Help identifying rank

[eradicater]

I always knew my grandfather served in the Navy and was active in WWII. I know he was on a sub that made it out of perl harbor but after that its lost. He never talked about the war at all until about a week before he passed. He had a hand carved sub on his wall and he told me the story of how he carved it while on the docks in Hawaii. He said he would go each day at the same time and sit on the dock. He would hold this piece of wood up against the silhouette of the sub and carve until it matched. After he passed we closed his office door and found a hidden rack of just about any WWII movie that was made and he must have watched them several times. Something to much to ever discuss i guess. That is really all I know about that time of his life. Anyway he finally got a memorial at the Jacksonville National Cemetery and I wanted some help identifying his rank and if there is anyway besides Google to find out about his time/what he did/where he was. Anything really. I have asked my Uncle but never really get much info and my mom said he never spoke of the war as long as she could remember. They always had a special place with me and always wanted to know more about his life. I have a picture of the memorial and his plaque. If anyone's google foo is strong or if there are resources I might not know about I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Pas Tout La]

Lieutenant(Junior Grade)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_(junior_grade)

 

[Sks985]

Lieutenant (junior grade)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_(junior_grade)

Hope that helps.

 

[Sks985]

Lieutenant(Junior Grade)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_(junior_grade)

Missed it by that much. Lol

 

[eradicater]

Thank you its a start.

 

[TomTerrific]

Lieutenant(Junior Grade)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_(junior_grade)

Equivalent to an Army First Lieutenant, O-2.

 

[I_FLY_LOW]

If you ant more official info about him, try here:
http://www.archives.gov/

I'm about to do the same, for my dad, who was at the Battle of the Bulge, among other areas.
He, too, seldom if ever spoke about the war.

 

[glimmerman]

You can contact the Veterans Administration and they will send you a copy of all his service records which will tell you everything he did!

 

[J-Dog]

Contact your member of the U.S. House or U.S Senate. You will need to fill out some paperwork but as legal next of kin a person can request a copy of the service record book and in some cases a complete re-issue of all U.S awards and decorations. The request is sent from the congressional office to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). VA generally only maintains records for a few years after an individual is discharged then the records are sent to archives and maintained by NPRC.

 

[zguinness]

I'm a former submariner also. I looked around on ancestry.com a little and found this:


John Perry Owen
Birth 23 Sep 1913 in Hamilton, Butler, Ohio, USA
Death 04 May 2003 in East Palatka, Putnam, Florida, USA

If that's your grandfather then also listed was this information:

1932 Oct
Age: 19
Joined US Navy

Marriage to Gertrude Angelan Ricks
1936 1 Jul
Age: 22
Fruitland, Putnam Co., FL

1941 Dec
Age: 28
Bombed by Japanese at Cavite, PI

1944
Age: 31
Medical discharge from Navy


I highlighted the Dec 1941 info regarding "bombed by Japanese at Cavite" because I believe the only sub lost at Cavite during the bombing was the USS Sealion (SS-195).

It's possible that he could have been on the Sealion... it's also possible that I'm way off.


ETA - you said " I know he was on a sub that made it out of perl harbor but after that its lost."

I'm pretty sure she sailed out of Pearl Harbor. She was destroyed in the Philippine Islands at Cavite in 1941 (the first sub casualty of WWII).

 

[BOSS351]

Man, I love this kind of stuff!!! Keep us posted on anything else you might find about your Grandfather..that generation was very special for too many reasons to list..Thanks for opening the thread.

 

[hdfinder47]

Man, I love this kind of stuff!!! Keep us posted on anything else you might find about your Grandfather..that generation was very special for too many reasons to list..Thanks for opening the thread.

THIS.

 

[Treadwisely]

THIS.

X2

 

[FTRrookie]

Contact the WWII museum in NOLA They'll help you get his service records.

My dad was the same way. He never talked about his service during the war. All I knew was he was in the navy and lost an eye while on active duty.

 

[eradicater]

This is him. You guys are awesome for helping. Ill run with the info and see if I can pull up anything else.

I'm a former submariner also. I looked around on ancestry.com a little and found this:


John Perry Owen
Birth 23 Sep 1913 in Hamilton, Butler, Ohio, USA
Death 04 May 2003 in East Palatka, Putnam, Florida, USA

If that's your grandfather then also listed was this information:

1932 Oct
Age: 19
Joined US Navy

Marriage to Gertrude Angelan Ricks
1936 1 Jul
Age: 22
Fruitland, Putnam Co., FL

1941 Dec
Age: 28
Bombed by Japanese at Cavite, PI

1944
Age: 31
Medical discharge from Navy


I highlighted the Dec 1941 info regarding "bombed by Japanese at Cavite" because I believe the only sub lost at Cavite during the bombing was the USS Sealion (SS-195).

It's possible that he could have been on the Sealion... it's also possible that I'm way off.


ETA - you said " I know he was on a sub that made it out of perl harbor but after that its lost."

I'm pretty sure she sailed out of Pearl Harbor. She was destroyed in the Philippine Islands at Cavite in 1941 (the first sub casualty of WWII).

 

[eradicater]

My grandfather also lost an eye while in service. That is what I believe his medical discharge was. Funny story is he used to scare the crap out of me with it. He would hold it upside down and say look at this awesome shell I found. Then when I went to look he would flip it over and it was his eye. He also used to have me put the spiky seeds. I guess gum tree seeds next to the pool and wait for a porcupine to hatch.

Contact the WWII museum in NOLA They'll help you get his service records.

My dad was the same way. He never talked about his service during the war. All I knew was he was in the navy and lost an eye while on active duty.

 

[eradicater]

this is him and my grandma on their wedding day.