101-Year-Old Pearl Harbor Survivors on the USS Oklahoma Returns for the 80th

This is continued from my Saw the Elephant, Running the Blockade and Cooter's History Thing blogs.  I am writing about Pearl Harbor today in most of my blogs as it is the 80th anniversary of the attack.

In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) exhumed 388 sets of remains from the "Unknown Oklahoma" graves in the National Cemetery of the Pacific.  Using DNA and dental records, they were able to identify 361 of them.

David Russell's brother-in-law was among them.  Fireman 1st Class Walter "Boone"  Rogers was in the Oklahoma's fireroom when the torpedoes hit.  That would be deep in the ship's bowels. His remains were identified in 2017.  He has since been buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

David Russell  remained in the Navy until retiring in 1960.  He worked at Air Force bases for the next two decades before retiring for good in 1980.

His wife Violet passed away 22 years ago and David now lives alone in Albany, Oregon. He drives himself to the local grocery store and the local American Legion in a black Ford Explorer while listening to polka at top volume.

Capt. Gwinn's Traveling Body-- Part 8: Finally Got It Right (Right Place and Right People)

It was decided that an upgrade with the USS Constitution name and the correct wife was needed.  Proof of marriage was also produced in the form of a marriage certificate between the good captain and one Caroline S. Lynch.  This came from the collection of the USS Constitution Museum.

Captain Creekman was able to convince  the National Cemetery office to "upgrade" John Gwinn's information and correct the name and death for Caroline.

This process is currently underway and it is hoped that this will soon put an end to the posthumous adventures of Captain Gwinn by dedicating his and Caroline's new gravestone.

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UPDATE

Captain Creekman visited Arlington National Cemetery in September 2016 on the 167th anniversary of Captain Gwinn's death and confirmed  that the new headstone for Captain Gwinn and Caroline is in place... AND CORRECT!!!!  

It now reads:

JOHN GWINN

Maryland

Capt

US Navy

June 11, 1797

Sep4, 1849

 Died Palermo Italy

In Command  USS Constitution

Finally.   --Brock-Perry

Capt. Gwinn's Traveling Body-- Part 7: Headstone Was Understated and Wrong Wife Shown

After all these  elaborate and generous actions, one would think Captain Gwinn's saga would finally, at long last, be at an end.  However, it wasn't.  There was still more to go.   For most, being buried twice and then dug up and moved two more times for a total of three burials that should have been end game.

But not so with the captain.

Photographs taken in 2010 by the Executive Director of the Naval Historical Foundation, Captain Charles T. Creekman, Jr.,  USN (Ret.),  brought attention to the new gravestone's understated words.

The engraving, as shown on the picture to the right of this, simply reads:  "John/ Gwinn/ Maryland/ Captain/ US Navy/ September 4, 1849," and makes no mention  of the USS Constitution.

An upgrade for the headstone was made.

Nothing came of that request,  until an error was discovered on the reverse of the headstone.  This is the side for his wife.

That inscription read:  "His Wife/ Elizabeth/Bruce/  September 4, 1849."

Gwinn's wife in actuality was Caroline S. Lynch and she died  on June 1, 1864.

Well....  --Brock-Perry

Traveling Body of Capt. Gwinn-- Part 6: About That Silver Plaque

In the following month of Captain John Gwinn and his wife Carline's bodies at the Arlington National Cemetery, September 1931, the USS Constitution made a scheduled  visit to the port of Philadelphia during its National Cruise, the silver plaque that was  mounted on the original Gwinn coffin was presented to the ship.  The plaque was displayed on board  until 1974, when it was transferred to the USS Constitution Museum.

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The plaque reads:

Died

September 4th 1849

U.S. Navy

In Command of the 

U.S, Frigate Constitution

At  Palermo, Sicily

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And, you something?  The saga wasn't yet over.

See Next Post.  --Brock-Perry

Traveling Body of Capt. John Gwinn of the USS Constitution-- Part 5: Leaving Philadelphia and Heading to D.C.

Continued from April 10, 2021.

Once the coffins were dug up, thousands of people lined the streets of Philadelphia as they were escorted to the railroad station.  Flags were lowered to half-mast, church bells rang, and a Navy band played the funeral march.

The procession was followed by  representatives from all military branches , members of multiple VFW posts, auxiliaries in white dresses and gold-lined capes.

