his retirement from the Navy, he was employed at Reynolds Metals Company until his retirement there in 1968.

In 1972, Foy began suffering from Parkinson's disease and eventually entered Mitchell Hollingsworth Nursing Home in 1979, where he was lovingly cared for by his wife, Lorene, every day of his four year and three month stay.

A scholarship was established by his family at David Lipscomb College in Nashville, Tennessee, in honor of the ideals and courage of Foy B. Hester and his loving and supporting wife Lorene (Ezzell) Hester.

Foy Benton Hester, son of Walter Alexander Hester and Jessie Florence Hooper, was born August 16, 1906 in Belgreen, Franklin County, Alabama and died February 3, 1984. He married Vivian Lorene Ezzell, daughter of Robert Terrell Ezzell and Ruth Victoria Hester.  She was born October 19, 1909, in Belgreen, Franklin County, Alabama, and died February 3, 1996 in Dallas, Texas. Both are buried in Greenhill-Ezzell Cemetery, Franklin County, Alabama.

To read a personal account by Foy Benton Hester about Pearl Harbor go here: The War Crashed Down on Us