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USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180)
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18 March 1944
Meeting conducted by Bro. Trevor Hamon.
Commenced at 12.30 p.m.
Opening Hymn – “Come, Come Ye Saints.”
Prayer – Bro. De Wayne George.
Sacrament Hymn – “Jesus Once of Humble Birth.”
Sacrament Administered to by Bros. T. Hamon and Melvin Nielson.
Testimony bearing –
Closing Hymn – “God Be with You.”
Benediction – Bro. Trevor Hamon.
The meeting was brought to a close at 1 p.m.
The following were present (1 Sister, 5 Elders, 1 Deacon): –
Bernice N. Thomas, of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Victor D. Greenberger, 40 P St., S.S.C., Utah
DeWayne George, Bountiful, Utah.
Gene E. Lewis, Morgan, Utah.
Lyle B. Smith, Logan, Utah.
Trevor C. Hamon, Gisborne, N.Z.
McQuin A. Nielson, Salt Lake City, Utah.
The above-mentioned held a short sacramental meeting on the 18th day of March [1944], in the Chaplain’s Office, on board the “David C. Shanks,” a U.S. Army transport ship. We thank our Heavenly Father for blessing us with this opportunity of meeting under the conditions that prevail at this time.
– Trevor Hamon, R.N.Z.A.F.
Imagine what joy they felt to be able to do this together on that Saturday afternoon.
One sister. I wonder what her role in the military was (why on the transport ship? who is she?)?
And how interesting that it was the lone non-Utahn that appears to have been in charge of the meeting (blessing the sacrament, praying, and recording the notes).
Sister Thomas, of Salt Lake City, was likely:
Bernice Newton Thomas, born 6 October 1907 in Salt Lake City, and died 3 March 1993; buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
She was a school teacher, single and living at home with her parents in Salt Lake in 1940. According to her obituary, she served in the American Red Cross during WWII.
Looks like she was Bernice Newton Thomas (1907-1993) of Salt Lake, who served with the Red Cross during the war. I’ll bet she had some stories to tell.
That’s a great observation about Hamon’s being the only non-Utahn. I didn’t pick up on that while typing.
[Added later: So we were looking for her at the same time!]
Here she is during her student days at the University of Utah (probably mid-late ’20s?) She went on to get a Master’s at Columbia. She apparently did not marry.
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Actually, I’m guessing Sister Thomas did indeed have many great stories to tell. She had a masters’ degree in physical education from Columbia University. Her sister married a Hinckley cousin; that sister would pass away about 6 months after the event in this post. Her younger sister, Adrienne, was a young army wife with a 2 year old daughter, living in Honolulu in 1940.
jinx!
Ah. Ok. Her dad was a Major in the US Army. Her parents had been previously stationed at Fort Knox in 1935; that is where the younger sister married her Army officer husband in 1936. I am definitely wishing there were more information about this interesting sister.
Ok, hunting hunting…
SLTrib, 6 March 1937 p 9 – She was a speaker on the opening discussion panel at the first Physical Education Convention held at the University of Utah.
SLTrib, 21 Dec 1944, p. 11 – Headline: “S.L. Red Cross Issues Call for Staff Aids” body: Urgent need of the American Red Cross for men assistant field directors and young women staff assistants has become increasingly acute as the war has progressed, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Pacific area headquarters of the Red Cross in San Francisco.
To qualify for these positions, a man must be between 29 and 50 and in good health. Women should be between 25 and 35. Both should have college training and business or professional background. A sense of humor, mature judgment, and a friendly objective interest in other people are essential. . . . [instructions for applying, list of male field directors from Salt Lake] … Staff assistants from Salt Lake City include: . . . Bernice Thomas, 211 Canyon rd….
That address puts her in my stake, Coffinberry, just a few blocks from where I’m typing this. Ah, that makes it even better!
Bernice won’t have any granddaughters looking for her story. I’m really glad she has us.
She did more than physical education — she became head of the science department at West High School. There are great pictures of her in their yearbooks, obviously the same woman as in the student picture above, but too tiny for me to reproduce here.
SLTrib, 21 July 1934, p. 30 – “Army Captain and Family Arrive in S.L. for Visit” –
Captain Elmer G. Thomas, quartermaster corps, U.S. Army, arrived in Salt Lake CIty Friday, with his wife adn daughter, Adrian, for a visit with relatives and friends, prior to proceeding to FOrt Knox, Kentucky.
