~ Navy Trivia and fun information ~

[Craig]

Welcome to the Navy Trivia section. Every so often I will ask a question about the Navy or a famous sailor. Remember, its not important that you get the answer correct. What is important is that you remember this Navy information so you can pass it along to others....... GO NAVY!

[Craig]

Welcome to the Navy Trivia section. Every so often I will ask a question about the Navy or a famous sailor. Remember, its not important that you get the answer correct. What is important is that you remember this Navy information so you can pass it along to others....... GO NAVY!

I am a famous sailor, who am I?

 

 

 

I am Humphrey DeForest Bogart (aka Humphrey Bogart), famous American actor, and United States Navy sailor!

 

Far from growing up a street tough and even more famous today than when he was alive, Humphrey DeForest Bogart was the product (in 1899) of prominent New Yorkers Belmont DeForest Bogart, a surgeon, and Maud Humphrey, a magazine illustrator whose teachers included Whistler in Paris. The Bogarts' Upper West Side home was not all ease, though the family was comfortable financially. Maud was emotionally distant, a workaholic with little time for love; Dad had troubles too, and would eventually (after his son was grown and independent) end up addicted to morphine and in debt.

 

At age thirteen the future Bogie was sent to Trinity School, one of New York's institutions for gentlemen-in-training. There he showed early evidence of his penchant for flouting authority; he insisted on wearing a frowned-upon hat to school every day, imposing his own touch of individuality on the dress code. For this and other offenses, such as refusing to study German, Latin, and other subjects that were not of interest to him, the young revel was invited regularly into the headmaster's office for mostly fruitless discussion.

 

Destined in his parents' master plan to go to Yale, in 1917 he was shipped off to the prep school Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where his father had gone before him.

 

The budding troublemaker did not much care for it there either, and of course he made no effort to hide his feelings. By the end of his first year it was suggested that he might be happier with another school's curriculum.

 

What to do next? It was spring 1918 when Humphrey arrived home in New York, and the country was at war. Many young men were anxious to join the fighting overseas and show the Huns a thing or two; to Humphrey Bogart, it sounded like a grand adventure. He would probably get to go to Paris, meet some French girls. . . . Soon after returning from school, Humphrey went down to the receiving ship USS Granite State and joined the Navy, officially ending his formal schooling.

 

He did not have to travel far for his training; he was ordered to the Naval Reserve training Station in Pelham Park, New York. Graduating with a coxswain rating, he was next ordered to the USS Leviathan (SP-1326), the largest American troopship. The brand-new sailor reported on 27 November, more than two weeks after the war had ended.

 

The Leviathan was an ex-German passenger liner, Germany's largest, built by Blohm and Voss in Hamburg and originally named Vaterland. She was launched on 13 April 1913. When the United States entered World War I, on 6 April 1917, the U.S. Shipping Board seized her at Hoboken, New Jersey. The ship was turned over to the Navy in June and commissioned in July. Renamed in September, the Leviathan operated between Hoboken, Brest, and Liverpool. Until the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, the ship steamed back and forth across the Atlantic, ten round trips in all, carrying more than 119,000 troops.

 

It may have been while Bogart was attached to the Leviathan that an incident occurred that was to affect his image on the screen after leaving the service. As anyone who has watched his time-honored performances, Bogart talked as if his upper lip was paralyzed, and there was always a slight lisp. There are many explanations for this mannerism.

 

According to one story, a piece of shrapnel cut his mouth when he was at the wheel of the Leviathan, under fire from a U-boat. This would have been an interesting occurrence more than two weeks after the Armistice. In another version of events, Bogart was ordered to take a U.S. Navy prisoner to Portsmouth Naval Prison, New Hampshire. The two traveled side by side, with the prisoner handcuffed. As they changed trains in Boston, the con asked Bogart for a Lucky Strike, a supply of which Bogie always had and was happy to share. As he dug for matches, suddenly his ungrateful companion smashed him in the mouth with his manacles and humped up to escape. Bogart, his upper lip badly torn and bleeding, reacted quickly, drawing out his .45 automatic and dropping the prisoner. Initial Navy surgery on the lip was badly botched, and subsequent plastic surgery did not help.

