I understand that a somewhat distant relative of mine died in the Pacific Theater in WW2 while serving with the US Armed Forces. I don’t know which branch - Army, Marines, Navy.
Here’s what I know:
his name: Patrick Smith
his age: 20 years old in 1941
where he was resident at the start of the war: North Hempstead, Nassau County, New York
Some additional background such as parents’ names, place of birth, etc.
I would very much like to know the circumstances of his death - where, how, what engagement, etc.
I am not in contact with any of his surviving relatives so I am reliant on public information (preferably on-line resources). Does anyone have any suggestions?
Good luck on your search. I had a great uncle who was in the Canadian Army killed at Ypres Belgium in 1915 (presumably during the German gas attack). I know about as much as the OP does about his relative so I don’t know what more there is to know.
Thank you both. I spoke to my father this evening and he told me that Patrick served in the US Marine Corps, and that he died while leading an attack on a beach on a Pacific Island.
Call the North Hempstead Town Hall and ask if they have a local historical society. They could point you toward any potential obituaries or memorials to local KIAs during the war.
If you knew the island or his unit, that would go a LONG way toward finding out more. There were usually a fairly limited number of units on each island assault, and from there, you might be able to find regimental or divisional casualty records, and from there read more about the unit’s history and movements, as well as even possible information about your relative in particular.
I mean, I knew a friend of the family’s name and division (a rather large subdivision), and managed to track down what regiment and even company he served in, as well as what his job was. And when he got wounded, how he was wounded, and when he returned to his unit.
I found out a lot of similar stuff about my grandfather as well- where he was stationed, what missions he flew, what crew position he was in on each mission, what planes he flew on for each mission, etc…
The Town of North Hempstead is bigger than many cities (as of the 2010 census, the population was 226,322) and is really more of an administrative district for 30 villages and 10 hamlets in Nassau County, Long Island, New York. A number of those villages have their own historical societies. People who live there (including me) only talk about living in North Hempstead when it comes to something like paying taxes or getting a dog license.
So I’m surprised that the residence info doesn’t give the specific name of the village within the North Hempstead township, like Westbury or Great Neck.
Maybe your father knows more about where Patrick’s family lived?
There’s a 1940 census record for Patrick Smith, with a son named Patrick Smith, who was the correct age. That even gives the street address where they live. As the OP says he knows the parent names, he can check if the mother’s name checks out.
Great to get that local insight - the family lived at 148 Bayview Avenue, Port Washington. We always said “Port Washington” rather than North Hempstead, and that fits in with what you’ve explained. It may well be that the North Hempstead town hall will direct me to a local historical society for Port Washington.
Good! Port Washington is a village with a distinct identity as opposed to others that are just suburban sprawl. I know families who’ve lived there for 80 -100 years, and one of them is Irish; here’s its historical society:
The Bayview Ave house, built 1922, is still standing and selling for over half a million, not bad for a 3 bedroom 1,030 sq ft house on a 3,300 sq ft lot. It’s in a desirable location (2 blocks from the train station, 45 minutes to midtown Manhattan), and “Port”, as residents call it, is known for its excellent school district. Being close to the water, Long Island Sound is another attraction.
Also if the family were Irish Catholics, as the name seems to indicate, there may be information about him in the parish church’s WWII memorial, even if it’s just his service branch. I don’t know if the memorial lists specific names, but see the paragraph at the very end of the page:
If you knew the date of death that would narrow it down too. There probably wasn’t more than one major amphibious assault going on at the same time (although there would be some overlap in the mop-up). (My father was in the US Navy aboard one of the ships that directed the amphibious landings at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.)
That’s probably a confusion with places like Omaha beach. In the pacific, many died while attacking. Quite a few drowned or died in accidents while landing. The beaches weren’t defended.
The American Battlefield Monuments Commission is the place to start looking for war casualties.
having said that, there does not appear to be any Patrick Smith who died in WW2 on the list. It is possible that if Patrick was not his first name, then he may be one of the other 1561 Smiths I can see. It may be that he is on one of the Memorials To The Missing in the Pacific.
If, however, his remains were repatriated to the US after the war, as many were, then he will not be listed there.
That depends. On Iwo Jima the Japanese didn’t defend the beaches for the first hour or so, and then launched a major attack. Many marines were killed on the beaches as they landed or just after doing so.
There could well be confusion - I can’t vouch for the accuracy of anything I’ve been told. The way it was described to me was that he was leading a group of men up a beach on a Pacific Island when he was killed. But when a story is passed on from person to person over a span of decades, it’s bound to be distorted to some extent.
Regarding knowing the place or the date, that’s exactly the kind of information I would like to find out.
I will try contacting the parish church and the local historical society - both excellent suggestions, thank you everyone!
I eventually found what I was looking for. The man who died wasn’t Patrick Smith, it was his brother Frank. He was in the US Army Air Force and was lost (MIA) in the Battle of Java in February 1942.
Two points of confusion that muddied the trail for me.
My father mistakenly thought it was Patrick Smith who had died, so I was looking for the wrong name. In fact Patrick survived WW2 and died in 2002 in Alabama.
Another cousin, Martin Queeney, was in the USMC and died on the beach in Iwo Jima in 1945. These two men’s stories had somehow got mixed up in the intervening decades.
Now that I have Frank Smith’s service number, is it possible to find out anything more about his service record or the circumstances of his disappearance?