What was the Six Triple Eight?

On May 15, 1942, the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACs) was formed, and in July 1942, the word “auxiliary” was dropped from the name, and the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) was established, granting women full military benefits equal to those of their male counterparts. The 6888th was not an All-Black or an all-African-American unit. The 6888th was a multi-ethnic unit that was predominantly Black, with at least one Puerto Rican and Mexican woman. This is a change from what we have been writing and saying for years. Recently, the committee became aware of this mistake. The second oldest 6888th veteran still with us is 102-year-old PFC Crescencia Garcia. She is Puerto Rican and knew others in the unit. We also know that there was at least one Mexican member whose two daughters confirmed this. NOTE: It is recognized that during that time, the Army, not FDR,  designated the unit as “Colored” or “Negro” the more acceptable term for the race at the time. The unit was active from 1945 to 1946 and consisted of 855 women under the Command of Major Charity Adams, Captains Mary F. Kearney, and Bernice G. Henderson. Their nickname was “Six-Triple Eight,” and their motto was “No Mail, Low Morale.” [womenofthe6888th.org]

“No mail, low morale,” or so the motto goes. Even before the founding of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion, the mail was piling up for the soldiers serving during World War II. The ever-changing locations, duty stations, and movements caused a logistical challenge for getting the mail delivered on time.

On July 1, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law legislation that created the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) within the U.S. Army. During the Second World War, despite executive orders issued by President Roosevelt, the Army at large remained completely segregated. However, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of the National Council of Negro Women, advocated for the admittance of African American women within the WAC. Dubbed “10 percenters”, the recruitment of African-American women to the WAAC was limited to 10 percent of the population of the WAAC to match the proportion of African-Americans in the national population.

​After several units of white women were sent to serve in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, African-American organizations advocated for the War Department to extend the opportunity to serve overseas to African-American WAC units. Hence, the Six Triple Eight was created.

The Six Triple Eight served in England and France. Setting sail in February 1945, the 6888th arrived in Birmingham, England, after surviving an arduous trip across the Atlantic under the constant threat of attack by German submarines.

When they arrived at their station in England, the Six Triple Eight faced a massive challenge to sort and deliver millions of pieces of mail, totaling a six-month backlog. Through their ingenuity and hard work, the Six Triple Eight eliminated the backlog of mail in three months, far ahead of schedule. They were then sent to France to address a similar mail backlog successfully.  These deliveries helped support the morale of countless soldiers on the frontlines in Europe.

Credit National Archives (photo no. SC-197654)
Credit National Archives (photo no. SC-200791)
Credit National Archives (photo no. SC-238651)

Sources: WomenOfThe6888th.org and Archives.gov

LIFE AT FORT DES MOINES

From The Hartford Daily Courant, September 18, 1942

CONNECTICUT WOMEN SAY THEY LIKE LIFE AT FORT DES MOINES
Just Now Winding Up Training in Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and Eager to Get Into Service

Fort Des Moines, Iowa, September 12 – (Special) Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps officers from Connecticut are just winding up different stages of their training. Six of them finished their post-graduate specialist training today and will begin their first training duties on Monday. Two of them graduated today and began their two weeks of specialist training on Monday. It all brings them nearer to their goal of serving Uncle Sam. The six women who were given commissions on August 28 are Third Officers Katherine R. Goodwin and Margaret F. Fraser of Hartford, Rebekah Fisk of West Hartford, Ruth Alice Lucas of Stamford, Mary Frances Kearnes of Bridgeport, and Mae D. Paige of Southington. The two who graduated today are Third Officers Evelyn L. Perry of Hartford and Gladys L. Stillman of Plainville. The WAAC officer training routine comprises six weeks of basic schooling in which the women study property accountability, company administration, mess management, aircraft identification, defense against gas warfare, Army organization, and a host of other matters, including how to march well. After graduation, there are two weeks of specialist training in which the women take intensive courses on the duties of a recruiting officer, of an adjutant, of a supply officer, of an administrative officer, and they do some rapid reviewing of their past work on property accounting. When that is over, they are ready for their first temporary training assignments.

Assignments.

These assignments are training duties, a sort of internship that the WAAC officers go through so that they can learn the actual feel of command and how to handle companies in the field. It gives them a chance to put into practice all the theoretical work they have done in various fields. The six Connecticut women who graduated on August 29 have just completed their two weeks of specialist training. Starting tomorrow, they will begin on temporary training assignments. And this is what they will do: Third Officer Katherine R Goodwin will teach company administration to incoming WAAC officers. Third Officer Margaret A. Fraser will do mess management, and she has been assigned to the consolidated mess at the Fort here to learn the ropes—how to run an army mess hall. Third Officer Rebekah Fisk will be one of the officers in charge of issuing clothing at the WAAC warehouse here. Third Officer Ruth Alice Lucas will be a platoon commander with a company of WAAC auxiliaries (privates). Third Officer Mary Frances Kearney will be in the motor transport division. Finally, Officer Mae D. Paige will be in mess management, and she has just left for Fort Riley in Kansas to study at the Army’s Cooks and Bakers School. These assignments are merely for a period of weeks or months until these women have enough experience so that the Army can send them out with companies to wherever they are needed.