 

However it really happened, the sailor was permanently scarred. But he was also left with a distinctive screen trademark that made him appear especially sinister in his numerous gangster roles.

 

In February 1919 he was transferred from the Leviathan to another transport, the USS Santa Olivia (SP-3125). For reasons unknown--late-night partying, probably--he missed his ship when she sailed from Hoboken for Europe in April. Bogart promptly surrendered to the port's naval authorities and was ordered to New York, to report to the receiving ship. He thus avoided being listed as a deserter, and his offense was recorded as a mere AWOL, for which he was awarded three days' solitary confinement on bread and water.

 

The spunky enlistee finally got out of the Navy with an honorable discharge on 18 June 1919. He had made it to seaman second class, with performance reports rating above average in proficiency (3.0 on a scale of 1.0 to 4.0) and superior (4.0) in sobriety and obedience.

 

What to do next? Back in New York, Maud complained about his lack of direction, as usual. His father, with friends in various businesses, including the National Biscuit Company and a Wall Street brokerage firm, tried to help. But Humphrey disliked business. He tried, but he did not last long at any of the jobs that were found for him. He preferred hanging out with his pals, riding horses, sailing, drinking, and smoking. He was a fun-loving socializer and a mischievous prankster, and would remain one for the rest of his life. But this did not keep him from also loving his work, once he finally found it, or from becoming a professional, devoted, hardworking actor.

 

One day he hatched the idea of approaching the father of a friend for a job, because he was fed up with his current position--running messages around New York City on the subway. The friend's father, William S. Brady, owned a stage company and a film studio, and Humphrey Bogart's work for him represented the beginning of his acting career.

 

After being promoted to assistant stage manager, Bogart's performing debut came during a rehearsal, when he filled in for the indisposed juvenile lead. Despite the poor quality of this first attempt, he was hooked. In 1920 he landed his first part, in a Brady road production of The Ruined Lady. He first appeared on a New York stage two years later in Drifting, and he continued to perform in plays for the next thirteen years.

 

He began getting small parts in movies only in the late 1920s, and the general public became aware of his existence when he appeared as vicious killer Duke Mantee in the 1936 film version of The Petrified Forest. After more than fifteen years of working full-time in the business, Humphrey Bogart's name was known in Hollywood.

 

In 1943 he and third wife Mayo Methot traveled to North Africa with the USO in an effort to do their bit for the boys overseas, but the couple's performances were apparently not as entertaining as their offstage fights. Although they shared a genuine affection, the hard-drinking duo frequently fell into disharmony. Their disagreements were loud and sometime featured displays such as door-banging and object-throwing. The USO's enthusiasm for husband-and-wife teams may have dwindled after the Bogart experience.

 

Back in California, Humphrey continued to do his bit by joining the Coast Guard Auxiliary and reporting for duty once a week, in Balboa. It was here that he began meeting secretly with Lauren Bacall, whom he met on the set of To Have and Have Not in 1944, when his alliance with Mayo had suffered through all but the final battles. He and Bacall were married in 1945, his fourth and final marriage. They had two children.

 

Bogart and Bacall were liberal Democrats, supported both FDR and Harry Truman, and initially opposed the efforts of the House Committee on Un-American Activities to identify communists within the movie industry, although they later recanted. Like his character Rick in Casablanca (which won him a 1943 Academy nod), Bogart was in no way a political activist or the advocate of any particular cause, but he spoke up and took sides when he felt it had to be done.

