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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2011 3:04:38 GMT 8
Greetings,
I am new to this forum and perhaps in the wrong place but hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction. My uncle was killed on May 6, 1942. He was a crewman of the USS Canopus. His military death notice indicates location of his death as Corregidor. I will post his name below in the hopes that a survivor or some other person with personal knowledge of him can reply. Very little family history is available. Thanks in advance for any help.
Subj: Ralph John Brennan Radioman 3rd class PO USS Canopus KIA/MIA 5/6/1942
Regards, Andrew Brennan
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Post by JohnEakin on Feb 19, 2011 7:28:16 GMT 8
Andrew, Welcome from another newbe. Your Uncle is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery. You can do a search for him at abmc.gov. Chances are that his remains were recovered after the war, but couldn't be identified so he may have been buried as an unknown. I don't know about the Navy, but the Army is now encouraging family members to submit a DNA sample in case his remains are recovered. I suggest you contact the Navy Casualty Office www.dtic.mil/dpmo/dod_links/ and ask for his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) AND "all associated X-files". There is an IDPF for all military personnel who die on active duty and it will detail efforts to find and identify his remains. There is an "X-file" for all unidentified remains and usually they have a pretty good idea who they are (they're just not positive). There's more information on the DPMO website and my site at bataanmissing.com. Let us know how it goes. These men gave everything and the least we can do is put their name on their headstone. Best, John
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Post by chadhill on Feb 19, 2011 12:12:24 GMT 8
Andrew,
In addition to Johneakin's excellent suggestion, try e-mailing Everett Perry. You can tell him I referred you:
everett(at)evperry.com [ to protect against spambots, we have replaced the @ symbol - ExO)
Everett recently wrote and published a superb book titled "Ghosts of Canopus". His uncle, Coxswain Paul E. Perry, was a crewmember of the Canopus who died February 19, 1943 in the Osaka POW camp. Everett has attended Canopus reunions and has many contacts.
As you may already know, many of the Canopus crewmen served as provisional infantry attached to the 4th Marine Regiment on Corregidor. The bulk of these men served in the 4th Battalion and were held in reserve until after the Japanese had landed, when they were committed to the fight at Water Tank Hill/Denver Hill in the early hours of May 6th.
Back on February 28th, however, 59 sailors from the Canopus had been transferred to the 1st Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment on Corregidor. These sailors had been soldiers in the provisional Naval Battalion at Mariveles, Bataan and had taken part in the battles for Longoskawayan Point and Lapiay Point. The 1st Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Curtis S. Beecher, USMC, defended the beaches on "Tailside" Corregidor, and on the night of May 5-6 bore the brunt of the Japanese invasion landings and saw heavy fighting.
"Ghosts of Canopus" on page 126 lists 21 Canopus sailors who were killed in action May 6th, 18 from the 4th Battalion and 3 from the 1st Battalion. Your uncle is listed as one of those from the 1st Battalion. So he saw ground combat not only on Corregidor, but very likely on Bataan as well, at the battles for Longoskawayan Point and Lapiay Point.
If you should come across any information on WT2 John Porter Derrington I would appreciate hearing of it. He was a Canopus crewman who served with the 4th Battalion and survived the fighting on May 6th, but died as a POW in Cabanatuan on September 22, 1942. My mother, as a young girl, was aquainted with him. Thanks to Johneakin's research I have learned Derrington perished at Camp # 3, and his last words were reported as "Take care of the children".
Regards,
Chad Hill
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2011 23:12:09 GMT 8
Gentlemen,
In less than 24 hours I have learned some incredible information about my uncle that has evaded family discussions for almost 70 years. Thank you very much. I plan to continue my research and share any other data I find with this forum. Sincerely, abbrennan12
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Post by okla on Feb 20, 2011 8:33:58 GMT 8
Hey Chad....The USS Canopus saga is, indeed, most interesting. I would be interested to learn if you or any of your buddies ever dived on the wreck if the old girl is still lying in deep water off Mariveles and if this type activity is allowed by the powers that be. Also, isn't the Dewey Dry Dock entombed in adjacent waters?
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Post by fots2 on Feb 20, 2011 16:19:49 GMT 8
Lots of new Mariveles photos coming your way soon.
Dewey Dry Dock is across the bay from the USS Canopus. We asked about anyone diving on the sites but no one is aware if that has happened. There seems to be no restrictions that we heard of.
Sounds like a job for Karl, the PI Sailor. ;D
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Post by okla on Feb 21, 2011 1:26:38 GMT 8
Hey Fots....DIving on those wrecks would be the crowning jewel of Karl's illustrious career, methinks. For that matter, this might be right down your alley Fots. After all you DO excel in exploring dark and DAMP locales, away from anything akin to healthy sunlight. You ought to give this project some serious thought. Cheers. Postscript....Am I taking complete leave of my senses, but didn't you do some of that kind of thing down at Truk Lagoon, or do I have you confused with another one of our forum members from a year or so ago?
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Post by Everett M Perry on Mar 9, 2011 2:06:18 GMT 8
Hello from another newbie. I have information on Mr Brennan but not until I actually see this post actually work on the forum.
Everett M. Perry
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Post by armyjunk on Mar 9, 2011 11:01:54 GMT 8
I went to Truk last year
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Post by okla on Mar 11, 2011 1:14:26 GMT 8
Hey Army...You must be the guy. I knew somebody, who posts regularly, reported as having dived on those wrecks. That must have been a bit "creepy". Cheers
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