Posted by Charles Walters on December 17, 2011, 6:46 pm
I am looking for information on my father D.D.(Pete)Walters. He enlisted in the Navy in Feb. 1943 in the Hospital Corp. Shortly after this he volenteered for the Armed Guard and went to Gunnery School in Little Creek Va. He remained in the Navy until 1947 and served on the USS Fargo CL-106. Any information would be great.
Re: D.D.(Pete) Walters
Posted by Ron Carlson on December 25, 2011, 7:42 pm, in reply to "D.D.(Pete) Walters"
Charles,
What is the full first name/middle name for your father, other than "D.D."?
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: D.D.(Pete) Walters
Posted by Charles Walters on December 25, 2011, 7:44 pm, in reply to "Re: D.D.(Pete) Walters"
His full name was Deward Dell Walters, born 12/25/1925
Re: D.D.(Pete) Walters
Posted by Ron Carlson on December 25, 2011, 8:31 pm, in reply to "Re: D.D.(Pete) Walters"
Dear Charles,
That was a quick response. Here is my equally quick response.
I have located one record for your father during his service with the Armed Guard. He was aboard the Liberty ship SS JOHN SULLIVAN upon the ship's arrival in New York on Nov 25, 1943, after her departure from Bizerte, Tunisia. JOHN SULLIVAN had sailed from Baltimore on or about July 23, destination Norfolk, Virginia. She sailed from Norfolk on or about July 25, destination Algiers, Algeria.
According to the excellent website ConvoyWeb (www.convoyweb.org.uk) JOHN SULLIVAN sailed in convoy UGS-13, which departed Hampton Roads (i.e., the Norfolk area) on July 27, 1943. She was one of 97 merchant ships with 29 warship escorts. The final destination of the convoy was Port Said, Egypt, but many of the ships, including JOHN SULLIVAN, left the convoy for other ports once the convoy reached the Mediterranean.
Also according to ConvoyWeb, JOHN SULLIVAN returned to the U.S. in convoy GUS-20, which departed Alexandria, Egypt, on Oct 29, 1943, adding other ships as the convoy proceeded westward across the Mediterranean. JOHN SULLIVAN met the convoy as it passed Bizerte. The convoy reached Hampton Roads on Nov 24, 1943, although JOHN SULLIVAN and likely other vessels left the convoy early to proceed to New York. There were 129 merchant ships and 14 escorts in GUS-20.
The ship had a crew of 45 merchant seamen who operated the ship, and 27 Armed Guard sailors, including your father, to man the ship's weapons and provide communication support. There was also one U.S. Army officer who was responsible for security of the ship's cargo.
Your father is listed as a seaman 1st class with a serial number (military ID number) of 657-36-40. Your father's Armed Guard shipmates for this voyage were as follows:
Rene Leo Bousquet Louis Henry Czajkowksi Jr. Henry Franklin Delano Jr. Albert Devries John Joseph Donovan Harry Steele Fry Edward Hutchins Joseph Jagielski Edward Stanley Kropewnicki Edwin I. Lamont , LT, Armed Guard commanding officer Raymond Melvin Lorah Charlie Harold Lyon George Maguire Frank Mahalik Harry Archibald Mallams Robert Richard Malone Jordan Meilach Elmer Norman Peterson Thomas Ridgeway Rambo Peter Parent Rucker Alfonse Sarno James Arden Simmons Marvin Ferdinand Unruh Deward Dell Walters Stanley John Werner Joseph Franklin White Samuel Stanley Wooten Donald Morris Wright
I do not know whether any of these men are still living, nor would I have contact information for any who are. In the hopes of finding a living shipmate, you might first search the Social Security Death Index (https://searches.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ssdi.html) for the more unusual names, to identify those who are deceased. For any remaining names, search an online telephone directory such as White Pages (www.whitepages.com). Searches for more common names will be meaningless as so many men share the same name.
It is very likely that your father served on other ships as well, for which the sources available to me are silent. You may be able to obtain your father's official military service record, which would indicate the ships to which he was assigned, applicable dates, training, illnesses or injuries, any decorations or medals earned, etc. Please see this page from the Armed Guard website: http://armed-guard.com/searchmil.html. In particular see section A.1. Records of Individuals - U.S. Military. You will have to contact the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO, a facility operated by the U.S. Archives. Provide as much identifying information as possible about your father. The links on the web page noted above will take you to the necessary pages of the Records Center web site. There may be a fee for obtaining the information but the Records Center staff will not begin research without informing you of any charge.
If you are interested in obtaining photographs of JOHN SULLIVAN and any other merchant ships in which your father served, see this list of sources of photographs of World War II-era merchant ships: http://www.usmm.org/photosource.html. Mr. Hultgren is a particularly good source for photographs of Liberty ships, which is his specialty. I know enough about his collection to know that he apparently has a photograph of JOHN SULLIVAN. Mr. Hultgren is quite elderly but at last report was still actively managing his collection.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: D.D.(Pete) Walters
Posted by Charles Walters on December 25, 2011, 9:07 pm, in reply to "Re: D.D.(Pete) Walters"
Dear Mr. Carlson,
Thank you for the information. My dad has been gone for 10 years now, and as I get older I want to know everything I can find out about him. I was the only one of 3 children he ever told of his adventures during WW II. No one else could ever get him to talk about what he did and saw in his time in the Navy. I know he served in all theaters of the war and went around the world 3 times. During his time in the Armed Guard his job was the Pointer on 5'/38's and 3"/50's. He also manned 20mm cannons. He said firing those weapons was more fun than a person had a right to have. He loved his time in the Navy. After the war he served 2 more years on the USS Fargo CL-106. In 1995 my oldest son and I had the honor of attending the ceremonies commemorating the 50th aniversery of V-J Day,on board the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial. My dad was one of the few who stood twice, once for the Armed Guard and Merchant Marine, and once for the Regular Navy. We were also able to cruise for a day trip on the Liberty Ship SS John W. Brown. I have pictures of my dad at his battle station as pointer on the 5"/38. My dad never thought of himself as a hero. He always said they all had a job to do, and they did it. To his family he was a hero.