Captain Thomas was connected with the Q.M.C. at Fort Douglas for two years before being transferred to Hawaii. He is a brother of W. J. Thomas, city passenger agent of the Union Pacific system, adn M.D. Thomas, chief chemist of the agricultural department of the American SMelting and Refining Company.
Captain and Mrs. THomas will visit at the home of W. J. Thomas, 188 E. STreet. They also will visit their daughter, Bernice Thomas, who is instructor in the girls’ camp in Ogden Canyon, a federal project.
SLTrib, 15 Nov 1934, p. 34 – One of several PE teachers who helped the South High Girls Athletic association put on the “girls’ masquerade” in the ballroom of the school.
SL Trib 1 Feb 1935, p. 6 – a special guest at the East High School Girls’ Athletic Council afternoon entertainment.
SL Trib 4 May 1935, p. 38 – a patroness of the South High Girls’ dance committee.
SLTrib, 5 June 1935, p. 44 – Assigned to Liberty Park as a Summer Playground leader, “selected after competitive examinations by the recreation department.”
SLTrib, 31 Aug 1935, p. 39 – Assigned to teach at South High School for this school year.
SLTrib, 5 Nov 1936, p. 11 – mentioned as sister of bride: “Former Salt Lake Army Maid Will Wed in January” — Major Elmer G. Thomas, quartemaster corps, U.S.A., Fort Knox, Louiseville [sic] Ky, and Mrs. Thomas, formerly stationed at Fort Douglas, announce the engagement of their daughter, Adrienne Newton Thomas, to Captain Wilson T. Smith, medical corps, U.S.A., son of Mr. and Mrs. Parham E. Smith, Iola, Texas. The wedding will take place early in January.
Before going to Fort Knox, Miss [Adrienne] Thomas attended the University of Hawaii in Honolulu where Major Thomas was stationed.
SLTrib, 6 Jan 1937, p. 21 – headed a discussion and brief floor demonstration in connection with “Women Basketball Officials in Confab” to discuss rules and rule changes.
SLTrib, 4 Sep 1938, p. 43 – Assigned to teach at East High School for this school year.
SLTrib, 15 Jan 1939, p. 47 – directed the annual basketball school for women coaches and officais, held at the Deseret Gym; also will teach course during the school ‘Liberality and Technicality of Officialing’
SLTrib, 16 Apr 1941 p. 15 – Attended and was on program of Southwest District Convention of the American Association for Health, Physical Educaiton, and Recreation at Reno, Nevada.
SLTrib, 21 May 1941, p. 11 – sponsored Field Day for East High girls.
SLTrib, 24 May 1941, p. 10 – one of 3 faculty directors (responsible for “ensemble” as opposed to “music” or “orchestra”) for a fashion show titled “The Military Mode” presented by “more than 100 East high coeds.”
SLTRib, 4 April 1942, p. 15 – one of 5 teachers who directed “rhythmic dance studies” recital, involving 400 girls form 15 PE classes at East High School.
SLTrib, 30 Dec 1943, p. 5 – “Holiday Party” – Lion House social center weill be the scene Thursday evening of an annual Christmas party of the Yesharah Club. Mrs. Harold Allred will preside and Mrs. Jack Thomas is in charge of the program, which includes a report by Miss Bernice Thomas, Red Cross recreational worker who recently returned from Persia. Rilla Peterson Reiger, Soprano, and Edna Crowther Ririe, contralto, will present vocal solos. Members and their guests will exchange gifts.
Excellent, then this report is about her as well:
SLTrib, 18 APril 1967, p. 25:
Students to Attend Science Meet
Six Intermountain Area high school students will fly Wednesday to West Point, N.Y., to attend the annual Junior Science and Humanities Symposium sponsored by the U.S> Army at the U.S. Military Academy.
They are part of the 138 student delegats and 23 teacher delegats chosen at 12 regional symposia throughout the nation.
Accompany Group
Going with the INtermountain group will be Dr. Donald D. Bode, director, and Howard Johnson, contract coordinator, of the INTermountain symposium; Dr. Mortimer Rothenberg, Chief U.S> Army scientist at Dugway Proving Ground, principal sponsor with the University of Utah of Intermountain syumposium, and Dr. Richard S. Peterson, administrative assistant to the state superintendant of public instruciton.