 

At the time he made Casablanca, his only affiliation with the military was chess games that he played with servicemen through the mail. But the Moroccan story would have lasting significance to its countless viewers as an anti-Nazi statement. It opened not more than two weeks after the Allies had landed in North Africa; and just as the movie's circulation increased, FDR, Churchill, and Gen. Charles de Gaulle were attending a well-publicized summit meeting in Casablanca. Good timing for the studio, this sequence of real-life wartime events also established Bogart as a lasting symbol of resistance to fascism.

 

He will always be remembered for classics such as High Sierra, (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941),Casablanca (1942), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948), and The African Queen (1951, for which he won the Academy Award for best actor). Among his most memorable roles was that of the unstable Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny (1954; it won him another best-actor nomination).

 

Because of the indelible mark, Bogart left in American movies, he become known as one of Hollywood’s most famous actors. In 1947, Humphrey Bogart started his own production company – Santana Pictures. 

Humphrey Bogart died from esophageal cancer on January 14, 1957 in the bedroom of his home in Hollywood, California.

 

"The African Queen" with  Katharine Hepburn and Humprey Bogart

"The Maltese Falcon"

[Bonnie]

Humphrey Bogart

[Craig]

Welcome to the Navy Trivia section. Every so often I will ask a question about the Navy or a famous sailor. Remember, its not important that you get the answer correct. What is important is that you remember this Navy information so you can pass it along to others....... GO NAVY!

We are famous sailor, who are we?

 

We are the Famous Sullivan's brothers:

The brothers are (from left to right):  Joseph (23), Francis (25), Albert (19), Madison (22) and George Sullivan (27)

 

Natives of Waterloo Iowa, the Sullivan brothers George, Albert (Al), Francis (Frank), Joseph (Joe), and Madison (Matt) enlisted on January 3, 1942 with the stipulation that they serve together. The Navy had a policy of separating siblings, but this was not strictly enforced. George and Frank had served in the Navy before, but their brothers had not. All five were assigned to the Atlanta-class light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52).

 

The USS Juneau participated in a number of naval engagements during the months-long Guadalcanal Campaign beginning in August 1942. Early in the morning of November 13, 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the USS Juneau was struck by a Japanese torpedo and forced to withdraw. Later that day, as it was leaving the Solomon Islands' area for the Allied rear-area base at Espiritu Santo with other surviving U.S. warships from battle, the USS Juneau was struck again, this time by a torpedo from Japanese submarine 1-26. The torpedo likely hit the thinly-armored cruiser at or near the ammunition magazines and the ship exploded and quickly sank.

 

Captain Gilbert C. Hoover, skipper of the cruiser USS Helena and senior officer present in the battle-damaged US task force, was skeptical that anyone had survived the sinking of the Juneau and believed it would be reckless to look for survivors, thereby exposing his wounded ships to a still-lurking Japanese submarine. Therefore, he ordered his ships to continue on towards Espiritu Santo. The USS Helena signaled a nearby B-17 bomber on patrol to notify Allied headquarters to send aircraft or ships to search for survivors.

 

Approximately 100 of the USS Juneau's crew had survived and were left in the water. The B-17 bomber crew, unwilling to disobey orders not to break radio silence, did not pass the message about searching for survivors to their headquarters until they had landed several hours later. The crew's report of the location of possible survivors was mixed in with other pending paperwork actions and went unnoticed for several days. It was not until days later that headquarters staff realized that a search had never been mounted and belatedly ordered aircraft to begin searching the area. In the meantime, Juneau's survivors, many of whom were seriously wounded, were exposed to the elements, hunger, thirst, and repeated shard attacks.

 

Eight days after the sinking, ten survivors were found by a PBY Catalina search aircraft and retrieved from the water. The survivors reported that Frank, Joe, and Madison died instantly, Al drowned the next day, and George survived for four or five days before being driven insane with grief at the loss of his brothers, finally going over the side of the raft he occupied. He was never seen or heard from again.

 

Due to the fact that the campaign was ongoing, security required that the Navy not reveal the loss of the USS Juneau or the other ships so as not to provide information to the enemy. Letters from the Sullivan sons stopped arriving at the home and the parents grew worried.

