Dad's adoption story, radical idea #1

In 1946 my father was adopted by a family who had given him some clues about who his birth mother might be. After his parents passed away, dad began to search in earnest for his birth family.  In 1993 he tracked down his birth mother, and we all had a big family reunion. 

One of the first things my grandmother urged me to do was to write about this story.  It's been almost twenty years and I'm still trying to wrap my head around how to do this.  So, today I'm starting with blog posts on different sub-stories and hoping the whole picture will eventually emerge.

Sub-story 1

Grandma (Dorothy Marie Johnson) was a nurse.  This famous V-J day photo taken in August 1945 in Times Square is part of the way she tells her story.  My dad was conceived just a few weeks after this photo was taken (though this sailor and nurse are clearly not his parents).  Grandma uses this image to explain the spirit of the time which swept her up and led events.

 According to my grandmother, the man who was my dad's father (ie the babydaddy) was a sailor stationed at Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago named Chuck Johnson.  She met him at a church bowling party in Kenosha, WI in fall 1945.  They went on a date, one thing led to another, and she became pregnant.  When she wrote to him letting him know her situation, the letter was returned unopened marked "Return to Sender: Deceased."

She was devastated, and began the process of putting the baby up for adoption.  She hid her pregnancy from her family, and spent the last months of her pregnancy in Madison, WI, where she gave birth. 

I began researching the father immediately in 1993, but was discouraged by my aunt who said if I found information that upset my grandmother it would be horrible.  [This theme of "keeping the secret," "saving face," "preserving reputations" keeps coming up]  I stopped the search for over a decade, but two years ago decided I could find the answers and then CHOOSE whether or not to share it with my grandmother.  It's my story, too.

So in 2010 I made a trip to Chicago to visit the Newberry Library genealogy stacks, the National Archives and the Great Lakes Naval Museum.  Many helpful people (I love librarians) gave me many ideas, but no conclusive answers.  I read through the accident logs from the Naval base during the months in which my dad would have been conceived, and there was no record of a Charles Johnson, or Chuck Johnson, being injured or dying.

I like pretty libraries.  And Chicago architecture.

A librarian at the Chicago Public Library turned me on to the social security death index database, which is amazing.  In it, I found 66 Charles and Chuck Johnsons, who fit the criteria I was looking for.  It also gave me date of birth and social security number for each of them. 

With this fantastic list in hand, I contacted the military personnel records archive in St Louis, MO .  I called and said "I have a list of SSNs and DOBs for Charles Johnsons.  Can you tell me which one (or two or ?) of them was stationed at Great Lakes Naval Station in Fall 1945?" And the voice on the other end of the line was silent.  "No ma'am.  I cannot.  That's not the way we work."

Why not?  I know why not.  If every kid across the planet who thought their daddy was a GI could get confirmation from the US government, there'd be a lot more child support checks issued.  He wasn't going to make this easy for  me.

So here's radical idea #1.  The Armed Forces already collects DNA from entering service members.  When I joined the Army in 1989, I had many shots and blood draws over the course of my Military Entrance Processing.  If the military wanted to promote responsible behavior of its service members (insert radical paradigm shift), they could store DNA for the purpose of confirming paternity for any claims that may come in the future, and make this policy well known during the indoctrination process.  This information could also be used in criminal cases (rape or other crimes leaving DNA evidence at the scene).

I can hear the drill sergeant now:  "Alright recruits [maggot puke, etc]! Welcome to the Army [Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, Air Force].  Notice the abundance of free condoms everywhere you turn, in your meal packs, where you pick up your paycheck, in restrooms, everywhere.  Carry a handful with you.  Prevent disease; prevent pregnancy. It's the right thing to do.  And if any mothers or children of your union(s) come forward with DNA evidence confirming that you're the babydaddy, your pay will be docked to support that child.  Simple.  Want to keep more of your paycheck?  Have fewer children.  Wear condoms.  Now drop and give me twenty!"

In the mean time, I'm sending requests one at a time for each of the 66 names.