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.

Where in the World Have I Been?

Marine Second Lt. Robert 'Bob' Crowton's Navy Cross, awarded for heroism at Okinawa.

My former teacher Pete Benavage as a Marine Sergeant before heading to Iwo Jima.

Joseph Lajzer as he appeared after over three and a half years of Japanese captivity, including the Bataan Death March and slave labor in Japan.

Have been interviewing a gentleman who was on the Clark Field Baseball Team in Philippines before war broke out. He was on the Bataan Death March, then helped build the airfield at Palawan as slave labor, then took a Hell Ship to Japan and spent a long time "digging coal for the Emperor" at Hiroshima Omine and saw the A-bomb fall thirty miles away that fateful August day. He is in the photo above. (Name withheld)

This youthful gentleman was my Western Civilization teacher in high school. He is Major Pete Benavage, United States Marine Corps (Ret.). As a young sergeant of Marines, Pete helped lead a platoon on Iwo Jima. This is a photo capture from a Japanese TV program about Iwo Jima entitled 'Island of Death'.

Pete Benavage, teacher and friend.

Marine Second Lt. Robert Crowton's "Old Breed" First Marine Division patch that he wore on Okinawa, where he won the Navy Cross for heroism.

Marine Lt. Bob Crowton's lovely wife, Marge, admires his Navy Cross, awarded at a hospital in San Diego after he had undergone surgery to shrapnel damage to his face. (Bob Crowton collection)

Bob's Purple Heart and the box for his Navy Cross.

Bob awarded his Navy Cross in San Diego, CA.

William Morrison, who as a young Marine guarded a gun emplacement at the base of Mt. Suribachi and saw the flag go up.

Navy Corpsman William 'Bill' Lynne, who served with the First Marines at Peleliu and Okinawa. The corpsmen fought alongside the Marines, and saved many lives in battle. (Bill Lynne photo)

The wounded Corpsman in this famous press photo is Bill Lynne. (Bill Lynne collection)

Greetings to my faithful readers, all 26 of you. :)

Sorry I have not written on the blog much lately. I've been very busy working on my next book, and since it is not about WWII airmen, this page hasn't gotten the attention it did before

Right now, I am deeply involved in researching a book about the Pacific War. Lately, I've been working on two chapters in depth. The first involves the men who were on the Bataan Death March and the ensuing years as POWs. The second involves men who were at Iwo. These are but two chapters but I tend to immerse in just a few at a time. I've already put a lot of time into Pacific aviators and into Okinawa, the USS Indianapolis, and Navy Corpsmen. I have also been interviewing several Pearl Harbor survivors. This on top of the fact that I work sixty to seventy hours a week in the highly lucrative field of teaching high school.

I am putting a small sampling of photos of some of the guys I'm writing about at the moment, and who will all appear in the book when it comes out next year.

Stay tuned. I will be back.

Julien Modica: Endorsement Removed

I no longer endorse Mr. Modica for any office. Sadly, he conned me personally when I went for a visit this summer. I do not trust him.

Robert Law Collection: Royal Canadian Navy World War Two

Robert Law, standing at right, with crewmates.

This collection of World War Two items belonged to a young Canadian sailor from Edmonton, Alberta Canada by the name of Robert Law, who was the father of a colleague of mine at work. The colleague went up to Canada this year for her mother's funeral and brought back and donated her dad's WWII items to me to share with everyone for historical purposes, so here they are.

Law served as an Officers' Steward on a Royal Canadian vessel that I assumed was named the H.M.C.S. Naden during the war. However, further reseach indicates that H.M.C.S. Naden was a training area in Esquimault, British Columbia. Therefore, I am assuming he must have served on one of the following ships: the H.M.C.S. Chaudiere (destroyer), the destroyer H.M.C.S. Gatineau, of the H.M.C.S. Chilliwack, a corvette. The blue manual was his guide to preparing and serving meals for the officers on board ship. The newspaper clipping is from the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post, London, and tells of the sinking of a German U-Boat by the group of ships with which the Naden was sailing. Dated June 1, 1944. The U-Boat was sunk by the H.M.C.S. St. Catharines and its escorts. Ships named as being involved in this action include the H.M.C.S. Gatineau, the corvette H.M.C.S. Chilliwack, the H.M.S. Icarus, the H.M.C.S. Chaudiere, the corvette H.M.S. Fennel, and the corvette H.M.S. Kenilworth Castle.

Also interesting is Law's large collection of pin-up photos, most from the MGM studios. This collection includes large 8 by 10s as well as numerous 5 by 7s of various movie starlets at the time of the war. I have never seen so many pinups in such good condition, and I photographed and posted all of them because they are of great historical interest to readers.

Enjoy this collection, and thanks to Barbara Sweetland for donating them to me to share with historians everywhere.

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.

The Story of Larry C Thornton, MIA in Laos, Continues

Larry C. Thornton's MIA dogtag that I wear every day to remember his sacrifice.

After a recent posting about Master Sgt. Larry C. Thornton, whose memorial I came across by chance at the Iona Cemetery during a run a few weeks back, I have found out more about him.

A new friend of mine who operates his MIA page on on an MIA/POW webring contacted me and told me that Larry has a building named for him down at Hill Air Force Base in Roy, Utah. Here are photos she sent of the building at the base. It's a small building, but at least he has gotten some recognition for his sacrifice.

Read MORE about Larry C. Thornton.

Remembering Larry Thornton of Idaho Falls--MIA in Vietnam

The AC-47D 'Spooky', similar to the one on which Thornton and crew were lost.

Photo Montage from the Virtual Wall website hyperlinked below.

MIA Larry Thornton's memorial stone in the Iona Cemetery. As of 2003, Thornton's remains have not been found. The crew was lost Christmas Eve, 1965 on a mission.

While running in the country last weekend, I stopped in the Iona Cemetery to take some photos. I noticed one grave belonging to a Korean War and Vietnam War veteran who was listed as Missing in Action. After taking a photo, I went home and did some research. The story is quite compelling, and illustrates the sadness surrounding all cases of Missing in Action men and their families.

Larry Thornton's story is on the Virtual Wall, and can be accessed by clicking on this hyperlink.