 

The brothers' parents were notified of their deaths on January 12, 1943. That morning, the boys' father, Thomas, was preparing to go to work when three men in uniform, a lieutenant commander, a doctor, and a chief petty officer, approached his front door. "I have some news for you about your boys," the naval officer said. "Which one?" asked Thomas. "I'm sorry," the officer replied. "All five."

 

The brothers left a sister, Genevieve. Albert was survived by a wife, Katherine Mary Sullivan and son, James Thomas Sullivan who was 22 months old at the time of his father's death. The "Fighting Sullivan Brothers" were national heroes. President Franklin Roosevelt sent a letter of condolence to Tom and Alleta. Pope Pius XII sent a silver religious medal and rosary with his message of regret. The Iowa Senate and House adopted a formal resolution of tribute to the Sullivan brothers.

 

Thomas and Alleta Sullivan made speaking appearances at war plants and shipyards on behalf of the war effort. In April 1943, a Fletcher-class destroyer was named "USS The Sullivans" (DD-537), in their honor. This was the first time a United States Navy vessel was named for more than one person. Alleta participated in the launching of a destroyer named after her sons.

 

As a direct result of the death of the five siblings in one action, the United States Miltary adopted the "Sole Survivor" policy in 1948.

The service record transcripts for the five Sullivan brothers, as written on 16 January 1943 by the Bureau of Naval Personnel follow below.

 

Sullivan, Albert Leo, Seaman Second Class, V-6, USNR; Transcript of service

1- 3-1942	Enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Class V-6, as Apprentice Seaman to serve for two (2) years at the Naval Recruiting Station, Des Moines, Iowa
1- 3-1942	Transferred to the Naval Training Station. Great Lakes, Illinois.
2- 3-1942	Transferred to the receiving ship, New York, for duty in USS Juneaudetail and on board when commissioned.
5- 3-1942	Rating changed to Seaman second class.
11-14-1942	Reported missing in action.

Place of birth: Waterloo, Iowa
Date of birth: July 8, 1922

---------------------------------------

(2) Francis Henry Sullivan, Coxswain, V-6, USNR; Transcript of service.

5-11-1937	Enlisted in the U.S. Navy as Apprentice Seaman, to serve for four (4) years at the Navy Recruiting Station, Des Moines, Iowa and transferred to the Naval Training Station, San Diego, California, for recruit training..
9-11-1937	Rating changed to Seaman second class.
9-15-1937	Transferred to the USS Hovey.
3-25-1938	Transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital, Navy Yard, Mare Island, California, for treatment
4- 9-1938	Transferred to the USS Hovey.
2-16-1939	Rating changed to Seaman first class.
3-18-1939	Transferred to the USS Melville for temporary duty involving medical treatment.
4-22-1939	Transferred to the USS Hovey.
5-13-1941	Transferred to the USS Dunlap for transportation to the West Coast and further transfer to the Receiving Ship on that coast for discharge.
5-20-1941	Received at the Receiving Station, San Diego, California.
5-27-1941	Issued an honorable discharge by reason of expiration of enlistment.
1- 3-1942	Enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Class V-6, as Coxswain to serve for two (2) years at the Naval Recruiting Station, Des Moines, Iowa.
1- 3-1942	Transferred to the Naval Training Station. Great Lakes, Illinois.
2- 3-1942	Transferred to the receiving ship, New York, for duty in the USSJuneau detail and on board when commissioned.
11-14-1942	Reported missing in action.

Place of birth: Waterloo, Iowa
Date of birth: February 18, 1916

---------------------------------------

SULLIVAN, George Thomas, Gunner's Mate Second Class, V-6, USNR
Transcript of service.

