Sunday, May 31, 2015

Home Resources: Discharge Certificate

     Along with my father's separation paperwork was his Honorable Discharge Certificate.




Honorable Discharge
from the
United States Navy

This is to certify that
NORMAN LESLIE HANNA  a  SIGNALMAN, SECOND CLASS, USNR 
is Honorably Discharged from the U.S.N. PERSONNEL SEPARATION CENTER,
BOSTON, MASS. and from the Naval Service of the United States
this 19th days of DECEMBER 1945
This certificate is awarded as a Testimonial of Fidelity and
       Obedience.

OREN A. ARMSTRONG                                                   
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER, USNR                          
BY DIRECTION OF THE COMMANDING OFFICER




Home Resources: Notice of Separation From the U.S. Naval Service

     Probably the most valuable item found during the search of my  mother's home was my father's separation paperwork. The official name of this form is the NOTICE OF SEPARATION FROM THE U. S. NAVAL SERVICE  - NAVPERS-553  (Rev. 8-45) .

See below for an image and full transcript of this form.

   

Box 1 Serial or File No.:                         203 43 83 
Box 2 Name (Last) (First) (Middle):       HANNA. Norman Leslie 
Box 3 Rate and Class or Rank and Classification:  Signalman Second Class(T) V-6 USNR 
Box 4 Permanent Address for Mailing Purposes:  826 Summer St., Lynn, Mass.

Box 5 Place of Separation:                     USN PERSONNEL SEPARATION CENTER 
                                                                 BOSTON, MASS 
Box 6 Character of Separation:              HONORABLE 
Box 7 Address from which employment will be sought:   Same as #4 
Box 8 Race:                                              W 
Box 9 Sex:                                                M
Box 10 Marital Status                            Single
Box 11 U. S. Citizen (Yes or No):         Yes 
Box 12 Date and Place of Birth:            11/22/24 Lynn, Mass. 

RECORD OF NAVAL SERVICE

SEL. SER. DATA
Box 13 Registered:                                  NO 
Box 14 Selective Service Board of Registration:     None 
Box 15 Home Address at time of entry into service:  Same as #4 

Box 16 Means Of Entry:                         Enlisted
Box 17 Date of entry into active service:  10/22/42
Box 18 Net Service (For pay purposes)
                                (Yrs, Mos, Days)         3-2-0
Box 19 Place of Entry into Active Service:  RS Boston, Mass.
Box 20 Qualifications, Certificates Held, Etc.:   See Rating Description Booklet: 
                                                                             "Signalman Second Class"
Box 21 Ratings Held:                                             AS; S2c; S1c; SM3c; SM2c 
Box 22 Foreign and/or Sea Service World War II:   Yes   
Box 23 Service Schools Completed:       NTS(SM) Chicago, Ill.       Weeks:  16    
Box 24 Service(Vessels and Stations Served on)         NTS  Newport,  R.I.
                                                                                      NTS  Chicago,  Ill.
                                                                                      USS New York

PAY AND INSURANCE DATA
IMPORTANT: If Premium is not paid when due or within thirty-one days thereafter insurance will lapse. Make checks or money orders payable to the Treasurer of the U. S. and forwaard to Collector's Subsivision Veterans Administration, Washington 25, D.C.

Box 25 Kind of Insurance:                    NIS
Box 26 Effective Month of Allotment Discontinuance:   DEC 1945 
Box 27 Month Next Premium Due:     JAN 1946
Box 28 Amount of Premium due each month:   6.40
Box 29 Intention of Veteran to continue insurance:    Continue
Box 30 Total payment upon discharge:       $74.25
Box 31 Travel or mileage allowance included in Total payment:     $ 0.50  
Box 32 Initial Mustering out pay:  $100.00 
Box 33 Name of Disbursing Officer:   N. L. Boyce, LT. , USN


Box 34 Remarks:         World War II Victory Medal
                                      Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Medal - 2 Stars
                                      American Theatre Medal 
Box 35 Signature (By Direction of Commanding Officer):
                                   
                                      TN Yoyce
                                 for A. S. Pierce, LT., USNR  

EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATIONAL DATA  

Box 36 Name and address of last employer:           First National Stores   
                                                                                 Lynn, Mass.
Box 37 Dates of last employment:    From:  6/42
                                                           To:      10/42 
Box 38 Main civilian occupation and D. O. T. No.:    Clerk
Box 39 Job Preference (List type, Locality, and General Area):  Undecided - Mass.
Box 40 Preference for additional Training(Type of Training):  Business Administration
Box 41 Non-service Education(years successfully completed:
                                                                                      Gram.:     8
                                                                                      H. S.:       4
                                                                                      Coll.:       0
Box 42 Degrees:                          None    
Box 43 Major Course or Field:   College  
Box 44 Vocational or Trade courses (Nature and Length of Course):   None
Box 45 Right Index Fingerprint:
Box 46 Off Duty Educational Courses Completed:    None                                                  
Box 47 Date of Separation:                 12/19/45
Box 48 Signature of Person being Separated:        Norman Leslie Hanna
                                                                               Norman Leslie Hanna


Home Sources

     Now that I've completed the questionnaire, I've determined there is a lot of unknowns which means serious researching to do in order to answer the questions asked.  Based on Jennifer's book the next step is to explore home sources. She provides 7 pages of items to look for in the homes that could provide clues to provide information on your soldier.

