By Emily Clarke • February 28, 2026 • Share
Her son survived 12 hours in the Pacific after his ship went down. When he handed her the belt that kept him alive, she turned it over and saw her own inspection number stamped inside.
Vera Staples worked the assembly line at Firestone in Akron, checking every rubber life belt that passed through her hands. She whispered prayers over each one, thinking of the unknown sailors who might depend on them. And she thought of her own son, Signalman Elgin Staples, somewhere in the Pacific aboard the USS Astoria.
August 9, 1942. The Battle of Savo Island turned the waters off Guadalcanal into a killing field. Japanese torpedoes ripped through Allied cruisers in the darkness. The Astoria burned and sank. Elgin was thrown into the ocean with hundreds of others. He grabbed a life belt and held on through the night, surrounded by sharks, fuel oil, and the cries of dying men. Twelve hours passed before rescue came.
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