5-11-1937	Enlisted in the U.S. Navy as Apprentice Seaman, to serve for four (4) years at the Navy Recruiting Station, Des Moines, Iowa and transferred to the Naval Training Station, San Diego, California, for recruit training.
9-11-1937	Rating changed to Seaman second class.
9-15-1937	Transferred to the USS Hovey.
10-11-1937	Transferred to the USS Melville for treatment.
10-15-1937	Transferred to the USS Hovey for duty.
10-16-1939	Rating changed to Seaman first class.
2-16-1941	Rating changed to Gunner's Mate third class.
4-22-1941	Transferred to the USS Santee for transportation to the West Coast and further transfer to the Receiving Ship, San Diego, California, for discharge.
4-30-1941	Received at the Receiving Ship, San Diego, California.
5-16-1941	Issued an honorable discharge by reason of expiration of enlistment.
1- 3-1942	Enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Class V-6, as Gunner's Mate second class to serve for two (2) years at the Naval Recruiting Station, Des Moines, Iowa.
1- 3-1942	Transferred to the Naval Training Station. Great Lakes, Illinois.
2- 3-1942	Transferred to the receiving ship, New York, for duty in the USSJuneau detail and on board when commissioned.
11-14-1942	Reported missing in action.

Place of birth: Waterloo, Iowa
Date of birth: December 14, 1914

---------------------------------------

(4) SULLIVAN, Joseph Eugene, Seaman Second Class, V-6, USNR
Transcript of service.

1- 3-1942	Enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Class V-6, as Apprentice Seaman to serve for two (2) years at the Naval Recruiting Station, Des Moines, Iowa.
1- 3-1942	Transferred to the Naval Training Station. Great Lakes, Illinois.
2- 3-1942	Transferred to the receiving ship, New York, for duty in the USSJuneau detail and on board when commissioned.
5- 3-1942	Rating changed to Seaman second class.
11-14-1942	Reported missing in action.

Place of birth: Waterloo, Iowa
Date of birth: August 28, 1918 

---------------------------------------

(5) SULLIVAN, Madison Abel, Seaman Second Class, V-6, USNR
Transcript of service.

1- 3-1942	Enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Class V-6, as Apprentice Seaman to serve for two (2) years at the Naval Recruiting Station, Des Moines, Iowa.
1- 3-1942	Transferred to the Naval Training Station. Great Lakes, Illinois.
2- 3-1942	Transferred to the receiving ship, New York, for duty in the USSJuneau detail and on board when commissioned.
5- 3-1942	Rating changed to Seaman second class.
11-14-1942	Reported missing in action

Place of birth: Waterloo, Iowa
Date of birth: November 8, 1919

----------------

(1) Navy Department Press Release of February 2, 1943

The following letter was sent to Mrs. Sullivan by President Roosevelt when he learned that her five sons were listed as missing in action after the USS Juneau was sunk:

---------------------------------------

"Dear Mrs. Sullivan:

"The knowledge that your five gallant sons are missing in action, against the enemy, inspired me to write you this personal message. I realize full well there is little I can say to assuage your grief.

"As the Commander in Chief of the Army and the Navy, I want you to know that the entire nation shares your sorrow. I offer you the condolence and gratitude of our country. We, who remain to carry on the fight, must maintain the spirit in the knowledge that such sacrifice is not in vain. The Navy Department has informed me of the expressed desire of your sons; George Thomas, Francis Henry, Joseph Eugene, Madison Abel, and Albert Leo, to serve on the same ship. I am sure, that we all take pride in the knowledge that they fought side by side. As one of your sons wrote, `We will make a team together that can't be beat.' It is this spirit which in the end must triumph.

"Last March, you, Mrs. Sullivan, were designated to sponsor a ship of the Navy in recognition of your patriotism and that of your sons. I am to understand that you are, now, even more determined to carry on as sponsorer. This evidence of unselfishness and courage serves as a real inspiration for me, as I am sure it will for all Americans. Such acts of fate and fortitude in the face of tragedy convince me of the indomitable spirit and will of our people.

"I send you my deepest sympathy in your hour of trial and pray that in Almighty God you will find a comfort and help that only He can bring.