     I started this portion of my journey by asking my mother what she know of my father's service. She stated that she meet my father after the war and he did not talk about his experience so she did have much other then the fact that he was in the Navy.  She did allow me to go thru several boxes of stuff but did not know what was in then.

Below is a list of what I found when I explore her home and the boxes she said may contain some information I may be looking for.

Bible:  Memorial Edition Holy Bible, in a wooden Box, that was presented to my mother at my father's funeral.  Presented by the Franco American AMVETS Post 12 & Post 161.  See picture below:

OUR DEEPEST SYMATHY
FRANCO AMERICAN AMVETS
POST 12 & POST 161









PRESENTED IN LOVING MEMORY
OF
NORMAN L HANNA
BY FRANCO AMERICAN AMVETS POST 12 &
POST 161
DATE
JAN 29 1985
























Not sure if he was a member of the AMVETS - I never remember him going to any  events or meeting.  Believe this may have been something thru the Funeral Home since he was a veteran.

Action: Added item to the To Do List to check of membership.

Military Paperwork:  The following items were found and added significant information to my father's military service.  Each item will be address in an separate post.

                 Discharge Paperwork (Notice of Separation From The U.S. Naval Service)
       
                 Honorable Discharge Certificate

                 U. S. S. New York Track Chart World War II

Newspaper Articles:  Five Newspaper Clippings. All with reference to the U. S. S. New York.
Will address each in separate post.

Photographs of the soldier:  10 Photographs.








Friday, May 22, 2015

Start with the Basics


In her book, Jennifer states that we should begin our search by completing  the Military Questionnaire that she provides in her book and on her website.  She states that we do not have to know all the answers at this point but it will help us determine what we know.

Below is the questionnaire and answers before starting my research.

Basic Information


Name of Soldier:
  Norman Leslie Hanna

Service Number:    Unknown

Branch of the Service:    Navy

Unit(s) and dates of service:    Unknown

Date of and Place of Birth:    22 Nov. 1924   Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts

Names of parents:   Marcus L. Hanna & Frances E. Hill

Name of Spouse:   Living

Service Information


Date and place of enlistment:
 Unknown - assume Lynn, Mass since this is were he lived.

Address at enlistment:  Once again assume Summer Street, Lynn, Mass. - based on 1940 census

Date and place of separation:   Unknown
            Type of Separation:   Honorable           Dishonorable

                            Unknown

Address at discharge:  Once again assume Summer Street, Lynn, Mass

Date and place of Death:   26 Jan 1985, Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts

Was soldier ever declared Missing in Action?:   Not to my Knowledge

Was soldier ever a Prisoner of War?:  Not to my Knowledge

Battles:  Unknown

Service outside continental U.S.  Unknown

Ships on which the soldier served or was transported, with dates:   Unknown

Decorations and Citations.  Please provide the battles, reason(s), and dates for each decoration or citation received.      
                      Unknown

Wounds received:    Unknown

Prior Service:  Based on his age assume WWII would be his military service. 


Training



Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)/Job:
   Signalman 

Service Schools Attended:  Unknown 

Post-World War II Information

Additional Service after WWII
:   Unknown 

Did the soldier belong to any veterans or military organizations post-WWII?     Not to my Knowledge


Additional Remarks:



Discuss what you know about this soldier's service and what questions you have in the space below. Please list all the documents you have obtained and major resources searched. (American Battle Monuments Commission website, Unit Histories, Morning Reports, After Action Reports, S-Journals, Maps, IDPFs, X-files).

         Based on the few stories I heard from my father I know that he was Signalman in the Navy and stationed on-board a ship.  Never heard any stories of what Theatre or of any battles.  The only family lore was that of how his mother got very upset with his father for signing the papers for him to enlist. It seems that he enlisted before he turned 18 thus needing a parent to sign.

         At this time I'm looking to find out what ship he was on and whether it saw any action during the war.  The only thing that I've heard is that the ship did participated in Midshipman cruises.








Thursday, May 21, 2015

First Post

     I will use this blog to document my journey in the research of my father's service during WWII. Like many members  of "The Greatest Generation" my father never spoke about his experience during the war.   I wonder if he would have opened up more and talked about the war if he had not passed away at such an early age.  He passed away at the age of 60 and I was only thirty, this was back in 1985.

    The only stories I remember were these associated with my decision to enter the military myself by accepting an appointment to the United States Naval Academy.  These stories were about how his ship took Midshipmen from the Naval Academy on training cruises and about how the Captain of the ship was not very well liked.   Another story was about the time the captain  ordered the firing of the guns on a unknown object that appeared in the sky. This object turned out to be the planet Venus.

    I began this journey by purchasing Jennifer Holik's book Stories From The World War II Battlefield and taking her challenge to research and write my soldier's story.

   Please follow along as I document this journey.