There was even an attempt to have the coffins carried to Washington, D.C.,  board the USS Constitution, which had just begun its famed National Cruise at the time.  But the timing was not good and preparations to transport by train had already been made.

The bodies arrived by train on August 24, 1931,  and the coffin was carried to its new grave site at Arlington National Cemetery.  There the bodies of Captain John Gwinn and his wife Caroline, arrived at their final destination.

They were buried at Lot No. 2913, Section 4.

--Brock-Perry

The Traveling Body of Captain Gwinn-- Part 4: Getting the Captain Moved to a Better Burial Spot

Letters were written to the Philadelphia Record, the Naval Historical Foundation, the National Naval Liaison Officer of the VFW and the Philadelphia  County Committee of the VFW suggesting the exhumation of Captain Gwinn and his wife Caroline, and reburial at Arlington National Cemetery.

A new coffin was made  to hold the couple's remains.  During the transfer from the old coffin to the new one, 22 uniform buttons were removed from the which is a testament to the enduring  quality  of the U.S. Naval officer's garments. still intact uniform coat.

The moment of exhumation also afforded a closer look at Captain Gwinn himself, as no other images  are known to exist (which is why I just had a picture of his gravestone).  

The undertaker in charge of the project, Charles O'Neill, who was also commander of the Liberty Bell Post 1906, VFW, remarked "...never [have I seen] such large jaw bones as those of Captain Gwinn, also that there were four teeth missing, and in addition, that Captain Gwinn had red or auburn hair.  Might also add that when the grave digger took hold of the skull of Captain Gwinn [it] broke in half across the skull."

--Brock-Perry

Traveling Body of Capt. Gwinn-- Part 3: Need for Removal

From the June 26, 1931, Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah "Lost Grave of Old Ironsides' Master found."

Philadelphia, June 26.  AP.

In a tumbledown cemetery now being abandoned has been found the long forgotten grave of a man  who "served his country for forty years."

The grave -- obscured  for years by  tangled weeds -- is that of Captain John Gwinn, former commander of "Old Ironsides" -- soon to start on her post-restoration cruise.

Most of the bodies have been exhumed from the old cemetery, but no one has claimed  that of the man whose tombstone reads:  "In Memory of John Gwinn, United States Navy.  Born  June, 1791; Died Palermo, Sicily, Sept. 1849, While in Command of United States Frigate Constitution."

Members of the Private John McArthur  post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars hope to have the body  removed to the national cemetery  at Arlington.

The Traveling Body of Capt. Gwinn-- Part 1

As varied as John Gwinn's naval career was before his death, his remains also had quite an interesting history as he was reburied two times after the initial time in 1849 in Italy.  He was next buried in Philadelphia then Arlington, Virginia.

From the USS Constitution Museum  "Memento Mori."

Most of the many captains of The USS Constitution are known for the adventures during their lifetime, there is one captain who made waves during his life and his death.

That would be John Gwinn, the first captain to die while in command of the USS Constitution.

Following a short illness, Gwinn died in Palermo, Sicily,  on September 4, 1849.  The day after his death, carpenters and armorers fabricated Gwinn's coffin from wood and lead.   The captain's internment in Palermo was supposed to be only a temporary one.

The funeral took place on September 6, 1849, and "his remains  were followed to the tomb by the officers and men of [Constitution], as well as by officers of all the foreign ships in port  and by the civil and military authorities of this city," as noted in a letter from Assistant Surgeon Phineas Jonathan  Horwitz to Gwinn's widow.

--Brock-Perry

John Gwinn's Many Burials

From the September 1, 2016, Naval Historical Foundation "Who was John Gwinn?"

167 years ago this Labor Day  weekend, U.S. Navy Captain John Gwinn died and was buried -- for the first time!  His third burial came 85 years ago in Arlington National Cemetery, marked by a benign headstone.

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It reads: 

John Gwinn

Maryland

Captain

US Navy

September 4, 1849

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Who was he and what was the story behind his grave-hopping  odyssey?    Stay tuned to the Naval Historical Foundation as we untangle  this mystery in the coming months.

--Brock-Perry

John Gwinn-- Part 7: The USS Constitution and Death

An ailing John Gwinn placed the USS Constitution back into commission early in October 1848.  The ship sailed for the Mediterranean Sea in December and made directly for Algiers, where she took on board Consul David Smith McCauley and his family for a transfer to Egypt.

