Zg259. One of Four Historical Pictures from Subic Bay, 1953-55 Subic Bay Naval Station Food service Department or the U.S. Naval Station 3002 Commissary Department 1953 to 55.
These pictures were provided to the Historian of the Battling Bastards of Bataan, Federico Baldassarre who passed them on to me because he knew that I am interested in Subic Bay pictures but he could not tell me anything about the source or dates.
After sharing the pictures on Facebook, a highly knowledgeable and interesting person identified the pictures and offered this information. He is Steven C. Karoly and has a Facebook page, he is a retired Senior Chief Mess Management Specialist from the U.S. Navy. He wrote this:
These photos were taken between 1953 and 1955. Chief Pay Clerk Chester Millard Smith (Jan. 15, 1911-Feb. 25, 1993) received orders to Naval Station Subic Bay sometime around May 1953. Around March 1955 he transferred to the Naval Supply Depot Subic Bay. He was transferred to Stockton, Calif., around June 1955.
This information comes from the Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, May 1953 issue (p. 51), March 1955 issue (p. 29) and June 1955 issue (p. 29), respectively. Smith retired Sept. 1, 1957.
Smith was a World War II POW, captured after the USS Pope (DD-225) was sunk by the Japanese in the Second Battle of the Java Sea. He was repatriated in late 1945. He was a Ship’s Cook First Class at the time of his capture in March 1942.
Zg258. One of Four Historical Pictures from Subic Bay, 1953-55 Subic Bay Naval Station Food service Department or the U.S. Naval Station 3002 Commissary Department 1953 to 55.