Searching for Photo and Obit on a Female WWII Veteran who served in the US Navy WAVES Laverne Ruth P
Hello,
I am trying to find additional information on a WWII female veteran that was a member of the US. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). Her name is Laverne Ruth Peterson (serial # 763-09-95). She was born on 20 May 1923 and was from Chicago, IL. She enlisted in the WAVES on 15 Oct. 1943 and was eventually stationed at Farragut Naval Training Station in Idaho. She died tragically on 26 Oct. 1944 in a fire that raged through one of the barracks. She is apparently buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Chicago.
My goal is to try and find a photo of her. I am hoping that one exists in her obituary in some of the local papers. My Grandmother was in the WAVES and served with Laverne. She was with Laverne that evening of the barracks fire and was the last to see her before the fire started (they suspect a discarded cigarette). My Grandmother barely made it out of the fire herself and ended up being interrogated for 3 days by the Commanding Officer until they were finally satisfied that she had nothing to do with starting the fire. My Grandmother mentioned this particular incident several times over the years and my goal was to learn more about Laverne's tragic death and try to put a face to the name by obtaining a photo.
Any help would be much appreciated!!
John Peters
jpeters@wctc.net
Answers
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What an interesting story! I didn't find any photos or obits, but did find these two very small references to the fire and her demise. Sounds like you already have all the info contained in these, though.
The 2nd piece was found in the Hospital Corps Quarterly, Volume 18 in Google Books.0 -
Since it has been more than 61 years since she died in service, you could ask for her military records from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis by following the instructions linked in the right-hand margin in the is group. It may take awhile for them to gin back up after COVID, but they should have something for you! I've got a request in for my father, and I have heard back from them that they're working on it.
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Found another similar article at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSWV-99TR-6?cc=2860782&personaUrl=/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5QW-VW6L
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Death certificate: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2M1-GPY9
Application for Veteran's headstone shows mother's address in Chicago: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G944-Y58R?i=92&cc=1916249&personaUrl=/ark:/61903/1:1:QV1Z-6D26
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It doesn't look like a record for her has ever been created in FamilySearch. With all this data, I think it would be good to create a record and attach all these records. Then the magic of the computer will start to make connections. Would you like to create that record, or would you like me to?
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Wow! Thanks for the additional info Glenn! I had seen the application for the military headstone...but had not seen the brief news article.
If you could create a record for Laverne...I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks Glenn!
John
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Ok, I have created her record: GHSB-CBC
If you keep an eye occassionally on this record, you'll start to find HINTS that the computer gathers through artificial intelligence. Good luck!
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Thanks Glenn!
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Success! I finally found a news article with LaVerne's photo (not the best quality though). I found an unidentified photo in my Grandmother's photo album that I think is of Laverne Ruth Peterson. The news article photo and the real photo look like the same person to me.
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Wow! You're an amazing detective! Which newspaper was this?
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Also, what was your grandmother's name? Is she in FamilySearch? Was she one of the other WAVES that was injured due to the fire? I think we should add Laverne's photo to your grandmother's MEMORIES so as to tie their stories together. What do you think?
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I found another news article with an even better photo of LaVerne. It was in the Seattle Daily Times on Saturday October 28, 1944.
The previous news article with her picture came from the Chicago Daily News (same day).
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My Grandmother wasn't injured in the fire...but barely made it out herself. Her name at the time was Miriam Elizabeth Pollack.
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