Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Photo Number 367

From peter Ice Cream Shop in Motley

This is Peter, he was in the Army Air Force during WWII.

From Peter back of photo Motley 

This is the info that Iggy found out about Peter. Thanks Iggy!!

Peter's name is Lithuanian.
Stubovage, Peter J.
Date of Birth: 02-Jul-1910
Date of Death: 12-Jun-1971
Inscription/Remarks:
Scerbavicius: Sgt AAF WWII
He is buried in St. Vincent & St. Louis Cemeteries, Girardville, PA. His family changed their names from Scerbavicius to Stubovage, presumably when they moved from Lithuania (Poland and Russia disputed territory).  The census taker in 1920 recorded their name as Stutovage.
Peter's father was Dominikas Scerbavicius (b. 1870 in "Russia", d. 1956) and his mother was Anna Scerbavicius (b. 1883 in "Russia", d. 1948).  Peter had two brothers, Adam Scerbavicius (b. 30 Sep 1900 in "Russia" d. Jun 1968) and Dominic G (Jr.) Stubovage (ex-Scerbavicius) (b. 04 Aug 1905 born in "Russia" and changed his name d. Jun 1974) as well as a sister Marcella Stubovage (b. 26 Mar 1907 born in PA d. Aug 1991) Never married.
Brother Adam was drafted into WW One.  Dominic Jr. appears to have been to young for WWI and too old for WWII

Peter J served in the Army Air Force in WWII and was a Sargent.  He was based at the Albuquerque Army Air Base at least long enough to get his picture taken.  He may of worked there during the duration - or trained to fly bombers there and gone to Pacific.

Albuquerque Army Air Base was renamed Kirtland Army Air Field in February of 1942.

World War Two or WWII lasted from 1939 to 1945.

Sadly, Peter seems to have had no living relatives, or offspring.  He is a truly a Old Forgotten Soldier. We don’t know who Arthur is..the person that this photo was intended for..perhaps a fellow soldier..a real friend.

Thanks for stopping by, do come again:)

Here is a photo that Iggy took of Peter’s Service Marker.  Thanks Iggy!

PeterServiceMarkerCleaned

14 comments:

  1. Its amazing how an immigrant family from Lithuania entered the coal regions of Pennsylvania (and there were many of them) to find a better life, serve in "our" armed forces, and then fade away into obscurity.

    I would like to adopt this soldier - I think I will go visit his hometown and see if anyone there remembers the family. The town of Girardville is about 90 miles northwest of me.

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  2. Iggy, Great idea..if you happen to get to the Cemetery would you please take a photo of the graves site/marker and I will put it with this post. Thanks! :)

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  3. There is a company called Wreaths Across America that lays wreaths on veterans graves on Dec 11th. If anyone here is interested I can look into getting one laid for Peter. I feel so sad that he might be forgotten.

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  4. I have an address for the cemetery and have written to the Church/Parish office asking for information about where Peter's grave is located - the cemetery is huge (about 14 square blocks). I enjoy wondering around cemetaries (in the daylight) but hope to be at least pointed to the right general area before attempting a visit. :)

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  5. The information I found on line regarding the 23d Air Depot Group wasn't really clear but it appears that Peter served in India/China with the XXth Air Froce with the 58th Air Bombarment Group (B-29s) stationed in China. The group left there and went to West Field, Tinian, 29 Mar-15 Nov 1945 enroute to the depot complex at Harmon Fld, Guam and then possibly to Okinawa aound 14 Jul 45. For a young man from Girardsville, PA - this would have been the adventure of a lifetime.

    Girardsville is a typical coal mining town in PA - parts of it are rather poor and rundown.

    Norkio, I'd be interested in the weath information.

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  6. I looked into the Wreaths Across America Project..it appears to be only happening in certain cemeteries..usually Military ones.:)

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  7. I've done some follow-up research and here is what I found out:

    If you query the Social Security death records database - the only Stubovage's on record are Peter, Dominic, and Marcella. There are no records of any of three ever getting married - or having children. The church they attended in Giraldsville has no memory of them.

    There is very little record on-line of the 23rd Air Depot Group's activity, let alone who was in the "unit".

    I've looked for other members of this "unit" and have found only a few.

    Cpl. Walter J Trybulski of Rochester, NY (deceased)

    Richard E. Kremer Sr - served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII in Okinawa and the Philippines with the 71st Depot Repair Squadron, 23rd Air Depot Group. (deceased)

    Cpl. Merlin L. Smith - 94th Depot Repair Sqdn.
    23rd Air Depot Group - His unit (94th Depot Repair Squadron) was moved to Guam in April 1945 to support the bombing of Japan with the 20th Air Force. (deceased)

    Verl Ransom went to work at Hill AFB in 1941 soon after graduating from North Cache, Utah. He began his military career in October, 1942, in Aircraft Maintenance. His basic training was in Sacramento, Calif., McClellan Field assigned to the 23rd Air Depot Group. In April, 1943, he was transferred to Santa Maria and landed a cushy job in squadron supply. His orders for overseas duty came in September, 1943, destination Glatten Air Base, England. His work consisted of B-17 aircraft engine quick change build up, putting together the engine and accessory package for installation on the B-17, when engine changes were required due to battle damage. During this time he was promoted to staff sergeant. (deceased)

    The only Arthur I have found so far was Col. Arthur V. Jones, Jr with the 22nd Air Depot Group. (deceased)

    The number of living veterans of WWII are rapidly dwindling. I'm afraid no one will remember Peter or his family.

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    1. My dad (living) was a Sgt of the 71st Depot Repair Squadron, 23rd Air Depot Group at Kelly Field, TX and at Okinawa July-Dec 1945. I have a photo of the entire squadron at Kelly Field 23-Apr-1945 if anyone's interested. I have others of Naha, Okinawa and various related shots as well.

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    2. Hi Scott thanks for the comment! I did a series on WWII of old photos back in 2011 you might like looking through them. Here is the link.
      http://forgottenoldphotos.blogspot.com/2011/10/photo-number-691.html

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    3. I'd love to see the photo of the entire squadron! Does your dad have any memory of Peter? I know it's unlikely.

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  8. I missed one in my notes:

    Cpl. Fingar Kenneth M. b. Aug 23, 1911, died Jan. 26, 1962 - WWII: 23rd Air Depot Group, Army Air Force.

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  9. Hi everyone. My name is Loretta Murphy and I grew up in Girardville. I was surfing around tonight and found this blog and Peter.

    I have linked this page and our Facebook page to share Peter's story. We have a large following on our site and someone may know of Peter's family or even be related. Girardville was once a booming coal town in its heyday. We were, as a mining town, a gate way for many folks immigrating into the country.

    Our FB page link, if you'd like to visit, is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Girardville-Pennsylvania/1440237096205947

    Thank you for keeping Peter and his memory safe here.

    Loretta

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    1. You are welcome Loretta, I came by the facebook site and left Peter's Photo and some information there. I am happy to return the photo to family if any are still around! :)

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Hi, Thanks for the comments, your input on these old photos is appreciated! English only please! All comments will be moderated! Connie