Naval History and Heritage Command

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Captain Bains was born on April 20, 1903, at Bessemer, Alabama, son of Herbert L. and Myrtle Edmundson Bains. He attended the Bessemer, Alabama, public schools before entering the United States Naval Academy from his native state on June 28, 1921. He was graduated and commissioned Ensign on June 4, 1925, and served aboard USS Wyoming, flagship of Scouting Fleet, until May 31, 1927, when he resigned his commission in the Navy. He was appointed Ensign in the US Naval Reserve in July, 1927, and advanced progressively to the rank of Captain, USNR. He was selected in December 1946 for transfer in the rank of Captain (for Special Duty Only) in the US Navy, his date of rank March 15, 1945.

Following resignation from the US Navy in 1927, Captain Bain studied law at Birmingham (Alabama) School of Law, and was admitted to the Alabama Bar in August 1929. He practiced law in Birmingham and Bessemer from August 1929 until April 1939. He was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1939 and served from April of that year until February 1940 as Assistant to the Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC.

During the period 1927 until 1939, he was affiliated with the Third Division, US Naval Reserve, Birmingham, Alabama. He served as Commanding Officer of the Third Division, USNR, Eighth Naval District, from 1930 until 1939, and for his services in the supervision of recruitment, training, and administration of the Third Division during the period prior to the entry of the United States into the second World War, he received a Naval Reserve Special Letter of Commendation, with authority to wear the Special Reserve Commendation Ribbon, from the Secretary of the Navy.

Captain Bains reported for active duty in the Bureau of Navigation (later redesignated Bureau of Naval Personnel) on February 27, 1940, and on April 1, 1941, joined USS Long Island. He served in the at carrier escort, one of the first converted baby flattops, for twenty-nine months, during which time she operated against the U-Boats in the Atlantic and later in support of the Army and Marine Corps landings in crucial battles for strategic bases in the Pacific. Detached in August, 1943, he reported to USS Vincennes, for duty as Navigator while she operated as a carrier screen with Task Forces in the Pacific.

Following brief temporary duty at Headquarters, Twelfth Naval District, San Francisco, Captain Bains reported early in 1945, to Commandant, Fourth Naval District, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for duty as Director of Discipline of that Naval District. On August 23, 1945, he assumed command of USS Okaloosa (APA 219), and upon detachment, reported to the Office of the Judge Advocate General, Navy Department, Washington, DC. In December 1946 he was selected for transfer from the Naval Reserve to the US Navy, and is now serving at the Ninth Naval District Headquarters, Great Lakes Illinois.

In addition to the Naval Reserve Special Commendation Ribbon, Captain Bains is entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, the American Area Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Area Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

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