P-59A Posted July 11, 2017 Share #1 Posted July 11, 2017 I picked up an ephemera group that belonged to Ensign Wetmore USN. The box of papers was 25 pounds. I will post some of what I found Wetmore had been a Merchant Marine before the war and had time in the USMC Reserve before that. When The war breaks out he received a commission as an Ensign Navigator and is assigned to the newly converted USS Crater. The USS Crater was being built as a Liberty ship and was converted to a Navy Transport Ship. Wetmore was a part of the first crew to sail her. When Ensign Wetmore is transfered he took the first four pages of his Navigator logs. This the first and last pages that are a part of every order he ever recieved from 1942-45. This is the stack of orders. This is a Marine invasion map of Iwo Jima I found in all of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share #2 Posted July 13, 2017 I am new to this site. I had no idea I had posted the same photo over and over and I have no idea why I couldn't delete them after I saw what happened. Errrrrr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerialbridge Posted July 14, 2017 Share #3 Posted July 14, 2017 Was he from Connecticut? Reason I ask, I have a Sampson medal to a "Wetmore" from there, might be a relative. Either way, good name for a sailor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted July 14, 2017 Was he from Connecticut? Reason I ask, I have a Sampson medal to a "Wetmore" from there, might be a relative. Either way, good name for a sailor. Paper work states at the time of enlistment he was from Stockton Ca. His letters home indicate his folks were divorced. No covers for the letters so I have no idea of were they lived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #5 Posted July 14, 2017 VA paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #6 Posted July 14, 2017 Merchant Marine paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #7 Posted July 14, 2017 Merchant Marine paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #8 Posted July 14, 2017 more paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #9 Posted July 14, 2017 more paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #10 Posted July 14, 2017 separation from Merchant Marines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #11 Posted July 14, 2017 coast guard discharge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #12 Posted July 14, 2017 USS Crater and crew photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #13 Posted July 14, 2017 awards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #14 Posted July 14, 2017 I have no idea how he got this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #15 Posted July 14, 2017 sperry cert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #16 Posted July 14, 2017 graduation class Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #17 Posted July 14, 2017 rest of class Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #18 Posted July 14, 2017 navigators log Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #19 Posted July 14, 2017 navigators log Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #20 Posted July 14, 2017 dinner time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #21 Posted July 14, 2017 ships roster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #22 Posted July 14, 2017 stack of papers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #23 Posted July 14, 2017 invasion map of Iwo Jima Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share #24 Posted July 14, 2017 map Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerialbridge Posted July 15, 2017 Share #25 Posted July 15, 2017 On the 1999 retroactivity of the Combat Action Ribbon for WW2 Navy and USMC non-aviation vets who were in combat, see the link below. I can barely make out the words "we regret...delay responding to your request." on your transmittal letter and CAR, so looks like he wrote and asked for it. A few years back, I was working on behalf of a WW2 Navy vet's daughters in an unsuccessful effort to prod the Navy to find a record of treatment for a severe shrapnel wound he received in a kamikaze attack on the first day of the Okinawa invasion for which he was awarded a bronze star as first lieutenant in fire suppression that saved his ship from blowing up and/or sinking. The Navy didn't look beyond his St. Louis file that we already had, with no record of treatment and so no PH. As "consolation awards" they sent the daughters a CAR and the Philippine PUC posthumously, since he had died in the mid 90s. Cool paper, thanks for posting. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-106publ65/html/PLAW-106publ65.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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