I found this pennant tucked into the pages of an old family bible. My older sister had this bible in her possession for many years and I received it a couple of weeks ago from my brother-in-law, along with a lot of old family pictures.
(My sister Christine passed away in 2004 and my brother-in-law occasionally passes along things like this as he comes across them.)
I believe this pennant belonged to my grandmother, during WWII when my dad enlisted in the US Navy. I’ve never seen it before and my searches on the internet haven’t discovered another one like it.
one of the few color photos of my dad in uniform
My dad graduated from high school in 1944 and enlisted in the Navy soon after that. He attended midshipman school in Missouri and was commissioned an Ensign after Officer Candidate School at Columbia University in New York.
Fortunately, the war ended before he was assigned to active duty so he quickly entered the Navy Reserve. He soon returned home to Tulsa and studied geology at the University of Tulsa.
He was recalled to active duty 1950 and served aboard several destoyer-minesweepers, including the USS McNair, during the Korean War.
I don’t know for sure this pennant was displayed for him, but it at least gave me a reason to write about my dad!
Wow, that’s so awesome! I have a blue star banner, too, for my kid. There are local “clubs” that might have unique ways of displaying the banner. Check in the town where your grandmother lived when your dad served, and they might have a local chapter that you can call or look up.
I loved discovering family lore, but the older I get, the sadder I am that when I was young and had the opportunity, I didn;t ask enough questions.
(PS, your dad looks very handsome!)