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Topic: African-Americans and PT boats |
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Andy Small
MASTER
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Posted on: Oct 12, 2014 - 8:49am
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Concur Jeff,
There was one particular Ron 12 member that caught my eye. St1C Dubois Porchia (n) from Littlerock (I believe born 1922) who was a plank owner and came in as a E-3 steward and left the squadron on Oct 21, 1944 after making St1C (E-6). He was assigned directly to the CTG 70.1 staff at Leyte. That's some mighty fast promotion! I would guess it wasn't because of his cooking. He was then later assigned to Ron 41 and was with that squadron at the end of the war.
While I have no direct confirmation he was African American, it is a common first and last name in that part of the world. I believe he later moved to Michigan and is buried up there in the vet cemetery. I would be interested to know if his name is listed in the front cover of any of the Ron 12 boat log books.
Three other Stewards in the squadron were John Collins StM2C; Benjamin William Curry, St3C: and Oneal (n) Joshua, St3C.
I'm hoping that one of these four is the Gent in the photo. All four potentially meet the time frame of the photo.
Andy
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rickas
Advanced Member
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 Posted on: Oct 13, 2014 - 6:36pm
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I found this census report with a google search:
http://www.archives.com/1940-census/dubois-porchia-ar-46069843
Believe it is the same person.
Rick Schaefer
Splinter PT 63
TM2c John E Mirus
Solomon Islands
Dec 43 - Jan 45 |
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Andy Small
MASTER
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Posted on: Mar 5, 2016 - 1:07pm
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Hey All,
Was reading through the stacks of research from my December trek to Germantown and have been able to finally confirmed the ID of the Gent in front of LTJG Diver, It is the previously mentioned Oneal JOSHUA. "Josh" as he was known, was the cook on PT 195 under Ray Turnbull, Tom Thorne and Bill Diver and transferred off the boat around Jul 44? Anyway I have a feeling that the caption for the photo on page 92 Knights of the Sea might be slightly off since the officer looks a great deal like the officer next to Bill Diver in the below PT 195 photo. My best guess hunch is that this is a PT 195 crew photo taken in Jun 44 when Thorne relieved Turnbull as CO and Diver checked aboard as the new XO. - Andy
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Andy Small
MASTER
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Posted on: Mar 10, 2016 - 7:27pm
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Here's a Ron 24 photo I found during my latest Germantown visit. Photo caption is of a Ron 24 raiding party in New Guinea.
- Andy
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TED WALTHER |
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Mar 11, 2016 - 4:37am
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Andy;
These RON 24 guys were known as Davis' Raiders. They wiped out a small group of enemy(20 dead, 1 was captured) on a small Island near Leyte in December 1944.
Take care,
TED
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