I’ve had the privilege of researching Jamestown Veteran Lloyd Peters, who was a Navy Seabee during World War II. I was anxious to see if he had gone to Jamestown High School (JHS), as we have the very unique collection of 9×6 cards made by the JHS Honor Society of 1943. They clipped the updates of area young men and women, who were graduates of JHS and were serving during World War II. Did I find him there? Well, no.
But, next on my mind were the small boxes of smaller cards made during the late 1990’s for the Veterans Listing Project for Chautauqua County Veterans, headed by Celoron Historian Evelyn Adams. Did I find him there? You betcha!
At the moment that I located his card and pulled it out of the box, my eyes bulged, and my chin dropped. There was so much written on the card that I had to stop moving and concentrate on each word.
In the top right-hand corner of these cards there are two short lines to write in which war (or peacetime) they served in, and which branch of the military. I kid you not, it said – Mexican Border, World War I, World War II, Korea. What???
Equally stunning was that he served in the Army, Marines, and Navy. What???
So, checking the rank and organization line was another addition, Civil Air Patrol during Korea.
Okay. I knew that the Jamestown National Guard, “Fenton Guards” were ordered by President Woodrow Wilson to report to the Armory on June 19, 1916, for service on the Mexican Border. The Mexican government was unable to control bandit raids, so our men were to protect our border from raids and there was also the threat of a German invasion from the south. Remember, World War I was already involving other countries at the time. They returned home on Feb. 28, 1917, shortly to be called up again for World War I. (Peters switched to the Marines in World War I.) In the accompanying photo, you will see Lloyd Peters in the back row, the first man on the left. Right next to him is John Bowman, who wasn’t yet famous for his photography, but he was their beloved photographer at the time. Like most of the young men, Lloyd was just 18 years old at the time.
While scrutinizing online newspapers, fultonhistory.com, I discovered that he was in the Civil Air Patrol in 1919 and enlisted in the Coast Guard and then the Navy Seabees in World War II. Then, a few years later, a flight pilot for Civil Air Patrol during the war in Korea.
It doesn’t seem possible that he was ever home, but he was. He was a private pilot for 20 years, married to Mamie Brown, with whom he had two daughters and a son. After her death he married Doris Carlson and shared two foster sons. At the time of his death in 1992 at age 94, he had several grandchildren and great grandchildren.
As busy as he was, it didn’t keep him from being employed by the Jamestown Fire Department for 26 years, and being active in the Mexican Border Veterans Assoc, Earl A. Morley Barracks Veterans of World War I, the Department of New York World War I Veterans, National Veterans of World War I, the Jamestown detachment of the Marine Corp League, and Ira Lou Spring Post 149 American Legion. Amazingly, he was also a member of Fenton Historical Society!
He would have been on my next Hero Tour in Lake View Cemetery on June 28th, except for one thing. He is buried at Sunset Hill Cemetery.
We salute you, Lloyd Peters, and we’re proud to share your many years of service to our country with others!
