Good afternoon, my father, Pasquale Paolella served on the SS George E Badger as an armed guard member during WWII. I am looking for pictures of this vessel. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you !
Gary Paolella (586) 405-3619

Mary,

I assume the names of the ships in which you are interested include VILLANOVA VICTORY (not simply VILLANOVA) and KEITH VAWTER (not just VAWTER). JOSEPH P. BRADLEY is a correct name. The last two ships are Liberty ships, the VILLANOVA VICTORY is of course a Victory ship.

Please see this web page for a list of sources of World War II-ear merchant vessels: http://usmm.org/photosource.html. Regrettably, the second source on that list, Mr. Hultgren, is no longer supplying photographs of ships, due to his advanced age. This is particularly unfortunate in that Mr. Hultgren's collection contains images of nearly every Liberty ship. I had been referring persons like yourself to him for years.

As to the other sources, it's hit or miss. If you try to contact the library at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, be aware that the listed links are no longer valid. Send an e-mail to library@marinersmuseum.org instead.

Good luck.

Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com