Very sincerely yours,

"/s/ Franklin D. Roosevelt"

 

---------------

 

Additional Cool facts:

• As a direct result of the Sullivans' deaths, the U.S. War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy.  
• The Navy named two destroyers The Sullivans to honor the brothers: The Sullivans (DD-537 and The Sullivans (DDG-68).  DD-537 was the first American navy ship ever to be named after more than one person. The motto for both ships was "We stick together."
• Al Sullivan's son, James, served on board the first USS The Sullivans. His grandmother christened the first ship. The second USS The Sullivans was christened by Al's granddaughter Kelly Ann Sullivan Loughren.
• Thomas and Alleta Sullivan toured the country raising war bonds and asked that none of their sons died in vain. However the grief overwhelmed Thomas and he died in 1965 a broken man.
• Genevieve, their only sister, served in the WAVES.  She was the girlfriend of Bill Ball, whose death at Pearl Harbor prompted her brothers to join the Navy to avenge him.  After her enlistment in the WAVES on June 14, 1943, she was sent to Chicago to serve as a recruiter for the WAVES.
• The brothers' story was filmed as the 1944 movie The Sullivans (later renamed The Fighting Sullivans) and inspired, at least in part, the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan.  
• The Sullivans were briefly mentioned in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan.
• The Sullivans were not the only brother sailors on board the ship. There were at least thirty pairs of brothers including the four Rogers brothers from New Haven, Connecticut. Before the ill-fated Savo Island operation two of the Rogers brothers were transferred to other commands. According to those who survived, had the ship returned to port safely at least two Sullivans would have also transferred.

 

• Here is the information concerning the U.S. Postage stamp that people believed was released for the Sullivan brothers. It wasn't.  It was for all service members that lost their lives.  Mrs. Sullivan was the 1st person to receive the 1st sheet of stamps.

• Post Office Information Service Release No. 513 
  Thursday, September 16, 1948
• Sheet of Gold Star Mothers Stamp to be presented to Mrs. Sullivan
• Postmaster General Jesse M. Donaldson today announced that the first sheet of the 3-cent Gold Star Mothers commemorative Postage Stamp will be presented the 1st sheet of stamps to Mrs. Thomas F. Sullivan at Waterloo, Iowa, on September 21, 1948.
• Mrs. Sullivan's five sons lost their lives when the cruiser Juneau was sunk by an enemy torpedo in the Pacific on November 13, 1942.

• What is a Gold Star Mother:

Shortly after World War I the American Gold Star Mothers Inc. was formed in the United States to provide support for mothers who lost sons or daughters in the war. The name came from the custom of families of servicemen hanging a banner called a Service Flag in the window of their homes. The Service Flag had a star for each family member in the United States Armed Forces. Living servicemen were represented by a blue star, and those who had lost their lives were represented by a gold star. Gold Star Mothers are often socially active but are non-political. Today, membership in the Gold Star Mothers is open to any American woman who has lost a son or daughter in service to the United States. On the last Sunday in September, Gold Star Mother's Day is observed in the U.S. in their honor. The group holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code.

 

Here is a Blue star flag showing you have a service member in the military:

(Note: One star is one service member)

------------------------------------------------

Here is a Gold star flag showing you have lost a service member in the military:

(Note: One star is one service member, Mrs Sullivan had 5 Gold stars)

 God bless you shipmates!

[Craig]

Welcome to the Navy Trivia section. Every so often I will ask a question about the Navy or a famous sailor. Remember, it's not important that you get the answer correct. What is important is that you remember this Navy information so you can pass it along to others....... GO NAVY!

I am a famous sailor, who am I?

I am Norman Rockwell,  20th-century American painter and illustrator, and a United States Navy Sailor!

 

Norman Rockwell was born in New York City, New York on February 3, 1894.  He grew up in New Rochelle, New York.

