THANKSGIVING. I had the good fortune to know retired General John Lawlor. Years ago, after a local Memorial Day celebration, celebrated on the village green, I asked him what book I should read to find out more about World War II, in which he had fought. He recommended a novel, WAR AND REMEMBRANCE, by Herman Wouk. In the book, Wouk has a fictional enemy German historian describing the Battle of Midway say, “The United States of America has been a lucky nation, and this luck held remarkably on June 4, 1942. How long it will hold in the future, only the dark gods know who bestowed on this crass mercantile nation of mongrelized blood and cowboy culture a virgin continent with almost infinite natural resources.†Wouk describes the five minutes in the Battle of Midway in which three Japanese aircraft carriers were destroyed and the war in the Pacific was won. At that point in the narrative, Wouk does an unusual and wonderful thing. He lists the names of the young men of the three torpedo plane squadrons who brought about the turning point in the war in the Pacific. I am going to list them again here:
John C. Waldron, James C. Owens, Jr., Raymond A. Moore, Jefferson D. Woodson, George M. Campbell, William W. Abercrombie, Ulvert M. Moore, William W. Creamer, John P. Gray, Harold J. Ellison, Henry R. Kenyon, Jr., William R. Evans, Jr., Grant W. Teats, Robert B. Miles, Horace F. Dobbs, Amelio Maffei, Tom H. Pettry, Otway D. Creasey, Jr., Ronald J. Fisher, Bernard P. Phelps, William F. Sawhill, Francis S. Polston, Max A. Calkins, George A. Field, Darwin L. Clark, Ross E. Bibb, Jr., Hollis Martin, Ashwell L. Picou, Robert K. Huntington, George H. Gay, Jr., Lance E. Massey, Richard W. Suesens, Wesley F. Osmus, David J. Roche, Patrick H.Hart, John W. Haas, Oswald A. Powers, Leonard L. Smith, Curtis W. Howard, Carl A. Osberg, Leo E. Perry, Harold C. Lundy, Jr., Benjamin R. Dodson, Jr., Richard M. Hansen, John R. Cole, Raymond J. Darce, Joseph E. Mandeville, William A. Phillips, Charles L. Moore, Troy C. Barkely, Robert B. Brazier, Harry L. Corl, William G. Esders, Lloyd F. Childers, Eugene E. Lindsey, Severin L. Rombach, John T. Eversole, Randolph M. Holder, Arthur V. Ely, Flourenoy G. Hodges, Paul J. Riley, John W. Brock, Lloyd Thomas, Charles T. Grenat, Wilburn F. Glenn, John U. Lane, Gregory J. Durawa, Arthur R. Lindgren, John H. Bates, Edwin J. Mushinski, John M. Blundell, Harold F. Littlefield, Albert W. Winchell, Robert E. Laub, Edward Heck, Jr., Irvin H. McPherson, Stephen B. Smith, Douglas M. Cossitt, William C. Humphrey, Jr., Doyle L. Ritchey, William D. Horton, and Wilfred N. McCoy.
Of the 82 young men, 68 were killed. Let us give thanks for all that the Americans who have gone before us have given us.
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I am searching for Wilfred Norman McCoy. My father, who is ill, has been searching for his father throughout these years. The story we have is that Wilfred N. McCoy had served in the Navy during WWII. He met our grandmother in 1946 in the pacific islands of Samoa. Wilfred left the islands for duty, meanwhile our grandmother was pregnant with our father. Our father was born April of 1947. We are hoping to find him, a burial or memorial site for him and possibly gain knowledge and hopes for new relations with any family he may have. Please feel free to email me at janicepele@yahoo.com should you have any information that could help us with this search. We would greatly, greatly appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts, Thank you!
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I would like to say thank you to everyone and for this site. Yes, luckily we have found what we were looking for. 62 years and now our father (as well as us all) are able to fill a void that was left by the unknown. Thanks again to everyone who had responded with suggestions and emails to help me with this search. This blog was stumbled on by our grandfathers great-nephew who in turn contacted me and we worked from there. This is an awesome feeling I only wish all who search for loved ones will be able to experience. Thank you all again…..
I want to add my thanks to everyone who helped them in this search. Wilfred McCoy was my Uncle, my mother’s brother. My son stumbled upon the blog from Janice while looking up history on Wilfred from WWII. We are so thankful to have found this wonderful Samoan family. They are a gift!! Thank you to everyone who helped in the search.
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I still come through here to read the blog that started it all. I cannot express how grateful I am that you posted this blog that I eventually found a single name through google, and eventually a family. It didn’t take much really, but a photo or two, that confirmed he was indeed our grandfather. A few days went by, our father was silent. No emails, no phone calls, and wasn’t talking to anyone back home. When I finally heard from him I asked him if he wasn’t happy that we found his family. He responded that of course he was, but then it all hit him at once. Things he used to ask himself before when all he knew was a name and some details that his mother shared with him. He said, “I don’t know. All these years I’ve wondered about this man. He knew he had a son. Why didn’t he come back for me? Why didn’t he try to find me later? I wish he had come to find me.” As my father uttered these words, an endless flow of tears trailed my cheeks. How could I comfort him? After saying what he needed to, he ended our conversation. Today, he’s learned more of his father and even that at one point, him and our mother lived merely blocks from where our grandfather lived when they were in California. We’re still trying to find more information. Birth date, record of death, and anything with his name on it. Thank you again for allowing me to post on your blog. It truly has changed our lives.
Thank you. Your update arrives at a time when I am thinking of my brother, sister, father and mother, as you can see in the posts. As you can see, I was born on the date of the Battle of the Midway, and my parents spoke of it often. I remember my father, with tears in his eyes, speaking of the torpedo squadrons at the dinner table. All the best to your family.