Fwiw, my Mother’s older brother was the ACTING CoB of the USS CHAMPION (AM314) from 2 weeks after she departed Pearl Harbor until well after VJ Day.
Because he was a talented finish carpenter, he was given the USNR rate of PO3 but was NEVER promoted, due to being the “Acting Jack”.
Like my dad he always said that: I didn’t do anything heroic during the war. - My job was just routine.
(The ONLY thing that he ever said that was a “clue” to his actual service was that he told me that he traded some hair oil, toothpaste & an alarm clock to a Marine on Iwo Jima for a .30 caliber carbine, as all that he was issued in a weapon was a S&W VICTORY MODEL in .38SPL. = His comment was, “I gave it back as I couldn’t hit a !@#$%^& thing with it, so I got me a carbine.” - YEP, he brought it home with him, broken down in his sea bag.)
About 3 weeks after he passed away in his sleep at 88YO, his son was called by the bank & asked what he wanted to do with my uncle’s safety deposit box, as the rent was due.
Randy went to the bank, emptied the safety deposit box, brought it home & called me, saying, “Cousin, you need to see this. Come to my place for supper.”
What Randy had found shocked both of us. = Certificates for FOUR PH, a SS, a BS with V device & all the usual “I was there” Pacific Theater WWII fruit salad.
Turns out that his “routine service’ included GOING ASHORE with the Marines at TARAWA, IWO JIMA, GUADACANAL & no telling where else. Further, when we ordered & got his official service record, we found out that he & another sailor on the CHAMPION had been credited with shooting down a suicide plane about 30 days before VJ Day.- NOT “routine” in my book!!!
IF your family had a GI with service in WWII, Korea or RVN that that the SM wouldn’t tell you about his/her war service, a request for their service records to the National Archive may yield some REAL SURPRISES.
yours, satx
Awesome story! Thank you for sharing.