Project 888
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Name: Vasco HARPER Rank / Rating: STM1-Steward's Mate First Class Service #: 847 82 02 DOB: Mar 30, 1924 From: Marion, LA Parents: Albert and Edna Ferguson Harper Went Aboard: Apr 27, 1944 Age When Ship Went Down: 21 years, 4 months, 0 days Spouse: Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Jane Gwinn Goodall |
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Vasco (no middle name) Harper was born 30 March 1924 in Union, Louisiana to parents Albert (a farmer) and Edna Ferguson Harper. His father was born in Arkansas, and his mother was born in Louisiana.
Vasco was the second of five children born to Albert and Edna. He had an older sister, Bessie (1921), younger sisters Cecile (1925) and Warnice (1926), and a younger brother, James Albert (1929). Mother Edna died in 1939.
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| The 1940 Census reveals that Vasco’s father married a new wife, Sara (15 years his junior). Three more children were listed as part of the family, including Joy (1932), Katie Lee (1934), and Robert Lewis (1936). The family resided on a farm where Albert was employed as a mule driver and timber worker. Vasco was 17 years of age at the time of the 1940 census and had completed 5th grade. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 30 June 1942. Vasco boarded USS Indianapolis (CA-35) on 27 April 1944 as a Steward’s Mate Second Class coming from the Shoemaker Naval Receiving Station in Dublin, California. During his tenure on Indy, he participated in 5 of the 10 battles for which Indy received Battle Stars. Harper was promoted to Steward’s Mate First Class on 1 October 1944, six months after he came aboard. He was 21 years old when the ship was sunk. Vasco Harper was remembered in the local newspaper, The Weekly Town Talk, as one of twelve Louisiana residents who perished on USS Indianapolis. | |
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 | Vasco HARPER, STM1-Steward's Mate First Class, was one of 28 African-American men who were members of the Steward Branch, the only division on the ship in which there was not a single survivor. The restricted duties of the Steward Branch were to serve the officers of the ship, including the admiral's and captain's wardrooms, dining areas and sleeping quarters. The services were essential to the smooth and efficient running of Indianapolis. Many of Indianapolis's African-American crew members voluntarily performed duties as gunners' mates, assigned to a specific battle station as one complete unit. More details about the valuable service of these men can be found by reading the book: 'Heroes in the Shadows: The Untold Story of the African American Sailors Aboard USS Indianapolis (CA-35)', by Jane Gwinn Goodall, with contributions from Janice Alston and Arlene Taylor (Henry Jackson, StM1), Jeanette Pitts, M.D. (Albert Rice, StM1), and Jacqueline Dugan and Ernestine Peete (Magellan Williams, StM1). |
