My grandfather on my mom's side served in the Navy during World War 2. He was a corpsman and was attached to the Marine Corps.
I didn't know much about his time in the Navy. He passed away in 1972 and his time in the Navy was before he met my grandmother.
I had asked my grandmother before if she knew of any photos from his side of the family, but she only had photos of him. After my mom passed, we found a box of photos he had left from her. These photos come from that collection.
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| My grandfather |
My grandfather volunteered for service on July 13, 1942. He was inducted in Houston, being from Conroe. He arrived for training on July 17th in San Diego and completed his initial training, which included the gas chamber with a gas mask, on September 4th. He then joined Company D, 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Marine Division.
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| In camp San Diego |
According to his military records, on February 23, 1943, he "Sailed from San Diego, California on a secret mission of war." He crossed the equator on March 1st, being admitted into the domain of Neptunus Rex. They arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 11th and deployed there until July.
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| Building Hospital on Guadalcanal |
He arrived in Guadalcanal on July 19th.
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| In camp Guadalcanal |
On June 3rd, 1944, he embarked and sailed aboard USS DuPage from Tetere Beach, Guadalcanal, heading from Guam. On July 21st, the opening day of the battle of Guam, he disembarked and participated in initial landing of 3rd Marine Division on the enemy held island of Guam.
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| Guam |
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| Naval Hospital Guam |
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| Naval Hospital Guam Annex |
He then came back to the US via San Francisco, finishing his time in Virginia.
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| Dr T E Newell and my grandfather, Fort Eustis, Virginia |
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3 years, 4 months, and 22 days after volunteering for enlistment, he was honorably discharged on December 4, 1945. He had achieved the rate of Pharmacist Mate 2nd Class. and earned the American Area medal, the Asiatic-Pacific (plus 1 star), Victory - WW2 medal, and a Good Conduct.
