Thursday, January 10, 2013

Amazingly Not 4-F


The bucolic setting of home life in Alameda, California, during the 1930s may have seemed a sheltered haven for Sam and Earle Bean. Living with both their parents, Samuel and Maud Woodworth Bean, and their paternal grandmother, Ella Shields Bean, they were free to play “Cowboys and Indians” to their heart’s content—as long as they got their homework done first.

It was only a few years until distant war eventually reached across an ocean and a continent to disrupt that peaceful ambience.

While the brothers Sam and Earle Bean showed every indication of having Marfan syndrome, amazingly, when it came to activities requiring pre-screening for medical issues, those symptoms did not disqualify at least younger brother Earle from serving during World War II. While he undoubtedly had the same astoundingly flat feet as his son had in facing another generation’s war, and while he surely manifested heart murmurs and other signs of internal weaknesses that Greg later developed, Earle was accepted into the United States Marine Corps at the age of 18. (In contrast, with the same basic physique and health limitations, Greg, facing the draft at that same age 18 during the Viet Nam war, received a Selective Service classification of 4-F.)

I don’t have many records of Earle’s service during the war. I do remember Greg having a collection of his father’s ribbons and other insignia from his time in the service, but after Greg’s passing, those treasures from their father were bequeathed to Greg’s sister.

What I do remember about it all was the story of the one place where Earle served: the Battle of Iwo Jima. Was it just my faded memory that seems to recall a Purple Heart? Perhaps not. Though I no longer have the box where those ribbons and medals were stored, while recently researching Earle’s name on military records at Ancestry.com, I found one snippet of information.

Taken from the State Summary of War Casualties from World War II for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel from the records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, one tiny note caught my eye:

BEAN, Earl R., Pvt., USMCR. Grandmother, Mrs. Ella M. Bean, 1807 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda.
Even though the entry didn’t spell out when or where the injury was sustained, that it was listed at all—and, thankfully, findable at Ancestry.com—helped me regain confidence in my fuzzy recollection of the stories I had heard so long ago. These are stories for which I can no longer go back and seek confirmation from family members, so I’m glad to have this second—and admittedly, more reliable—resource from which to draw as I reconstruct the life story of this one man.


Above right: photograph of first raising of the flag over Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945; courtesy Wikipedia; in the public domain.

8 comments:

  1. While I support service to the country, I can remember the anxiety so many mothers and sons felt over the draft during the war in Viet Nam. Being classified 4F was a godsend.

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    1. That's a memory I'll never forget either, Wendy. Of course, in the outcome for this particular case, I was partial :)

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  2. From page 9 of: Oakland Tribune Thursday, March 22, 1945 - "Marine Pvt Earl R Bean in Purple Heart medal on Iwo Jima his family was informed in a letter the youth to his grandmother Mrs E M Bean of the Santa Clara Avenue address. A graduate of High School in 1943 and a former Boy Scout, Bean entered the Marine Corps a year ago. He is now con(scrambled) at a base hospital Marianas."

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    1. Probably "convalescing at a base hospital"???

      Thank you so much for finding that, Iggy. I thought I remembered the Purple Heart. But you know how memory goes...

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  3. Those pictures that I presented in October 2011 were all photos taken someplace warm..someone suggested that they were taken in the Marianas..but we will never know for sure. I am glad Iggy found you a bit more info! :)

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    1. I remember those photos--and wishing we could figure out more about those guys. Yes, as usual, Iggy to the rescue when I'm stumped with research!

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  4. Wow! Earle served in Word War II and was at the Battle of Iwo Jima! Is it possible to find whether he received a Purple Heart, from military records? How ironic that would be, given his own heart difficulties from his inherited syndrome. Ironic and in a way redemptive. Amazing.

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    1. Mariann, I do want to see if I can get a copy of Earle's military records, but don't know if that's possible without any living relatives available to sign for the request. I have gotten copies for other ancestors. Possibly, I'll be within the dates for freedom of information requests and can do so without any signatures of relatives.

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