As they entered the port of Alexandria, Egypt,  McCauley's wife, Frances Ann, gave birth to a son who they named Constitution Stewart McCauley in Captain Gwinn's cabin.

From there, the ship  returned west  to Italian waters  to join the rest of the squadron protecting American interests in revolution-torn Italy.  despite an injunction any action that might  indicate American bias, on August 1, 1949,  Gwinn hosted a visit by Pope Pius IX and the fugitive King of Two Sicilies, Ferdinand II, while anchored off  Gaeta, Italy.

Because a commissioned warship is considered U.S. territory,  this is considered the first visit by  a Roman Catholic pope to American territory.

Shortly thereafter, Gwinn's health deteriorated  to the point he was bed-ridden and suffered periods of delirium and mania.  He died  of chronic gastritis on September 4, 1849 while the ship was at Palermo, Italy.

Gwinn was buried with full military honors at Palermo, but the proceedings were  disrupted bu disaffected crew members who got roaring drunk along the route to the cemetery.  As a result,  at least 32 men were flogged in the days that followed.   He was reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery in 1931.

--Brock-Perry

John Gwinn, USN-- Part 3: Commanded USS Constitution in 1849

As captain of the famed USS Constitution,  Gwinn sailed on December 9, 1848, and arrived at Tripoli  on January 19, 1849. 

While transporting U.S. ambassador Daniel Smith McCauley and his family to Egypt, McCauley's wife gave birth to a son,  who was named Constitution  Stewart McCauley.

At Gaeta on August 1,Gwinn received on board  King Ferdinand II and Pope Pius IX.  This would be the first time a pope had set foot on American territory.

At Palermo on September 1, 1849, Captain Gwinn died of chronic gastritis and was buried  bear Lazeretto on the 9th,  ending a forty-year Navy career.

Gwinn's body was removed to Glenwood Cemetery  in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a few years and remained there until 1931, when he was reinterred  at Arlington National Cemetery.

--Brock-Perry

President Trump Honors the Fallen Twice on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery and Fort McHenry

From the May 25, 2020, KGNS TV  Laredo, Tx, "Trump honors war dead  in events colored by pandemic's threat" by Darlene Superville.

President Donald Trump honored America's war dead Monday in back-to-back Memorial Day appearances marred by  an epic struggle off the battlefield   against the coronavirus.

The U.S. death toll to the virus is now approaching 100,000 (and has now surpassed it).

Trump first went to Arlington National Cemetery.  Traditionally on Memorial Day, presidents lay a wreath and speak there, but this year it was different.

Many attendees arrived wearing masks but removed them for the outdoor ceremony in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Trump, maskless as always in public, gave no remarks.  He approached a wreath already in place, stood in reflection, saluted it then touched it.

He then traveled to Fort McHenry in Baltimore where he declared:  "Together we will vanquish the virus and America will rise from this crisis to new and even greater heights.  No obstacle, no challenge and no threat is a match for the sheer determination of the American people."

Saluting All U.S. Military Who Have Made the Ultimate Sacrifice.

David Rubenstein's Donations to American History

Continued from the previous post.

This man has been very nice to history.  Over the past two decades, his donations have included:

$50 million to the Reach Addition of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

$20 million to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation outside Charlottesville, Va.

$10 million to James Madison's Montpeleier Estate in Orange, Virginia

$10 million to George Washington's Mt. Vernon

$18.5 million to the Lincoln Memorial

$12.3 million to Robert E. Lee's Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery

$10.5 million to the Washington Monument

$5.4 million to the Renwick Gallery

$5.37 million to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial

$5 million to the visitor center at the White House

$4.5 million to the National Zoo's panda reproduction program

$1 million  to Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument.

Again, a Big Thank You to Mr. Rubenstein.  --Brock-Perry

The Family of Ann Minerva Rodgers and John Navarre Macomb-- Part 3

Other sons and daughters:

JOHN NAVARRE MACOMB (1843-1916)  No mention as to military service.

AUGUSTUS CANFIELD MACOMB  (1854-1932)  Lt. Colonel U.S. Army.  Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

MINERVA RODGERS MACOMB PETERS  (1856-1898)Married to U.S. consul to Germany.

CHRISTINA LIVINGSTON PETERS  (1861-1945)  These last two are buried with their parents at Arlington National Cemetery.

NANNIE RODGERS MACOMB  (1864-1952)

--Brock-Perry