PHILADELPHIA, June 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- U-Haul® was
born as World War II was coming to a close, with its first one-way
trailers made available to the moving public on or about
July 4, 1945.
Just as U-Haul is celebrating 75 years of service this year,
America will soon celebrate the 75th anniversary of V-J Day. This
signifies Victory over Japan and
is observed Sept. 2 when the signing
of surrender occurred, effectively ending WWII.
Veterans such as Philadelphia native Thomas E. "Tom" Dudley
returned home to start a new life after the war, and in doing so
planted the seeds of prosperity for U-Haul, a product of the peace
for which they fought.
WWII-era Navy veteran L.S. "Sam" Shoen and his wife,
Anna Mary Carty Shoen, conceived
U-Haul in June 1945 when they
recognized a basic need while moving up the West Coast, having left
behind most of their belongings since one-way trailer rentals did
not yet exist. From that idea, an industry was created and a new
level of mobility became attainable for every American family.
New Display at Pearl
Harbor
Today, U-Haul is committed to honoring
veterans and supporting veteran causes. This is accomplished
through recruiting veterans and giving them hiring preference;
direct assistance to veteran groups; participation and sponsorship
of Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades; and supporting
Pearl Harbor tributes.
The Company's 75th anniversary tributes will peak triumphantly
with the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum's dedication of the renovated
Ford Island Control Tower on Aug. 29.
U-Haul Pacific Theater veterans' bios and photos will be displayed
in the tower lobby. Dudley will be among those memorialized on the
lobby wall.
The tower will showcase a new elevator, gifted by U-Haul CEO
Joe Shoen, providing public access
to the observation deck where America's lone WWII aviation
battlefield can be revered and our heroes remembered.
Member of the Seabees
Dudley was born in Highland Park on Dec.
21, 1923, to Joseph and Marie
Dudley. He graduated from Philadelphia's St. Thomas More High School in
1942. He then went to work as a full-time rigger's helper at
the Philadelphia Naval Yard.
In July 1943, Dudley enlisted in
the Navy and served in the Seabees until March 1946. In early 1944, Dudley's troop ship
headed to Tinian, in the Northern Mariana
Islands, to engage Japanese forces. Four months later, his
crew headed to Okinawa, where they
took part in intense fighting and endured
Japanese kamikaze attacks.
When the fighting in Okinawa
was over and Japan surrendered in
1945, Dudley and his shipmates headed home victorious. Dudley was
awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Medal with two bronze stars, and the WWII Victory Medal.
"The memories that linger on are those of going through the
Panama Canal, air raids, watching a naval bombardment and seeing
half of a ship still afloat after being hit by a kamikaze,"
Dudley recounted in a 1995 interview. "Memories I would like to
forget. I lost some good friends."
Insurance Pioneer
Following the war, Dudley returned
to Philadelphia, got married and
worked for the Fuller Brush Company selling their products door to
door in Haddon Heights, N.J. He
later moved to Brigantine, N.J.,
and continued the door-to-door work. His next career move was as an
insurance adjuster for Keystone Insurance Company out of
Philadelphia, with his work and
family being based out of Somers Point,
N.J.
In 1971, Dudley joined Ponderosa Insurance Co., a subsidiary of
U-Haul parent company AMERCO®. He served for more than 17 years
with Ponderosa and Republic Western Insurance Co. (also under
the AMERCO umbrella) in many capacities, including claims examiner,
claims manager, VP of loss administration and VP of claims
administration.
Dudley passed away in 2007. He is survived by sons Thomas (Katherine), Gregory (Janis), Robert
(Brenda), Stephen (Rosie),
his daughter Christine (Steve
Wilgus), 17 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren.
Veteran Ties and Appreciation
The Shoens started
U-Haul upon Sam's discharge with $4,000 of accumulated Navy pay
and the courage formed by the cauldron of WWII. With the
help of other veterans, the young couple forged their new
enterprise from the freedom that victory produced.
Today, U-Haul serves all 50 states and 10 Canadian
provinces, helping millions of families move every
year. Dudley is one of the many veterans who laid the
foundation for the present prosperity U-Haul enjoys.
U-Haul is one of a myriad of companies built by these incredible
veterans, who are to be saluted and remembered during this 75th
anniversary celebration. Thank you, Tom.
Find more veteran tributes in the History and Culture
section of myuhaulstory.com.
About U-Haul
Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of
do-it-yourself movers, with a network of 22,000 locations across
all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7
offers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day
through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our
proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has
enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 167,000 trucks,
120,000 trailers and 43,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly
697,000 rooms and 60.7 million square feet of self-storage space at
owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer
of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket
industry, and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S. For
information on moving safely and smartly with U-Haul during the
COVID-19 pandemic, please reference
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8601451-u-haul-moving-season-covid-19-safety/.
Contact:
Jeff Lockridge
Sebastien Reyes
E-mail: publicrelations@uhaul.com
Phone: 602-760-4941
Website: uhaul.com
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SOURCE U-Haul