Hear Educators
The teacher selected to make the trip on the basis of the highest number of students submitting high quality research papers is Mrs. [sic] Bernice Thomas, science teacher at West High School in Salt Lake City.
With ll expenses paid, the group will arrive at West Point Wednesday evening. They will be addressed by some of the nation’s top scientists and educators.
They will tour the United Nations building on Saturday and see the sights of New York City , and return to Salt Lake City by jet on Sunday.
[the six students were: Charles D Bagley, James H. Waldo, Gerrit Crawford (her student, whose paper was “The Crude Purification of Deoxynucleotidalreplicase from E. Coly, Calf Thymus, and Euglenian Chloroplasts.”)
I don’t know what else you’re supposed to be doing this morning, Coffinberry, but I’m glad you’re doing this instead.
(guilty guilty guilty… working, practicing piano, sending letters to my primary class, writing a brief, summarizing med records… )
How do I put pictures in the response? I’ve got a lovely one from 1958 South High Yearbook.
Email them to me, Coffinberry. I’ll post in your name. (Only an admin can post pictures.)
I think Bernice deserves a rousing cheer. Hip hip Hurrah!
Bernice Thomas, West High School, 1949
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Bernice Thomas, South High School, 1958
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Physiology Club, West High School, 1960
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Ok, I had to look up that student of hers that won the prize in 1967… he won the school science fair every year of high school; won the International Science Fair for synthesizing DNA after corresponding with Watson & Crick; he went on to get 6 patents in medical technology; and the “more he learned about science the more he believed in God.” He became a Catholic Priest in 1993 and took a vow of poverty.
The powerful influence of a science teacher that believes in you.
Great stuff. I only had time to skim through all those comments, and will have to come back to them another time.
The name caught my eye, because there was a US Army camp about 20 miles up the Hudson River from New York City, on the west side of the river just at it begins to widen into Tappan Zee, called Camp Shanks. It was an embarkation point for soldiers heading for Europe during World War II–according to the Wikipedia entry, it was the busiest such camp in the country. (I suspect that the only reason I ever heard of it was because my father passed through Camp Shanks in November 1944 on his way to Europe.)
It was named after Major General David Carey Shanks. I’m willing to bet that the ship featured in this post was named after the same man!
Wow, good work, Ardis and Coffinberry. There is always a story or two behind any of these names.
I did a quick search on Trevor C. Hamon, and it appears that he was born in New Zealand in 1923, so he would have been 21 at the time that this meeting took place. He died in Cardston, Alberta, Canada, in 2014, and is buried in the Glenwood cemetery.
He was married to Mildred Patrica Anne Pruden in 1943, who died in 1985. She is also buried in the Glenwood cemetery. Her obituary mentions that she and Trevor served a mission in Raratonga from 1946 to 1948.
A Trevor C. Hamon is mentioned with a wife named Marlene Hamon as being called to serve in the Auckland, NZ mission, with Trevor serving as a counselor to Mission President Herschel Pederson, from 1988. It would appear that perhaps he had remarried.
There is also a short article in the Church News from 1996, referencing Trevor Hamon and his wife Marlene, who tell about building a flagpole for the LDS meetinghouse in Gabalu, Papua New Guinea, and was the first LDS building in the country to have a flagpole and fly the national flag.
Assuming these are all references to the same Trevor Hamon, he appears to have been a go-to guy who served multiple missions for the church (one with his first wife, and at least two with his second wife).
Wonderful, kevinf! Thanks for that research. He sounds like a man to remember.
(Waiting for my printer to reboot I goof off…)
I am apparently just enamored with Sister Thomas. Above you see in late 1943 she was returning from service in Persia. (She must have headed back out for further service after visiting Salt Lake at Christmas 1943).
Apparently earlier in the year 1943 she was in Africa, as reported by the May 1943 issue of the Journal of Health and Physical Education (p. 277).
The first brother on the list, Victor D. Greenberger (1921-1996), was one of the elders present.