Likes Work.

Asked how she liked her assignment to the WAAC faculty to teach company administration, Third Officer Katherine R. Goodwin said she was delighted. Back home, she taught office practice at Weaver High School in Hartford. Talking about her experiences here at the training center, Miss Goodwin said that one of the greatest thrills was meeting so many different women from every possible section of the country—and the different accents she heard. But she missed her Hartford friends and the salt water of New England. Miss Goodwin lived at 75 Niles Street, Hartford, and graduated from Russell Sage College in 1923. She has a brother, a Captain in the Merchant Marines.

Taught at Weaver.

Third Officer Margaret A. Fraser, who has mess management as her training duty, taught home economics at Weaver High School in Hartford. She was delighted with her assignment. It was right down her alley. She has been around Iowa some since arriving here, and what surprised her most was the tall corn. She says she got a kick out of the military parades, and she doesn’t mean watching them. She means marching in them. Miss Fraser lived at 183 Branford Street. Hartford, with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Fraser, before her WAAC appointment came through. Her father is a member of the Hartford Board of Education and vice-chairman of the Hartford Defense Council. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1936.

Feels Right at Home.

Third Officer Rebekah Fisk feels right at home with her training duties as one of the officers in charge of issuing clothing at the WAAC warehouse here. Back home, she was a buyer of lingerie at Albert Steiger Inc. The course she liked best here was property accountability. Pressed to explain, she said that the course dealt with requisitioning and issuing supplies and record keeping. It seemed to keep her pretty busy, although not so busy that she didn’t miss the green hills of New England, she said. Miss Fisk lived at 2682 Albany Avenue in West Hartford and graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1930. Her parents live in Providence, Rhode Island.

Drew Field Work.

Third Officer Ruth Alice Lucas drew fieldwork as her training assignment. She will be a platoon commander with a company of WAAC auxiliaries. She liked the military parades and drills here very much and is very enthusiastic about her first assignment.

Found Fine Cooperation.

Perhaps the most impressive factor about the training center here for Miss Lucas was the fine cooperation she found among the women here. She had never worked with large groups of women before and didn’t know what to expect. But she found a magnificent spirit here. Everybody was anxious to get along. And when you have 60 women in barracks, you can understand how important that is. In Stamford, Miss Lucas lived with her father, Mr. Walter R. Lucas, at 2 Ferris Avenue. She graduated from Tuskegee Institute in May of this year. She has a brother in the Army.

Unusual Assignment.

Third Officer Mary Frances Kearney drew the unusual assignment with the motor transport division. This section of the WAACs prepares themselves for transportation work and, when ready, will be used by the Army. Miss Kearney thought she was extremely fortunate in getting this as a first duty, since it was the motor transport course that interested her most in the training she received here. She also thought the parades here were great. But she does miss her Bridgeport friends and thinks the Iowa countryside is too flat and level. She prefers the rolling hills and ocean breezes of New England. In Bridgeport, Miss Kearney lived with her mother. Mrs. R.E. Kearney, at 406 Newfield Avenue. She graduated from Howard University in 1928 and was active in the Negro YWCA before coming here. She has a brother, a First Lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps Reserve.  

Learning Mess Management.

Third Officer Mae D. Paige was not available for an interview since she had just left for the Cooks and Bakers School at Fort Riley when this reporter called. But her assignment is to mess management, and after a short period at Fort Riley, she will report back to Des Moines to help run the mess there. All these women are eager to start on these first training duties, mainly because it means that they can begin to do something for Uncle Sam instead of Uncle Sam doing things for them. And they are all anxious to do their bit in the war effort.

Connecticut WAAC officers on the porch of their barracks, left to right: Third Officers Mary F. Kearney, Bridgeport, and Ruth A. Lucas, Stamford. These women graduated on August 29, and after completing two additional weeks of post-graduate specialist courses, they will begin on first training assignments on Monday.

Worth Working For.

The Connecticut WAAC officers who received their commissions Saturday were thrilled with their gold bars on each shoulder. Third Officer Evelyn L. Perry of 184 Sigourney Street, Hartford, said there was nothing like it; it was worth working for. Third Officer Gladys L. Stillman of Plainville chimed in. She thought it was worth every bit of effort that went towards getting the commission. Miss Perry, in talking about her officer training, said that she had liked the company administration course best, with property accountability next. They were somewhat like the work she used to do with the Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, where she worked in the group department, drawing up policies. At any rate, they involved a good deal of paper and administrative work.

