Early in June, we were contacted by Brad Wojcik in the United States. He told us the wonderful story of his father’s career in the merchant navy during World War II. But of greatest interest to us was that his father John served as a Steward on the SS President Coolidge when it went down off the coast of Espiritu Santo in 1942.
Brad had a number of his father’s items he wished to donate to the Museum along with a couple of fabulous pieces from the Coolidge, recovered prior to its sinking.
Born in Chicago, John Wojcik had a tragic childhood with both parents passing away in unrelated circumstances by the time he turned 10.
He went and lived with his older sister for a while then ended up with a family in Wisconsin. He then rode a freight train out to California with only 15 cents in his pocket, because his brother Steve lived there.
John was a hard worker and was always trying to learn something new. Which is probably why he joined the Merchant Navy and US Coast Guard. He served on Edward Ganby, SS Defiance, SS Cape Isabel and on a number of occasions on the
SS President Coolidge. During his time on board the ships, he worked as a porter, qualified as a cook and baker, room steward, second steward, steward’s mate and chief steward. After the war he worked for a vending machine company in San Francisco where he worked his way up to general manager of Automatic Vending in Sacramento.
He was very successful financially without ever graduating from high school. However, later in life he took night classes and finally gained his high school diploma in 1984. As far as John’s wonderful memorabilia goes, Brad has sent us quite an amazing snapshot of his father’s life in the merchant marine. Included in the collection are:
Letters of recommendation
Certificates of discharge
A seaman’s passport
Crew ID passes
Inoculation records
Seaman’s permits
Leather seaman’s wallet
And much more.
Of greatest significance is a beautiful lifeboat flashlight still with its protective copper canister. Brad said, “my dad was on a life boat after the ship sank and he brought back the flashlight from the boat.” There is also a menu from one of the Coolidge’s dining areas. Brad’s not sure of the story behind the menu but said, “…seeing as he was the Chief Steward maybe that is why he took that.”
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Brad for his generous donation and for entrusting his father’s items to our care. They’ll be included in a wider Coolidge display that we will create at a later date.