Victor was born to Jewish parents Joseph and Theresa “Tessie” Fisher Greenberger in New York City, New York. Joseph and Tessie were natives of Hungary, and spoke the German language. They both had arrived in the United States in around 1906 or 1907 (depending on source); by 1912 they were naturalized citizens. Both were able to read and write English. They had two children, Roselyn (b. 1918) and Victor (b. 1921)
Joseph was a baker, and by 1930 he and Tessie owned their own bakery, and their home in the 100 block of 1st street in Manhattan was valued at $35,000.
But by 1940, something was not quite right for Joseph, because he was listed with no occupation, and his sister-in-law was reported as owner of the bakery. (He was also listed as unemployed on his 1942 draft registration). Eighteen-year-old Victor — who had registered for his Social Security card in January 1940 at age 17, in anticipation of finding a job — was described as an 18-year-old “new worker” who had been out of work for 40 of the past 52 weeks.
I cannot tell from the record available on line whether it happened in New York City or some other place, but somehow Victor came into contact with the Church, and in July 1941, about a month short of his 20th birthday, accepted baptism.
Just weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Victor enrolled as a freshman at at Weber Normal College, in Ogden Utah. A year ahead of him was the vivacious L. Maurine Duffin — editor of the yearbook, debate team champion, and member of the Chanodo charitable society and Phi Rho Pi sociology club (her grandfather’s older brother was the Pres. Duffin of this Keepa series). The Hungarian baker’s son and the 5th-generation LDS girl discovered in each other “the love of [my] life.” In December 1942, Victor and Laura received their Endowments and then were Married in the Salt Lake Temple.
Victor entered the Army as a Private in the Enlisted Reserve Corps on August 5, 1943. By spring of the following year, Maurine worked a typist on the Fort Douglas, Utah Army base, while Victor sailed for the South Seas on the David C. Shanks . The rare opportunity to partake of the Sacrament was described in the original post.
About a year later in March 1945, Victor informed the Social Security Administration that he had officially shortened his surname to “Green.” All documents from that date forward identify Victor and Maurine as “Green.”
Victor was honorably discharged from the Army in May 1946, and apparently took time to do whatever it took back then to become an officer, because he re-entered the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry on 19 June 1947.
The next 20 years, Victor and Maurine lived the Army life, moving from base, to base. Victor served in the Korean War. Maurine taught school at “every level from Kindergarten to Junior College”. Victor retired in 1967, having achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
It appears that Victor and Maurine adopted a daughter, born in 1947, who was sealed to them in Salt Lake in 1953. This daughter died in 2011. I have not been able to find any indication of any other children.
Victor and Maurine apparently remained close to the Church their entire lives. They are buried in Salt Lake City; their headstone features both the Salt Lake Temple and the Star of David. Maurine is described as “beloved wife, teacher, gardener” and Victor as “Beloved Husband, Teacher, Lt. Col. US Army WWII, Korea.”
Victor David Greenberger, Maurine Duffin Greenberger
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Thanks, Coffinberry!
Here is our next brother.
DeWayne George was born in Bountiful, Utah in 1924, to Harley C. and Elsie Knott George. The family wasn’t quite agreed on a name yet when the birth certificate was filed, so he had to prove his name to Social Security many years later, using his military record. The great-grandson of 1847 pioneer Anson Call, young DeWayne was baptized right on time, a scant week after his eighth birthday. By the time he was 18 years old, he had completed the standard 8th grade, plus two years of high school.
DeWayne was drafted 1 July 1943, and it is from his family’s contributions to Family Search we learn of his whereabouts exactly one week after the events described above — in a foxhole during the battle for Bougainville.
During this battle Brother George earned the Bronze Star, for running up to a Japanese Pillbox and throwing a grenade in the window. His buddy reported that DeWayne “could run across a field under sniper fire and not get hit, he was amazing.” DeWayne demurred, saying that he was only “running football plays.” But they both believed that more than a thousand Allied lives were saved by Brother George’s action.
DeWayne remained on Bougainville until he came down with malaria. He was honorably discharged in 1945, and returned home to Salt Lake, where he completed his high school diploma.
He met Bette Jane Wood at a roller rink; they fell in love, and together received their endowments in December 1948 and were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. He worked for Kennecott at the Garfield Refinery until retiring. He passed away in 2006.
FWIW, this picture is titled “Yanks mop up Bougainville, March 1944.
Wow. Just wow. Thank you, Coffinberry.