Would Like Overseas Duty.

Looking past her two weeks of specialist training ahead, Miss Perry thought she would like to draw company administration as her first training assignment as a company officer. Best of all, she would like to go overseas.  She liked the Iowa countryside but thought the New England corn was nicer than the famous Iowa tall corn. Fortunately, no native Iowan was around to hear that. She missed the ocean and the mountains of New England but thought the farmers here looked just like the farmers back home.

Hopes For Finance Division.

Miss Perry lived at 184 Sigourney Street, and her parents live in Vermont. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 1935. Third Officer Gladys L. Stillman who received her commission with Miss Perry, liked the property accountability course best. After she finishes her two weeks of specialist training, Miss Stillman hopes she will draw an assignment to the finance division here at the Fort. That would be right down her alley since she was a savings teller with the Burritt Mutual Savings Bank in New Britain before landing here. She misses the banking public back home, she said, and the bustle that goes with it, although she added that the bustle of work around the Fort here left little more to be desired. She also thought that a little saltwater swimming would be nice for a change. At home, Miss Stillman lived with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry B. Stillman, at 3 New Britain Avenue, Plainville. She graduated from the American Institute of Banking in 1940. But notwithstanding the light tone of these two newly commissioned officers, they are more than eager to get their specialist training completed so that they can get to work on actual training assignments. They want to get in there and pitch in with everybody else in the war effort, and they can hardly wait until all their training is completed. That is the spirit of the entire Fort Des Moines contingent, and what a spirit it is!

This photo appeared in the Detroit Tribune on September 5, 1942. The caption read, “The 12 WAACS given officers commissions last week at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, are Third Officers Adams of Ohio; Jones, Texas; Emmert, Illinois; Ward, New York; Askin, New York; Bright, Texas; Kearney, Connecticut; Lucas, Connecticut; Freeman, Texas; V. Campbell, New York; Brown, Texas; Donaldson, New York.” This copy was contributed by Sheila Kearney, niece of Mary Kearney (sixth from left in the photo).

DECORATIONS

Members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were awarded the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal during their service. In 2019, the U.S. Army awarded the 6888th a Meritorious Unit Commendation.

MONUMENT

The monument is in the Buffalo Soldier Military Park at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, along with other monuments honoring African-American individuals and units, and consists of a 25-inch Bronze bust of the unit’s Commanding Officer, LTC Charity Adams (Earley), eight black granite panels highlighting the unit’s lineage, historical information, key unit pictures, one panel for the Corporate Donors who donate at least $6,688.88, and on the back panel is an alphabetical list, by states, of 800-plus members, of the original list of 855 assigned during WWII. Three were killed in an automobile accident.

The dimensions of the monument are:

    Width – 6 feet
    Depth – 4 feet
    Height – 4 feet 6 inches
    Bronze Bust – 25 inches tall

Dedication of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion Monument was on November 30, 2018, at the Buffalo Soldier Monument Park at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. [womenofthe6888th.org]

Photo from TravelGumbo.com

END

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ELIZABETH MOORE MCNAIR

DOB/DOD: December 21, 1912 (Anson, NC) – May 21, 2004 (Southern Pines, NC); 91 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Lonnie Marsh (1902-1952)
CHILDREN: Unknown
LOCAL ADDRESS: 48 Gregory Street; unknown city; possibly Hartford
ENLISTMENT: March 11, 1943, in Hartford
SERVICE NUMBER: A-125632
DISCHARGE: Unknown

FAMILY: Born to Simeon (1888-1963) and Flora Moore McNair (1896-1974). Five sisters, Hattie (1914-2001), Clara McNair Nelson (1916-1973), Irene (1918-?), and Ade (1920-).

OTHER: On March 11, 1943, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, she enlisted in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps as an Aviation Cadet. At that time, she had completed three years of high school and was employed in laundry-related services.

FROM MARSHA HOLDER (6888 historian): First, she was not on the 1920 or 1930 census when she should have been 8 and 18 years old. Her parents didn’t marry until 1919, but on that 1920 census, they had three daughters listed, ages 5, 3 & 1. The Social Security Claim record I have shows she was Elizabeth Marsh in 1943 and is listed as Lonnie Marsh’s wife on his draft registration card dated February 1942. So, how did she enlist as a single in March 1943? She also signed his death certificate as the informant in 1952. He is buried in the same cemetery where she’s buried.  Also, her enlistment has her first name, Lizabeth. If the service number hadn’t matched the one in Brenda Moore’s book, I would have dismissed her. And why did her Social Security Application and Claim Index and her Social Security Death Index have a different year of birth, but the same SS#?  As for her going to Connecticut to enlist, we may never know that one. So many of the ladies born in the South had to go north to find work. Mostly, they went to Chicago or New York. 

Buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, 398 South Pine Street, Southern Pines, North Carolina; no veteran (VA) stone

From FindAGrave.com and contributor David Carroll Finn

END

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ANNA MARGUERITA TARRYK

DOB/DOD: July 20, 1915 (Brooklyn, NY) – October 24, 1998 (Philadelphia, PA); 83 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: Canterbury Turnpike, Norwich
ENLISTMENT: July 21, 1943, in Hartford
SERVICE NUMBER: A-125895
DISCHARGE: March 5, 1946

FAMILY: Born to Harry (1883-1945) and Mary Baronowski Tarryk (1893-1964). Harry was born in Minsk, Russia. Mary was born in Galicia, Poland. Anna was the second youngest of fourteen children. Six brothers, George H. (1916-1988), Michael (1922-2004), Anthony (1925-2015), Henry (1927-1986), Daniel (1934-2016), and Robert (1935-2007). Eight sisters, Lillian M. Tarryk Tatro (1918-1999), Olga Tarryk DesSerreault (1920-1988), Sylvia (1930-1930), Sonja Tarryk Burns (1931-), Mary Ann Tarryk Rondeau (1923-1997), Sylvia (1930-), Helen Tarryk Gernhard (1936-), and Barbara Tarryk Alfiero (1939-).

Photos contributed by Anna Tarryk’s niece, Tina

From The Day (New London, CT) July 23, 1943

Miss Anna M. Tarryk of 26 Pearl Street, Stonington, has been accepted for service in the Women’s Army Corps (WACS).

From The Philadelphia Daily News November 13, 1998

Anna M. Tarryk, a retired federal employee and a World War II veteran of the Women’s Army Corps, died on October 24. She was 83 and lived in West Philadelphia. After the war, Tarryk worked for the Veterans Administration in the insurance division from 1946 until she retired in 1983. Born in Brooklyn, she served as a WAC from 1942 until 1946. She was stationed in England with the WAC 6888th Postal Unit. She also served in France and Germany. “She was very proud of her military service,” said a family member. Over the years, she was a member of and active in various churches, including St. Matthew’s AME Church, Our Lady of Victory, and St. Thomas Episcopal Church. She was a member of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, the Black WAC Association, the National Association of Black Military Women, WAC Veterans Chapter 9, the Frankford Arsenal Women’s Club, American Legion Post 905 in Harrisburg, the American Association of Retired Persons, the Association of Federal Retired Employees, the Association for Research and Enlightenment, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation and the Philly Senior Center. Tarryk also had an interest in history and belonged to the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks and the Eighth Air Force Historical Society. For many years, she volunteered at the Veterans Administration Hospital. In most of the organizations, she eventually held important positions. An industrious woman, she was always going to school and was still taking college courses at age 80. Survivors include four brothers, Michael, Tony, Daniel, and Robert; four sisters, Lillian Tatro, Sonja Burns, Helen Gernhard, and Barbara Alfiero; and a close friend, Will Davis. Private services were conducted with military honors.

Tarryk Drive in Norwich, Connecticut, is named for the family.

Private First Class Tarryk is buried in Pachaug Cemetery, 999 Voluntown Rd, Griswold, Connecticut; Section F, Tarryk family plot, Grave 9.

END

PRIVATE MARGARET BEATRICE JANER

Information about Margaret Beatrice Janer is scarce. It’s been determined from multiple sources that she wasn’t on the order that established the Six Triple Eight, which happened in late March 1945. The main piece of evidence that she was on the ship to England is this newspaper article from the Boston Chronicle on February 24, 1945. See the paragraph below the article for more information.

From Marsha Holder, with thanks

“Her name was on that list of those on the first ship going to England but on the Special Order #89 dated 3/30/1945 that established the group as the 6888th, she was not listed. Brenda Moore’s book “To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race – The Story of the Only African American WACs Stationed Overseas during World War II” does not list Margaret. Ms. Moore also used two more Special Orders (SO #18, dated 5/30/1945, and SO #94, dated 10/12/45) to collect the names she has listed in her book. May 1945 was when they moved to Rouen, and in October 1945, they moved to Paris. I have a copy of a 4th order, SO #62, 9/1/1945, HQ, 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, that was awarding a new MOS (Military Occupational Skill) classification to ladies before they moved on to Paris. Margaret’s name isn’t on any of these orders. I have a ship manifest with 260 names coming home on different ships. Margaret’s name isn’t on any of those lists.  There’s only one Find a Grave Janer memorial in the state of Connecticut, so I think she may not have been from Connecticut but just happened to enlist there. I’m beginning to think she may not have actually gone to Europe. Just at a total loss. Other researchers I have connected with have run into this wall, too.”

