U.S. Navy Seabee R.S. Leslie's WWII Pacific Footlocker

R.M. Leslie was one of my relative's dad. He fought in the Pacific in World War Two as a Seabee. About ten years ago, Jeannie, his daughter, gave me the contents of his old Navy footlocker for my teaching and research on World War Two. These photos show most of the kit. He had two blue cloth jackets, a lighter summer white jacket, and a khaki jacket. He also had pants to match the blues and the whites. The clothing is all in pretty decent shape considering it was packed away in a box for fifty years before I got it. Enjoy this little slice of U.S. Navy history and thanks to R.M. Leslie for his service to his family and his nation. Sadly, I do not have a photo of Leslie, but I'll continue to try to find one.

Note ruptured duck on right breast, bullion insignia device, and 'CB' badge on lower sleeve.

Amazing bullion on the blue and the gray shoulder insignia patches.

50-mission Officer's Crusher

I found this excellent, near-mint WWII-era officer's crusher cap at Deseret Industries for $5.00 last week. The officer's crusher was so named because it could be 'crushed'. The stiffener was removed from the top of the hat so that the wearer could fit the ear phones over the top in flight. The flight model had a single-layer leather bill that allowed the hat to be literally folded in two and carried in a pocket, though few did so. The officer's model is different from the enlisted man's model. The main difference, other than quality, is that the officer model has a cloth knit band around the base of the hat, and also has a larger eagle device.

My hat was manufactured by Knox, New York. It is named to Jay M. Strong and has his Army serial number as well. Haven't found out anything about this gentleman yet. The hat is near-mint, appears to have been worn only a few times. The ear phones on the hat did not come with the hat.

Honoring Women Who Served--Lena Mae O'Neal--WAVE

Lena Mae O'Neal in a close-up from a group photo. (Courtesy of Nancy Hart, O'Neal's niece)

A photograph of Peggy O'Neal stands in front of her US Navy WAVE uniform. The immaculate and complete uniform, with cap and leather purse, was donated to me by a colleague Nancy Hart. Peggy was Nancy's aunt.

Peggy's WAVE uniform, looking as new as the day she got it, stands in a place of honor in my small museum. Note her name "L.M. ONEAL" stenciled on the WAVE-issued purse.

The WAVES were the women's arm of the United States Navy during World War Two. Many women served in jobs that would otherwise have been done by men, thus freeing the men to fight in the war effort.

A colleague of mine at work, Nancy Hart, had an aunt named Lena Mae O'Neal. Ms. O'Neal went by Peggy. Peggy served in the WAVES in World War Two as a cook. She was stationed in San Diego, California and in New York. A few years ago, her niece Nancy gave me Peggy's entire WAVE uniform, complete with purse and cap. This set is a priceless artifact and one of the crown jewels of my collection.

Peggy O'Neal was born in 1917 in Springfield, Missouri. In 1939, she went to California. Her brothers and sisters were all involved once the United States entered the war. Her oldest brother, James O'Neal, taught pilots to fly in Oklahoma. Her older sister Betty was a secretary on several different bases. Her brother Frank O'Neal, was injured in the Phillipines. While being transported on a hospital ship, the ship was bombed by the Japanese and Frank was killed. Her brother William O'Neal was in the Marines, and brother Emmitt was in the Coast Guard. Another sister, Dorothy, worked as a 'Rosie the Riveter' for McDonnell Douglas, building aircraft. Of the eight children in the O'Neal family, seven were involved in the war effort in some way.

Peggy passed away a few years ago. Today we honor her service and that of her siblings.

A wartime recruiting poster shows a young WAVE prepared to serve her country.

The United States Navy's history website has the following information on the WAVES:

"After a twenty-three-year absence, women returned to general Navy service in early August 1942, when Mildred McAfee was sworn in as a Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander, the first female commissioned officer in U.S. Navy history, and the first Director of the WAVES, or "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service". In the decades since the last of the Yeomen (F) left active duty, only a relatively small corps of Navy Nurses represented their gender in the Naval service, and they had never had formal officer status. Now, the Navy was preparing to accept not just a large number of enlisted women, as it had done during World War I, but female Commissioned Officers to supervise them. It was a development of lasting significance, notwithstanding the WAVES' name, which indicated that they would only be around during the wartime "Emergency".

Recruiting had to be undertaken (or at least managed, as the number of interested women was vast), training establishments set up, an administrative structure put in place and uniforms designed. The latter effort produced a classic design that still has many elements in use nearly six decades later. Difficulties were overcome with energy and indispensable good humor, and within a year 27,000 women wore the WAVES uniform.

These women served in a far wider range of occupations than had the Yeomen (F). While traditionally female secretarial and clerical jobs took an expected large portion, thousands of WAVES performed previously atypical duties in the aviation community, Judge Advocate General Corps, medical professions, communications, intelligence, science and technology. The wartime Navy's demand for them was intense as it struggled to defeat Hitler and Mussolini in Europe and the Japanese in the Pacific.

At the end of the conflict, there were well over 8,000 female officers and some ten times that many enlisted WAVES, about 2 ½ percent of the Navy's total strength. In some places WAVES constituted a majority of the uniformed Naval personnel. And many remained in uniform to help get the Navy into, and through, the post-war era.

Memories for Sale: Airmen's Belongings Thrown Out

A sad scenario is being played out time and again in the United States these days. As our aging World War Two veterans pass away, the things that they treasured and stored for sixty years are being gone through by children and grandchildren who have no idea what they are dealing with. Unknowing or perhaps uncaring, they are throwing away or selling for practically nothing the treasures of their fathers and grandfathers. What's even sadder is that there are many people out there who make a lot of money going to estate sales and buying this stuff for pennies on the dollar and then selling it for hundreds or even thousands of dollars to the huge military collectors' market on the internet. Just look at eBay sometime and you'll find memories for sale by astute estate-sale shoppers who probably never bothered to point out to a grieving child or grandchild that the items they were selling are priceless.

A case in point. About ten or twelve years ago, I was shopping in the Salvation Army thrift store here in Idaho Falls, when there before me was an absolutely unblemished Eighth Air Force airman's uniform, complete with jacket, wool shirt, and trousers. Its original owner was a sergeant in the Eighth, stationed in England, and had the overseas bars to prove it. His name was Newcomb. This pristine uniform was stored for fifty years and then presumably thrown in with the other clothes after the passing of this veteran. I've never been able to trace him or his family. This entire 8th Army Air Corps uniform--coat, patches, shirt with patches, and trousers, cost five dollars.

These items belong in museums, not in the hands of collectors. I use my items frequently for teaching and display. When I can no longer use them to teach about the air war, they will go to a museum, but they will never be sold to collectors. These items are priceless.

If you have a veteran relative, make sure that arrangements are made to keep their treasures in the family or get them to someone who will use them for education and public display.