When I visited with my dad, Eugene Crawford, about his military record the dates and locations didn’t make sense when put together with his high school graduation. However, one comment stuck with me: “I flunked out of radio school.” This coming from someone who would become a physics teacher at the college level and who would obtain his amateur radio license.
For the longest time, other than his military discharge (on file in the Record of Deeds office in Dodge City), this was all I had in regards to his military service. That’s because we were told that military records from World War I and World War II had been lost in a fire. Thus, I didn’t try to obtain his full military file. That changed when I learned a few years ago that the navy records exist. Now that I have his military record, all of the dates and locations make sense.
| Military | 6 Feb 1945 (age 17) | passed the Eddy Test and was technically qualified for Radio Technician training in the U.S. Navy |
| Military | 15 Feb 1945 (age 17) | enlisted in the United States Naval Reserves; U.S. Naval Reserve Station, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, United States |
| Military | 15 Feb 1945 (age 17) | U.S. Navy Recruiting Station, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, United States |
| Military | 16 May 1945 (age 17) | was received; the U.S. Naval Reserve Station, Dodge City, Ford, Kansas, United States |
| Graduation | 17 May 1945 (age 17) | Dodge City Senior High School, Dodge City, Ford, Kansas, United States |
| Military | 20 May 1945 (age 17) | was recalled to active duty; U.S. Naval Reserve Station, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, United States |
| Military | 21 May 1945 (age 17) | was transferred to the; U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Lake, Illinois, United States |
| Military | 21 May 1945 (age 17) | reported for active duty; U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Lake, Illinois, United States |
| Military | 9 Jul 1945 (age 17) | was granted recruit leave from 9 Jul 1945 to 14 July 1945; U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Lake, Illinois, United States |
| Military | 20 Jul 1945 (age 17) | was transferred to the Navy Training College for study of pre-radio material; Wright Junior College, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States |
| Military | 15 Aug 1945 (age 17) | was transferred to the Naval Training School (EE & RM) for a course of instructions; U.S. Naval Training Center, Gulfport, Harrison, Mississippi, United States |
| Military | 4 Sep 1945 (age 17) | was discharged from class V-6 US Naval Reserve |
| Military | 5 Sep 1945 (age 17) | enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a seaman 1st class radio technician; Naval Training Center, Gulfport, Harrison, Mississippi, United States |
| Military | 5 Sep 1945 (age 17) | reported for active duty in the U.S. Navy; Gulfport, Harrison, Mississippi, United States |
| Military | 23 Oct 1945 (age 17) | was discharged this date for convenience of the government; Naval Training Center, Gulfport, Harrison, Mississippi, United States |
| Military | 23 Oct 1945 (age 17) | voluntarily enlisted in Class V6 US Naval Reserve; Gulfport, Harrison, Mississippi, United States |
| Military | 4 Jan 1946 (age 18) | was transferred to the Naval Training Center; Great Lakes, Lake, Illinois, United States |
| Military | 1 May 1946 (age 18) | was transferred to receiving station; Shoemaker, California |
| Military | 20 May 1946 (age 18) | was transferred for duty aboard the USS Oneida (APA-221). The USS Oneida (APA-221) was a Haskell-class attack transport |
| Military | 1 Jun 1946 (age 18) | served outside the continental limits of the United States in the Pacific Ocean around Guam and Samar from 1 Jun 1946 to 16 July 1946 aboard the USS Oneida (APA-221) |
| Military | 24 Jul 1946 (age 18) | was transferred to the receiving station; Treasure Island, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States |
| Military | 1 Aug 1946 (age 18) | received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy as Seaman First Class V-6 USNR; U.S. Naval Personnel Separation Center, Norman, Cleveland, Oklahoma, United States |
Even though his military records do not say that he flunked out of radio school, there is a hint to that buried in the records. In September 1945, Eugene’s branch of service and rank changed as he became a 1st class radio technician. Eugene was transferred to Gulfport, Mississippi where the Navy had a Naval Training School (Radio) during WWII. Then on the 23rd of October, Eugene was discharged from the U.S. Navy – for the convenience of the government. Eugene was then enlisted (re-enlisted) in the U.S. Naval Reserves and transferred (back) to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center.