While I cannot put you in touch directly with your shipmates, here is a list of the Armed Guard crew from your ship that I found in a search of the subscription website Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com). The website has databases showing passengers and crew members of ships arriving in certain U.S. ports of entry from a foreign port. Maybe you will at least recognize some of the names.
This is the Armed Guard crew aboard SS FRANCIS WILSON, arriving February 28, 1945, from Manus Island, having sailed from New Orleans in October 1944, in addition to yourself:
Beyer, Leroy S.
Brooks, Leroy S.
Browder, J. F.
Hamersley, Kenneth E.
Holmes, Lester T.
Houston, John R.
Kavitz, Stephen A.
Kisor, John R.
Nave, William T.
O’Donnell, Martin F.
Ramsey, John G.
Rasco, Harold D.
Rasmussen, James P.
Rathburn, James C.
Rhodes, Charles H.
Sanders, Gordon L.
Schwartz, John B.
Simpson, Richard M
Sparks, Howard E.
Stenzel, Clarence C.
Stout, Burl O.
Stover, Darwin L.
Sulfaro, Frank T.
Thomas, Everett E.
Turner, Richard M.
Wenger, W. L. ENS, Armed Guard commanding officer
Also:
Griffin, William O. LT, U.S. Army; Army security officer
The name of the master was Charles W. Harris.
I do not know whether any of these men are still living, nor do I have contact information for any who are. A few of the names I found in searches of the Social Security Death Index, http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/. Some of the names are much too common to make a useful search.
Searching an online telephone directory, I did find this listing:
Frank T. Sulfaro, Sr.
806 Reisig Street
Monroe, MI 48161-1166
(734) 242-2557
Additionally, Darwin L. Stover is or was a member of the U.S. Naval Armed Guard World War II Veterans Association. Contact the Chairman of the Association to see whether he still has contact information for Mr. Stover. Contact:
C.A. Lloyd, Chairman
U.S.N. Armed Guard World War II Veterans Association
115 Wall Creek Drive
Rolesville, NC 27571
Telephone: 919-570-0909
E-mail: clloyd@nc.rr.com
SS FRANCIS WILSON was built by the Kaiser Permanente No. 2 Yard, Richmond, California, in 27 days in November-December 1943. Her keel was laid November 24, she was launched December 14, and she was completed for service on December 21. She was scrapped in Baltimore in 1962.
Good luck.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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