Our next brother touches closer to home for me, for I see he was once a temple worker in the Denver Temple (where I am currently a volunteer).
Gene Eskil Lewis was born 5 March (some records say May) 1925, in Arkansas. His father Elmer had long been a member of the Church, but it would be another year yet before his mother, Edith, would be baptized. The family moved from Arkansas to Utah by 1927, where their remaining children were born.
Gene was sealed to his parents in the fall of 1927, in the Salt Lake Temple, and the summer after he turned eight, he was baptized.
His family settled in Canyon Creek, Morgan County, Utah, where ELmer operated a farm. Gene was a 15 year old high school student when the 1940 census enumerator passed through. He wasn’t quite finished with high school when he enlisted as a Private in July 1943 out of Salt Lake City.
Like the others in the original post, Gene was on his way to the South Pacific aboard the David C Shanks. His obituary reports that he served in the Solomon Islands (I believe this would have included Bougainville), the Philippines, and Japan.
He was released from military service on 1 February 1946, and by January 1947 – when his engagement to Vanda Carter was announced in the Ogden Standard Examiner – he was a student at Salt Lake Business College. They were married in March, in the Salt Lake Temple.
He worked for Chevrolet and later in industrial finance, before operating his own business. When he passed in 2006, he was survived by his wife and three children. His wife is still living.
Twenty-year-old Lyle Bert Smith was the fifth participant in this meeting on the David C. Shanks.
The great-grandson of multiple members of the 1848 Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young pioneer companies, Lyle was born in Nibley Utah in October 1923, and was sealed to his parents Lyle and Ella Noble Smith in February 1927. He was baptized a month after turning eight in the Logan Temple.
He completed two years of high school at South Cache High, Hyrum Utah, before committing to full-time work on the farm, and at age eighteen married Moselle Norris in Oneida Idaho, exactly one month before the attack at Pearl Harbor drew the United States into war.
He enlisted 2 July 1943 in Salt Lake City, and had attained the rank of Sergeant by the time he was honorably discharged 24 February 1946 at Fort Douglas, Utah.
He went on to become a general contractor, and his obituary described one of his “greatest accomplishments” was “to construct and move the first U.S. Post Office in a cargo plane to Point Barrow, Alaska.”
He and Moselle had four daughters and one son. He passed away 19 June 2011 in Roy, Utah.
And here is our last brother (since kevinf reported on our scribe, Brother Hamon). This one was only slightly trickier, as his name appears in two different forms in the post above; but a quick search on the unusual McQuin is immediately ruled out, while a wee bit of searching on Melvin zeroes in on the right brother — and to my personal delight, a lifetime Scouter who had helped over 1000 young men achieve the rank of Eagle, and was recognized with the Silver Beaver award.
Melvin Andrew Nielson is our first soldier who, on returning home, was called to serve a mission for the Church, where he served in Stockholm, Sweden.
Melvin was inducted into the military on 6 August 1943 in Salt Lake City, not quite 3 months after turning 18. His family reported that he served in the Army Air Corps; when he was discharged from service on 2 January 1946, he had the rank of Tec 5. Like the other participants in our little meeting, he had served in the South Pacific; perhaps he too had been at Bougainville, as the objective of the battles in March 1944 had been to establish an airbase there.
After his mission, he went on to earn a doctoral degree in Audiology, worked for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind for 29 years, and became the Utah State Audiologist. He also started the “Speech and Hearing Program at Primary Children’s Hospital.
(Just go read that obituary. An amazing man.)
He was married in 1950 in the Salt Lake Temple to the “woman of his dreams”; his wife is still living, and they had at the time of his passing in 2013 more than sixty descendants.
What I love about these “Few Minutes” is that these 7 people really had nothing in common but their individual covenants with God. They came together to worship and renew their relationship with Jesus Christ, and for that brief moment their lives came together, touched, and then went on.
Not one of the seven died in battle.
Indeed all seven lived rather long lives. Six of the seven were evidently active in the church throughout their lives, with an intense zest for serving others. I wonder if they remembered that day, when they each grabbed the chance to partake of the blessed emblems, in a very uncertain world.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Coffinberry, for your work (a pleasure, I think) in finding these people. Your 3-D view of history, watching these seven come together for a brief moment, then moving on, is beautiful.