Project 888
Name: Marvin Eugene DOUGLAS
Rank / Rating: QM3-Quartermaster Third ClassService #: 854 40 43 DOB: Jun 25, 1925 From: East St.Louis, IL Parents: Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Clyde Douglas Went Aboard: Apr 27, 1944 Age When Kamikaze Struck: 19 years, 9 months, 6 days Spouse: Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Marilyn Northcutt Henry and Patricia Stephens (Admin) |
 DOUGLAS, Marvin E |
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During the battle of Okinawa, a Japanese Kamikaze plane made Indianapolis his target in the early morning hours of March 31, 1945. The damage to the ship was not severe but the attack took the lives of nine crewmembers including Marvin Eugene Douglas, QM3c.
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 Eugene, as his family called him, was born June 25 1955 to parents Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Clyde Douglas. Eugene was eighteen when he registered for the draft on June 25, 1943.
The USS Indianapolis Muster Roll lists Eugene with the rate of S1c, having enlisted on September 9, 1943, Chicago, IL., and received aboard 27 Apr 1944.
The USS Indianapolis Roster of the Dead lists Eugene as having achieved the rating of QM3c - Quarter Master 3rd Class.
On the day of the kamikaze attack, a funeral service for one Sailor was held. As the bodies of the other eight were recovered, a service for six was held on April 1, and for two on April 2, 1945. Each service was preformed with full military honors by the ship's chaplain, Father Thomas Conway.
After the funeral services, Eugene's body was carried from Indianapolis by his shipmates for burial in the US Armed Forces Cemetery located on Zamami Shima, Kerama Retto, off the island of Okinawa.
After the war, families were given the opportunity to request that the remains of their loved one be returned to the US for reinterment.
In the spring of 1949, Eugene was reinterred in the Valhalla Gardens of Memory, Belleville, Illinois.
Source:
Belleville Daily Advocate, (Illinois), Thur, Sept 9, 1943, p. 1; citing Called To Service by County Board 2.
Navy Department, Casualty Section, Office of Public Information (1946): Combat Connected Naval Casualties, WWII, by States; Vol. AL-MO; IL, p. 13; citing Marvin Eugene Douglas, QM3c, USNR, son of Bertram Clyde Douglas, 817 Falling Springs Rd, East St. Louis
The Belleville News-Democrat, Mon, Feb 21, 1949, p 1; citing remains of Douglas returned to US
USN WWII Muster Rolls, 1938-1949; Ancestry database
USN Ships, Stations and Other Naval Activities, 1939-1949; Ancestry database
USN USS Indianapolis CA-35 Final Sailing List, 17 Aug 1945; Ancestry database
Click or tap here to learn more about the kamikaze attack and to access links to each of the nine individual bios of the kamikaze victims.
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