A WWII Sailor's Voice Recorded in Song 65 Years Ago Today

Note: There are two videos with audio at the end of this post. The audio features Thomas Fowle singing two songs on a self-recorded album he sent to his mother. The video features images of the USS Bunker Hill CV-17 on which Fowle was stationed.

Thomas J. Fowle was a 19-year-old sailor recovering
at a naval hospital on Mare Island when he recorded two songs
for his mother back home in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1946.

One day when I was in my early teens, I walked into an antique shop in a local mall. After sifting through record albums, old photos and the like, I happened upon a little 78 record album recorded by a WWII sailor recuperating in a naval hospital in Mare Island, California, on June 6, 1946 - 65 years ago today and the second anniversary of D-Day. The little yellow record with the red label was in an old, brown mailing envelope with "A Personally Recorded Message for You" printed across the bottom and an illustration of a sailor relaxing on an island under a palm tree with "Bureau of Naval Personnel Navy Department" written under it.

The record was in a large, clear sandwich bag with what was presumably two of the sailor's color bars, a button from one of his Navy coats and a black ribbon with "U.S. Navy" printed on it in yellow letters.

The sailor's name was Thomas John Fowle. He sent the record to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A Fowle, who lived on Riverside Drive in Port Huron, Michigan.

Even as a teenager, I knew this was sad. How could this man's service, his life, his sacrifice, be represented by five simple things stuffed in a sandwich bag and for sale in an antique shop miles from Port Huron?


Thomas recorded two songs for his mother on that little disc. The first song was "It Might as well be Spring," written by Rodgers and Hammerstein and featured in the 1945 movie State Fair. The second song was "Always," written by Irving Berlin in 1925 and featured in the 1944 movie Christmas Holiday.

Thomas also spoke a tender message to his mother on the recordings.

I've recorded the songs Thomas sang using a digital recorder. Take a listen. They are haunting and beautiful, simple and promising.

I don't know what happened to Thomas or his family. If anyone related to him ever reads this post, please contact me. I'd like to know the rest of the story.

UPDATE: After yet another online search for Thomas J. Fowle, I found a burial record for a man with the same name buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Port Huron. Here's how the entry reads: Fowle Thomas John, WW2 09 12 1927 02 01 1947 MtHope/N. It seems to fit -- same first, middle and last name; same war; same hometown. I'm saddened that he died just a few months after recording the album for his mother.

UPDATE 1-26-12: Further research reveals that Thomas J. Fowle was in the US Navy Reserves and was mustered into service in October 1945 when he boarded the USS Bunker Hill CV-17. Five months earlier, the ship was attacked and badly damaged by two suicide planes. According to a web site about the ship (http://navysite.de/cv/cv17.htm) "gasoline fires flamed up and several explosions took place . . . 346 men killed, 43 missing and 264 wounded."

In September 1945, the repaired ship returned for duty as part of the "Magic Carpet" fleet -- an operation to bring soldiers home from the Pacific. Fowle served during the Magic Carpet mission, but was transferred to a naval hospital in Seattle on May 23, 1946 for an undisclosed reason.

For more about the USS Bunker Hill and images of the ship, visit http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/17.htm

Note: these recordings are 65 years old and were recorded live. The quality is not great, but you can make out the voice. Thomas had a sense of humor about the recordings as he told him mother before recording "Always" that the first side "wasn't so hot." Also note that at the end of the "Always" song, you can hear the brief laughter of a woman in the background. 

The photos of the USS Bunker Hill CV-17 used in the video are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and were taken between the years 1942 and 1944. All other photos were taken by me.