BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Local businessman and Navy veteran Thomas Poor passed away at the age of 97 on Thursday, December 8th. Poor signed up for the Navy in January 1944 in order to pursue a high-tech career in radio and radar.
23ABC's Mike Hart talked to Poor in September 2019, where he told Hart that once he completed radio school, he shipped out to Hawaii and was assigned to the newly retrofitted USS Mount Olympus.
"It was like a toy box," Poor said while describing the ship. "This had all the newest stuff there is for a ship and we had a whole room full of this stuff and it was huge. And our ship had a massive bunch of antennas on it."
The Olympus was the command ship at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It was preparing to lead an invasion of the Japanese mainland when the war ended.
Before his death, Poor was invited to be a guest speaker at the World War II Memorial unveiling at Jastro Park on Saturday, December 10th.
Funeral plans are pending.
