Hello All,
I wanted to share a small story about a U.S. Veteran and the reuniting of a personal effect with her daughter.
If you were quick to catch it, I did say “her.” The story started in 2010 when I was perusing an Antiques store in Scottsdale, AZ. There wasn’t much in the way of militaria, but, I did come across a U.S. Navy dog tag. I wouldn’t normally have picked it up, but, it was unusual in that it was of a female’s name – Jane Lowentrout Shook.
The dog tag sat around a while, and, as I usually do with personalized items; I began a search. At the time, there wasn’t much information online, but, given the unusual name, I came across a family that was building out their genealogical history. I contacted the head genealogist and low and behold, it was Jane’s daughter! She shared stories of her Mother being a WAVE*, appearing in a recruiting poster, etc., but when I asked her about her Mother’s dog tags, she said her mother never made mention of them. Well, I was glad to tell her of my find, and that I would send it to her if she would provide me an address… Crickets… I guess she thought this was a scam or something.
As life happens, the dog tag was put away, the story eventually forgotten…until, yesterday - I was rummaging through a drawer and (re)found the dog tag. I still had the email threads from 4 years ago and reached back out. Glory! I am glad to say that the dog tag is headed back to be reunited with it’s family.
Since the time I conducted my original search, the family has posted a nice memorial to their mother at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...r&GRid=1177786 (Coincidentally, she is interred in the same cemetery as my Father-in-law, who was an MP serving at the Nuremberg trials.)
I don’t think the family will mind my posting the dog tag to help preserve the history with this story. I had also found an image of this recruiting poster from which her daughter had identified Jane as the blond, second up from the bottom on the left. The family has an original of the poster and will be adding the dog tag to her family’s display.
Enjoy,
Eric
*From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAVES:
WAVES on 30 July 1942 was established as a World War II division of the U.S. Navy, that consisted entirely of women in the 1940s, but on 12 June 1948, women gained permanent status in the armed services of the United States. The name was the acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service"[1] (as well as an allusion to ocean waves). The word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of World War II, and at the end of the war the women would not be allowed to continue in Navy careers, but it or its successors continued for decades afterwards.
Their official name was the U.S. Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), but the nickname as the WAVES stuck.
I wanted to share a small story about a U.S. Veteran and the reuniting of a personal effect with her daughter.
If you were quick to catch it, I did say “her.” The story started in 2010 when I was perusing an Antiques store in Scottsdale, AZ. There wasn’t much in the way of militaria, but, I did come across a U.S. Navy dog tag. I wouldn’t normally have picked it up, but, it was unusual in that it was of a female’s name – Jane Lowentrout Shook.
The dog tag sat around a while, and, as I usually do with personalized items; I began a search. At the time, there wasn’t much information online, but, given the unusual name, I came across a family that was building out their genealogical history. I contacted the head genealogist and low and behold, it was Jane’s daughter! She shared stories of her Mother being a WAVE*, appearing in a recruiting poster, etc., but when I asked her about her Mother’s dog tags, she said her mother never made mention of them. Well, I was glad to tell her of my find, and that I would send it to her if she would provide me an address… Crickets… I guess she thought this was a scam or something.
As life happens, the dog tag was put away, the story eventually forgotten…until, yesterday - I was rummaging through a drawer and (re)found the dog tag. I still had the email threads from 4 years ago and reached back out. Glory! I am glad to say that the dog tag is headed back to be reunited with it’s family.
Since the time I conducted my original search, the family has posted a nice memorial to their mother at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...r&GRid=1177786 (Coincidentally, she is interred in the same cemetery as my Father-in-law, who was an MP serving at the Nuremberg trials.)
I don’t think the family will mind my posting the dog tag to help preserve the history with this story. I had also found an image of this recruiting poster from which her daughter had identified Jane as the blond, second up from the bottom on the left. The family has an original of the poster and will be adding the dog tag to her family’s display.
Enjoy,
Eric
*From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAVES:
WAVES on 30 July 1942 was established as a World War II division of the U.S. Navy, that consisted entirely of women in the 1940s, but on 12 June 1948, women gained permanent status in the armed services of the United States. The name was the acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service"[1] (as well as an allusion to ocean waves). The word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of World War II, and at the end of the war the women would not be allowed to continue in Navy careers, but it or its successors continued for decades afterwards.
Their official name was the U.S. Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), but the nickname as the WAVES stuck.
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