Additional information is welcome. Please contact the webmaster at jeffrey.r.dewitt@gmail.com. Thank you.

END

MAJOR MARY FRANCES KEARNEY

DOB/DOD: September 7, 1906 (Bridgeport, CT) – September 14, 1980 (Milford, CT); 74 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 406 Newfield Avenue, Bridgeport, and later, Burnt Plains Road, Milford
ENLISTMENT: August 29, 1942, in Hartford
SERVICE NUMBER: I-25005
DISCHARGE: June 16, 1946; served in the reserves until October 1, 1966

FAMILY:  Born to William H. Sr. (1873-1938) and Rhoanna Epps Fields Kearney (1879-1963). Four sisters, Melina (1902-1959), Irene (1904-1987), Mildred E. Kearney Johnson (1909-2003), and Anna B. Kearney Seymour (1912-1987). Two brothers, William H. Jr. (1915-1984) and Douglas W. (1923-2011).

OTHER: Attended Central High School in Bridgeport and graduated in the Class of 1924.

Graduated from Howard University, Class of 1928

All images below were of items belonging to the niece of Major Kearney, Sheila Kearney.

Photo from Ancestry.com
Photo contributed by Sheila Kearney, niece of Major Kearney.

From The Bridgeport Post on July 14, 1942

Mary F. Kearney, of 406 Newfield Avenue, today became the first Bridgeport resident accepted for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. She is an elevator operator in the Liberty Building.

From The Journal (Meriden, CT) on July 15, 1942

Hartford, July 15. (AP) – The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps has announced the acceptance of two, Miss Mary F. Kearney of Bridgeport and Miss Ruth A. Lucas of Stamford, as officer candidates. The women are college graduates and will start two months of training on July 20 at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.

From The New Pittsburgh Courier on August 1, 1942
By Charlece Harston

DES MOINES, Iowa, July 30 – Last Monday, this spot became the site of a scene unparalleled in American military history as the training ground for the first women’s Army came into being. Pouring into the Fort were women, some quite young, others whose heads were streaked with the very first gray hairs from every section of the country. At the close of the day, 39 Negro members of the Officers’ Candidate School had arrived. Forty had been expected, along with 400 white candidates. Dressed in suits with ruffles and flowered prints, they were met at the train and bus stations by young officers in large army trucks fitted with special steps and long wooden seats. The ride from the station to Fort Des Moines wasn’t long, about 20 minutes—and many of the women made friends on the way out.

MILITARY SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE THURSDAY

Colonel Don C. Faith. Commander of the WAAC Post. Mrs. Oveta C. Boppy, national director of the training schools, and Mrs. McLeod Bethune, director of Negro Youth Affairs in Washington D.C., and one of 19 women on the board that selected the officer candidates of the WAAC, were at the post to welcome the women.

The military school schedule would go into effect on Thursday, Colonel Faith announced. For the first three days, the women were to spend the greater part of their time going through the processing routine and attending orientation lectures. After going to the checking station, the women were given a short and final physical examination, then assigned to their barracks.

Finally came the big job! Not that it took so long, for the official scheduled time was 41 minutes, but what woman enjoys being measured and measured? At work to accommodate the 800 women arriving at the Fort were 53 fitters from local department stores. Very few of the women left with complete wardrobes. The vast majority had to have their dress uniforms altered. However, all received dark blue barrack bags. Most of the women were able to include in their bags some underwear, gloves, playsuits, shirts, raincoats, skirts, jackets, hose, tennis shoes, overshoes, at least one pair of shoes, and a hat.

FOUR COMPANIES TO BE FORMED

Lastly, the women went to the classification section, where each filled out lengthy forms and answered heaps of questions. The written forms and notations made by officers during their interviews with the women are to be used in classifying them for a particular type of specialist training. At the very end, they received inoculations and vaccinations against typhoid, smallpox, and other diseases.

From The Connecticut Post on September 16, 1980

Miss Mary F. Kearney

MILFORD — Miss Mary F. Kearney, 71, of 214 Burnt Plains Road, a retired librarian for New York City, died Sunday in Milford Hospital.

Memorial services will take place on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. in the Cody-White Funeral Home, 107 Broad Street. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, New Haven.

Born in Bridgeport, Miss Kearney lived the past 23 years in Milford. She graduated from Howard University and received her Master’s degree in library science from Michigan University. In 1942, Miss Kearney was the first Bridgeport woman to enter the Women’s Army Corps as a Second Lieutenant and retired in 1966 from the Army Reserve as a Major.

Survivors include two brothers, Dr. William H. Kearney of Barbados and Douglas W. Kearney of Bridgeport; three sisters, Miss Irene Kearney and Mrs. Mildred K. Johnson, both of Milford, and Mrs. Ann K. Smith of Detroit, Michigan; and several nieces and nephews.

