A mysterious WWII Navy Badge from Pearl Harbor
October 26, 2011 4:25 PM Subscribe
Can you help me return this WWII-era US Navy Pearl Harbor ID Badge to the family of its owner?
I bought it at a garage sale sometime in the 1970's, in the Chicago area. Thanks
Response by poster: Thanks, I had a local 'historian' contact them a couple of years back. Nothing from them. Thought I'd throw the net a bit wider. Do NOT know the year of this badge's issue.
posted by DickStock at 4:37 PM on October 26, 2011
posted by DickStock at 4:37 PM on October 26, 2011
Another option is to just donate it to the museum itself, if you can't find the family directly and don't want it any more yourself, but I still think finding the family is a great idea.
Forget the historian and follow up with the museum yourself. It's maintained by the National Park Service, and their main page has a phone number.
Then try asking HOW you would look this up yourself, who you'd contact. Ask them if there's a VA association, or a navy veteran's association, or something. Tell them everything you know about the card -- you don't have a year, but you have a name and a unit. That's something to go on. Maybe there is a specific organization for Ship Repair Veterans, and then they can give you that contact number -- then you call THAT number and say you've got this card and how would you track down someone, and then they tell you more....a big part of research is being willing to accept leads as well as answers. Don't give up when they say "sorry, we don't keep files on that here," ask if they know who WOULD keep those files and how you'd contact them, and that's when they say "oh, wait, yeah, we just shipped a whole mess of files to the Seattle VA office, here's the number" or something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:48 PM on October 26, 2011
Forget the historian and follow up with the museum yourself. It's maintained by the National Park Service, and their main page has a phone number.
Then try asking HOW you would look this up yourself, who you'd contact. Ask them if there's a VA association, or a navy veteran's association, or something. Tell them everything you know about the card -- you don't have a year, but you have a name and a unit. That's something to go on. Maybe there is a specific organization for Ship Repair Veterans, and then they can give you that contact number -- then you call THAT number and say you've got this card and how would you track down someone, and then they tell you more....a big part of research is being willing to accept leads as well as answers. Don't give up when they say "sorry, we don't keep files on that here," ask if they know who WOULD keep those files and how you'd contact them, and that's when they say "oh, wait, yeah, we just shipped a whole mess of files to the Seattle VA office, here's the number" or something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:48 PM on October 26, 2011
What's on the back side of the badge? And is there anything on the back of the photo?
posted by zippy at 5:32 PM on October 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by zippy at 5:32 PM on October 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Why do you think it's WWII? The photo looks later than that.
According to this account, none of the persons in the hospitals at Pearl had ID tags.
Here's another ID card that's a rather different form--I've never seen a military ID that has a photo with the person wearing a hat.
posted by Ideefixe at 6:08 PM on October 26, 2011
According to this account, none of the persons in the hospitals at Pearl had ID tags.
Here's another ID card that's a rather different form--I've never seen a military ID that has a photo with the person wearing a hat.
posted by Ideefixe at 6:08 PM on October 26, 2011
Response by poster: Navy Yard-Pearl Harbor
Kennedy H.
Ship Repair Unit.
The photo is enclosed in a metallic frame with a safety pin on the back. Quite substantial. I have not tried to dismantle it. Yet.....
posted by DickStock at 6:15 PM on October 26, 2011
Kennedy H.
Ship Repair Unit.
The photo is enclosed in a metallic frame with a safety pin on the back. Quite substantial. I have not tried to dismantle it. Yet.....
posted by DickStock at 6:15 PM on October 26, 2011
I would try asking an antique dealer in Hawaii who specializes in militaria.
posted by zippy at 7:07 PM on October 26, 2011
posted by zippy at 7:07 PM on October 26, 2011
... to help narrow down what era the badge is from. If there's anything on the back of the photo itself, that might help too. A year, a full name, a unit, that sort of thing.
posted by zippy at 7:07 PM on October 26, 2011
posted by zippy at 7:07 PM on October 26, 2011
You might try the Society of Military History. Its website has a membership directory that could help you find someone with more-specific knowledge. See:
http://www.smh-hq.org/
posted by maurreen at 10:09 PM on October 26, 2011
http://www.smh-hq.org/
posted by maurreen at 10:09 PM on October 26, 2011
Try submitting your case to the "History Detectives" on PBS. They research American historical artifacts.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:30 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:30 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
The History Detectives (mentioned above) may be a long shot, as they have a finite number of cases they do each season (it's a television show). But this is no reason not to try anyway, because it'd just be plain cool. There's just no guarantee they'd pick your case, is all.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:20 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:20 AM on October 27, 2011
(I just asked about this on a WWII mailing list that I am on, which includes a bunch of historians and one Hawaiiian resident. I'll let you know what they say.)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:32 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by wenestvedt at 6:32 AM on October 27, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Have you tried contacting the Pearl Harbor Museum for assistance? Not that they'd have a detailed list of addresses or anything, but museums tend to have research ninjas on hand, and they would at least give you a start on finding out HOW you'd track down the information you want.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:35 PM on October 26, 2011 [1 favorite]