In 1918, shortly after the United States entered World War I,  Rockwell who was twenty-three attempted to enlist in the U.S. Navy but was refused entry because, at 6 feet tall and 140 pounds he was seventeen pounds underweight. The doctor on duty was allowed to waive the first ten pounds. So Rockwell had to gain seven pounds to be eligible to enlist.

 

The "treatment" for being underweight was a quick diet of bananas, doughnuts and water. Several hours and seven pounds later, sloshing and dizzy, he weighed enough to enlist the next day. Norman was officially a sailor!

 

The skinny, young sailor reported in to the hot and humid Naval Training Camp at the Charleston Navy Yard on 23 August 1918. Being from New Rochelle, New York, the Lowcountry South Carolina weather must have been a eye opening experience for the young artist.

His original orders were to take him to Queenstown,  Ireland, where he would be assigned "landsman for quartermaster" were his duties required that he paint and varnish the insignia on airplanes but a German submarine off the East coast detoured his ship, the USS Hartford  (steam frigate), to Charleston, SC.

While awaiting a duty assignment, several personnel noticed his portraits drawn while waiting and he was assigned to draw cartoons and making layouts for "Afloat and Ashore", the Charleston Navy Yard's official publication. The work only took him two days a week and the rest of the time he could work on anything he wanted as long as it related to the Navy. So he continue doing his paintings and illustrations for the Post and other publications while in the Navy.  Below is the cover for the Saturday Evening Post published 18 January 1919.

Seaman Rockwell survived the 1918 "Spanish Flu" pandemic while stationed at Charleston and eventually moved his studio on the base to the Commanding Officer's site of employment on the USS Hartford, Admiral Farragut's famous Civil War ship -- "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" and was promoted to Petty Officer Third Class.

Here is self portrait of Norman:

Not long after his transfer to Commander Ellis's staff, the war ended on 12 November 1918 and Norman Rockwell was granted an immediate discharge from the Navy and a civilian once again. 

 Here is a picture of Norman getting his discharge:

After the Armistice,  Rockwell returned to full-time illustrating. As well as magazine work, Rockwell became involved in designing advertising campaigns. The big money of the era was in advertising art. Foodstuffs had been one of the first customer products to be branded. In the 1920s, a new, modern wave of edibles hit the mass market, with a corresponding demand for artwork to sell chewing gum, soft drinks, and candy.

During his long career, he was commissioned to paint the portraits for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. For "vivid and affectionate portraits of our country," Rockwell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America's highest civilian honor, in 1977.

 

Rockwell died November 8, 1978, of emphysema at age 84 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. First Lady Rosalynn Carter attended his funeral.

In this classic painting, Sailor Dreaming of Girlfriend, Rockwell gives us a glimpse into sailor life during the First World War.

Notice in the lower left it says: Norman Rockwell, U.S.N.R.F. (U.S. Naval Reserve Forces).

- In this illustration, he shows two of his comrades, fellow sailors away from home, but not actually in the thick of the War.

- The big fellow on the right is smoking his pipe and looking downward to his friend.
- The big fellow has lots of tattoos. His left hand has the Navy anchor with the initials USN, for United States Navy, underneath.
- The number 1908, presumably when he enlisted, is tattooed on his left wrist.
- His right wrist, however, keeps with the theme of this painting.
- Tattooed on his right wrist is MARY, the name of his sweetheart.
- On the back of right hand is a heart and the initials MB. 

Rockwell also produced humorous covers for the Saturday Evening Post during the war. A good example of this is Tattoo Artist that appeared on 4th March, 1944. In the painting the tattoos is in the process of crossing out the names of girls already displayed on the arm of the sailor. The work makes fun of sailors who had the reputation of having a different girlfriend at every port.

Here is my favorite Norman Rockwell painting...

A painting of Norman, painting Norman painting. (Wow, say that fast 10 times)

[sasharanger]

Norman Rockwell

[BrownEyedMomma]

Norman Rockwell painted that picture!

[BrownEyedMomma]

My favorite Norman Rockwell is the girl in the mirror.