Major Kearney is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, 885 Boston Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut; Avenue D, Lot 27, Grave 1. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.

END

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS MARY JEWEL BARLOW

DOB/DOD: April 8, 1923 (Hartford, CT) – July 8, 1945 (Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France); 22 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 349 Bellevue Street, Hartford
ENLISTMENT: February 29, 1944, in New Haven
SERVICE NUMBER: A-130463

FAMILY: Born to Boce W. Barlow Sr. (1894-1938) and Etheline M. “Ethel” Maddox Barlow (1897-1981). Two sisters, Ethel Mae Barlow Lovett Chafin (1917-2001) and Katherine Barlow Clark [WWII veteran] (1920-2007). One brother, Boce W. Jr. (1915-2005).

OTHER: Brother Boce W. Barlow Jr. was Connecticut’s first black judge and State Senator. He graduated from Hartford High School in 1933. He was a cum laude graduate of Harvard, class of 1939. He was also a graduate of Harvard Law School in 1949. He served in a segregated Army from 1943 to 1946 in the Southeast Pacific. He attained the rank of Sergeant. The city of Hartford named a street, Boce Barlow Way, for him in the North End. Mary’s cousin, Private Daniel Carter of Hartford, was also killed in France two days after Mary Barlow, on July 10, 1945.

CIRCUMSTANCES: On July 8th, Mary and two other members of her unit – Sgt Dolores M. Browne and PFC Mary H. Bankston – were involved in a fatal jeep accident. Both Barlow and Bankston were killed instantly, while Dolores Browne succumbed to her injuries on July 13th. They are three of only four women buried in the Normandy American Cemetery, the other being Elizabeth Richardson, an American Red Cross volunteer.

Weaver High School (Hartford, CT) Class of 1941

Photo from FindAGrave.com and contributor Marsha Holder

From The Hartford Courant July 22, 1945

DIES IN FRANCE

Mrs. Ethel Barlow of 349 Bellevue Street has been notified by the War Department of the death of her daughter, Private First Class Mary J. Barlow, Women’s Army Corps, with the United States Postal Service in France. Private First Class Barlow, 22, died July 8, according to the dispatch. No further details were given. Overseas since January of this year, she enlisted two years ago. After completing her basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, she was transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia, for overseas training. Private First Class Barlow served in England and then in Rouen, France, where she was attached to Company C of the 6888th CPO at the time of her death. A graduate of Weaver High School in the class of 1941, Private First Class Barlow attended the Arsenal and North East schools here. She was employed by Underwood-Elliott-Fisher Corporation before her enlistment. She leaves her mother, a brother, Corporal Boce W. Barlow Jr., in New Guinea, and two sisters. Mrs. Katherine B. Clark of New York City and Miss Ethel May Barlow of Hartford.

Private Barlow is buried in Normandy American Cemetery, Rte du Cimetiere Americain, 14710 Colleville-sur-Mer, France; Plot A, Row 19, Grave 30

Photo from FindAGrave.com and contributor Dominique Potier.

END

SERGEANT DOLORES MERCEDES BROWNE

DOB/DOD: August 7, 1921 (New York) – July 13, 1945 (Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France); 23 years old
MARITAL STATUS: There is some evidence that Dolores was divorced. No definitive information was found.
LOCAL ADDRESS: 201 Hewitt Street, Bridgeport
ENLISTMENT: January 4, 1943, in Hartford
SERVICE NUMBER: A-125448

FAMILY: John H. Brown (1891-?) and Madeline Publes Short Brown (1896-1934). Sergeant Browne’s mother died when she was 13. No information was found on what became of her father, John H. Brown. On her headstone application, she listed Ida Blackwell (1891-1982) of Bridgeport, Connecticut, as her next of kin. Ida Blackwell and her husband, John (1888-1963), lived at 248 Davenport Street in Bridgeport and were foster parents to Dolores.

CIRCUMSTANCES: On July 8, 1945, Sergeant Browne was traveling in a U.S. Army Willy’s Jeep with 6888th members, Private First Class Mary J. Barlow and Private First Class Mary H. Bankston. The vehicle was involved in an accident, and Privates Bankston and Barlow were killed instantly. Sergeant Browne succumbed to her injuries five days later. All three were buried at Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France, and, along with a female Red Cross worker who was killed in a plane crash, are the only women buried there.

Memorialized in Lakeview Cemetery, 885 Boston Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut; Section 3, Block 1, Lot 6

Photo by Jeffrey DeWitt

Sergeant Browne is buried in Normandy American Cemetery, 14710 Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France; Plot F, Row 13, Grave 19.

Photo from FindaGrave.com and contributor JF Pellouais

END

PEARL HARBOR

Since I started this website, I have always tracked the traffic to it, and beyond. Who clicked on what, who found the site through a search engine such as Google, what country were they in? WordPress provides that through their analytics.

It’s always been a really fascinating piece of being able to bring this information to the internet and to people who are interested in these honorees, who are as interested as I was when I started the research in 2018.

So, Pearl Harbor… as the title of this blog post alludes to. The site has always received a flurry of hits and clicks around the first week in December. My hunch is that cities around Connecticut are putting together a presentation or summation of who the 19 heroes from Connecticut are, who perished in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I’m honored to make my research available to the public, however, my request is that proper credit is given to this site when these same people or cities use it to amplify their Pearl Harbor Day ceremonies.

This site is copyrighted. While I drew from other sources, citing those sources, is the personification of integrity. Especially the families and people who contributed to these pages. I only want the same in return. It’s the right thing to do.

God Bless the Greatest Generation and may we always remember what precipitated the United States’ involvement in World War II — the attack in and around Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Never forget the 19 brave souls from Connecticut who joined the service prior to the start of World War II, only to have their legacy be that they paid the ultimate price on The Day That Will Live In Infamy.

ENSIGN ULMONT IRVING “MONTY” WHITEHEAD, JR.; U.S. NAVY

DOB/DOD: April 13, 1915 (Hartford, CT) – December 7, 1941; 26 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 208 New Britain Avenue, Hartford
ENLISTMENT: April 27, 1933
COMMISSIONED: June 6, 1940
SHIP ASSIGNED TO: USS Arizona (BB-39)

FAMILY: Born to Ulmont Sr. (1890-1959) and Helen Robertson Whitehead (1891-1980). One sister, Beverly Whitehead Adams (1917-1977).

DECORATIONS: Received the Purple Heart Medal.

From the Hartford Courant, June 3, 1935

Ulmont I. Whitehead, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Ulmont I. Whitehead of 208 New Britain Avenue, who enlisted in the United States Navy two years ago, has passed the examination for the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and will enter the academy July 8.

Whitehead, a graduate of Bulkeley High School in the Class of 1933A, joined the Navy on April 27, 1933, and trained at Newport, Rhode Island. He was assigned to duty on board the USS Mississippi in July 1933 and was sent to Havana in October when the uprising took place there.

In September 1934, he took competitive e examinations to enter the preparatory school at Norfolk, Virginia. He studied in the Naval Academy Preparation Class there until April, when he took examinations for the academy. The only Connecticut youth to pass the examinations, he was also one of the 17 boys who passed the examinations, which were taken by a group of 80.

From usnamemorialhall.org

Bulkeley High School remembrance page from the Class of 1942 yearbook

The 1940 Academy yearbook, The Lucky Bag, said this about Mr. Whitehead: Years of exacting labor have failed to submerge Whitey into the drudgery of tedious detail. He dreams of the day to be when he will be able to carry out his ideas — ideas that will prove exceedingly beneficial to all those to whom they may be applied. He meets every situation with a determination and whole-heartedness that sees it successfully through to the end, realizing that to completely enjoy one’s life, one must live it. Meeting each reverse with more than enough energy to turn it to victory, Whitey will soon be pushing himself to his rightful position of prominence at the top of the heap.” His father operated a garage in Hartford. The Whitehead Highway in Hartford is named in the ensign’s memory. Source: Special thanks to Bobbie Jo Carter, the University of Arizona for the contribution

#63

Road in Hartford named in his honor – Whitehead Highway.

Photo by the webmaster.

From usnamemorial.org

If you’ve ever gotten off of I-91 at the Capitol Area exit, you’ve traveled on a connector two-thirds-of-a-mile long from 91 to Pulaski Circle. During the last part of that journey, you pass through a tunnel beneath the Hartford Public Library below Main Street.

Most people are unaware of two things during that brief journey: 1. That connector really covers the Park River — that’s why the tunnel is there; and 2. That stretch of road is named after Hartford native and U.S. Naval Academy football star Ulmont Irving Whitehead — the first Hartford resident to die during World War II.

“Monty” Whitehead was a member of the Naval Academy’s Class of 1940. Prior to attending the academy, Whitehead had graduated from Hartford’s Bulkeley High in the Class of 1933; additionally, he had spent three years in the Navy before obtaining an appointment to Annapolis. His father, Ulmont “Ully” Whitehead Sr., operated a repair garage on New Britain Avenue. The Whiteheads were well-liked by their neighbors. One neighbor related the following story:

In 1944, when a hurricane blew down a willow in our backyard, Ully Whitehead backed his big tow truck between the houses, attached a length of cable to the tree, threw the winch motor into gear, and pulled the huge tree upright. It lived for another 30 years.

Monty Whitehead was a star football player for three years at Annapolis. A three-year letterman, Whitehead led Navy in receiving in 1938 and kicked the winning field goal in Navy’s 13-7 victory over Army in 1939 before a crowd of more than 100,000. He also played a key role in the Navy’s victory over Notre Dame on October 21, 1939, before a crowd exceeding 80,000, as this excerpt from the Spartanburg Herald-Journal on Sunday, October 22, 1939, clearly demonstrates:

The midshipmen, checkmated on the ground, took to the air with a desperate passing attack in the final period and clicked for a 64-yard touchdown on an aerial from red-haired Bob Leonard, substitute halfback, to Ulmont Whitehead. Whitehead took the 34-yard heave on the Irish 30, outraced 2 Notre Damers to the goal line, and then kicked the extra point.

After graduation, Whitehead eventually was assigned to BB 39 — the battleship USS Arizona. Monty Whitehead was one of seven members of the Class of 1940 to be assigned to the ill-fated Arizona. One can only speculate where he was on the ship when a Japanese bomb found the forward munitions magazine. The force of the explosion was so enormous that the mighty ship was partially lifted out of the waters of Pearl Harbor.

The attack on Pearl Harbor began just before 8 a.m. Two waves of Japanese planes consisting of 353 aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers carried out the raid. The attackers sank or heavily damaged 16 ships, including 8 battleships; also, 188 aircraft were destroyed. Overall, 2,402 Americans were killed and more than 1,200 were wounded. The Japanese lost only 29 aircraft and 5 midget submarines for a casualty total of 65 killed or wounded.

Ulmont I. Whitehead was one of 19 Connecticut men killed at Pearl Harbor that morning. He was Hartford’s first casualty of the war and one of 1,177 men on the Arizona to die that fateful morning — almost half of the fatalities incurred that day. His remains are entombed on the ship along with 6 other members of the Naval Academy’s Class of 1940.

Three other members of the Class of ’40 died that morning on the USS Oklahoma. In total, 76 members of the Naval Academy’s Class of 1940 were to lose their lives in World War II — one of the largest casualty totals in the school’s history.  Philip R. Devlin

From USS Arizona Memorial. Photo from findagrave.com.

Memorialized Courts of the Missing, Court 2, Honolulu Memorial, 2177 Puowaina Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii. Photo from findagrave.com.

END

PRIVATE FELIX STANLEY WEGRZYN; U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS

DOB/DOD: November 20, 1921 (Connecticut) – December 14, 1941; 20 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 392 Arctic Street, Bridgeport (1940 census)
ENLISTMENT: September 12, 1940
SERVICE NUMBER: 11019658
UNIT: 31st Test & Evaluation Squadron, 31st Bombardment Squadron; Hickam Field, Hawaii

FAMILY: Born to Francis “Frank” (1906-1978) and Anna Wegrzyn (1909-1953). One sister, Geraldine Wegrzyn Grucce (1933-). Two brothers, Walter (1915-1984) and Michael (1918-2003).

DECORATIONS: Received the Purple Heart Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic/Pacific Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal.

CIRCUMSTANCES: Officially listed as “Died of Wounds”, specifically wounds to the head from bomb fragments at Hickam Field, Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor and died on December 14, 1941.

OTHER: The Polish-American Veterans of World War II had a post named after Felix Wegrzyn in Bridgeport at 56 Beach Street. That post is no longer in operation.

Harding High School yearbook photo and caption. Provided by Laina Kominos, Media Specialist, Harding High School.

From the Hartford Courant December 18, 1941

One of the men killed in the treacherous attack on Pearl Harbor was Private Felix Stanley Wegrzyn, 20, of Bridgeport, former Harding High School end.

From the history of the 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron book

The first wave of the Japanese attack lasted until approximately 8:30 AM. Thirty-firsters were attempting to put machine guns and ammunition in the few planes that survived when the second raid began at 8:54 AM. The Japanese hit the air base, and one of the bombs hit the barracks in which the 31st bunked. It was a 3-story reinforced concrete barracks with a flat roof. The bomb that hit one wing had a delayed action fuse. The bomb went through the roof of the 3rd floor and went through the floor of the 3rd floor, and exploded on the second floor. After the Japanese dropped the bombs, they strafed groups of personnel before ending the second raid. An unsuccessful search for the Japanese fleet followed, led by 31st Commander Russell Waldron. As December 7 drew to a close, 31st Squadron members were listed among the dead and wounded.

Squadron deaths included Jack Fox, William H. Northway, Frank J. Lango, and Felix S. Wegrzyn. Wounded in action were William C. Workman, Jack P. Hopkins, Evariste E. Charron, Ewald A. Koch, Ben O’Dette, Virgil A. Green, Gerald F. Kessler, Louis Penven, Malcolm D. Sackett, and George S. Snyder.

Private Wegrzyn is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, 2177 Puowaina Dr, Honolulu, Hawaii; Section Q, Plot 93.

END