From the National Archives

Service records

Elmer wrote almost nothing about himself. The Navy did. Twenty-five documents, nineteen muster rolls and reports of changes, two of the ship’s own war diaries, and his draft card, all found on Fold3, with his marriage certificate and two yearbook portraits from the family’s papers, follow him from his last year of high school to his wedding in Olympia and his discharge, and can be read beside his own dates.

These are government records and a family’s papers, reproduced as scanned. Our transcriptions and readings are editorial, and where the paperwork and the diary disagree, both are shown.

What they establish

Elmer, as the records have him

Each fact links to the document it rests on.

Name

Elmer Eric Carlson. Every Navy roll gives the full middle name; he signed the 1945 card “Elmer E. Carlson.”

Local Board No. 1, Mason County, Shelton, Washington, Registered October 26, 1945

Born

July 10, 1924, in Shelton, Washington. The diary agrees: “Twenty years old today,” July 10, 1944.

Local Board No. 1, Mason County, Shelton, Washington, Registered October 26, 1945 · Diary: July 10 1944

Family

His father, John Carlson, is named as the person who would always know his address, at Route 3, Box 26, Shelton, in Mason County.

Local Board No. 1, Mason County, Shelton, Washington, Registered October 26, 1945

In school

His senior yearbook caption reads “Elmer Carlson (Swede) · Baseball 10, 11, 12; “S” Club 10, 11, 12, Sec. 12; Pres. Class 12.” Dorothy is in the same book, entered from Wapato, Washington, for her senior year. The pages do not give the school or the year.

Yearbook, Elmer, Senior year · Yearbook, Dorothy, Senior year

Enlisted

November 10, 1942, at the Navy Recruiting Station in Seattle, as a Naval Reserve volunteer (class V-6) with service number 386 31 91. He was 18. The diary’s opening entry is dated September 10, 1942.

Acorn Sixteen, September 30, 1943 · The Sullivans, June 6, 1944 · Diary: Sept 10 1942

Rating

Signalman third class (SM3c) by September 1943; advanced to signalman second class (SM2c) on March 1, 1944, and to signalman first class, temporary (SM1c(T)), on July 15, 1945, six days after the ship reached San Francisco.

Acorn Sixteen, Port Hueneme, California, September 30, 1943 · Acorn Sixteen, March 31, 1944 · The Sullivans, August 1, 1945 · The Sullivans, October 1, 1945

Units

Amphibious Forces Pacific communication school at Camp Pendleton; Acorn 16 from September 19, 1943; Acorn 20 and then Naval Air Base Navy No. 3234 at Majuro from March 23, 1944; USS The Sullivans from June 4, 1944.

Acorn Sixteen, September 30, 1943 · Acorn Twenty, March 31, 1944 · U.S. Naval Air Base, Navy No. 3234, Commissioning, May 4, 1944 · The Sullivans, June 6, 1944 · Diary: July 12 1943, March 3 1944, June 4 1944

Shipmates

Edward Martin Conrad, signalman third class, is on every roll of The Sullivans beside him, aboard since the ship’s commissioning. He is the Conrad of the diary. Timothy Clifford, signalman third class on the same rolls, is probably the Cliff who told him they were going back to the states; he and Elmer were advanced together on July 15, 1945. Most of the crew around Elmer’s name had been aboard since September 30, 1943; he joined nine months in.

The Sullivans, June 30, 1944 · The Sullivans, March 31, 1945 · The Sullivans, August 1, 1945 · Diary: Nov 10 1944, May 13 1945

The ship’s side

For February and March 1945 the ship’s own war diaries, signed by Captain Baum, can be read against his entries day by day: the Tokyo strikes, the Randolph hit at Ulithi, the Halsey Powell, and the typhoon. They agree with his dates in every case but one.

The Sullivans, February 1–28, 1945 · The Sullivans, March 1–31, 1945 · Diary: Feb 16 1945, March 8 1945, March 20 1945

Married

Dorothy M. Davis, of Marion County, Oregon, on July 23, 1945, in Olympia, on a license taken out in Shelton two days earlier. The witnesses were Floyd Fuller and Violet Johnson. She is the Dorothy of the diary; Violet Johnson is, we believe but cannot be sure, its Violet.

Thurston County, Washington, Married July 23, 1945 · Diary: Dec 31 1944, Dec 13 1944

Described

At 21: five feet nine, 160 pounds, blue eyes, blond hair, a dark complexion, and a broken index finger on the left hand.

Local Board No. 1, Mason County, Shelton, Washington, Registered October 26, 1945

Signature

The draft card carries his signature, “Elmer E. Carlson,” the only sample of his handwriting in this archive.

Local Board No. 1, Mason County, Shelton, Washington, Registered October 26, 1945

Home

Transferred off The Sullivans on October 10, 1945, to the receiving station at Camp Elliott, California, for further transfer to the separation center at Bremerton, Washington. Discharged and back in Shelton by October 26, when he registered with the local draft board as “unemployed – just discharged.” The diary ends on June 18, 1945, with the ship under orders home.

The Sullivans, October 31, 1945 · Local Board No. 1, Mason County, Shelton, Washington, Registered October 26, 1945 · Diary: June 18 1945

Two calendars

The Navy’s dates beside his

The diary’s first eleven entries are dated months apart and cover twenty months. The records give the dates the clerks typed at the time.

Senior year
Senior portraits in the high school yearbook: his, captioned “Swede,” and Dorothy’s, “entered from Wapato, Wn.”
The yearbook pages carry no date. He was born on July 10, 1924.
Yearbook, Elmer, Senior year · Yearbook, Dorothy, Senior year
Nov 10, 1942
Enlisted in the Naval Reserve at Seattle.
The diary says September 10. The two-month gap may separate signing up from being sworn in, or may be a slip; the records do not settle it.
Acorn Sixteen, September 30, 1943 · Diary: Sept 10 1942
Sept 19, 1943
Received by Acorn 16 at Port Hueneme from the amphibious communication school at Camp Pendleton, rated SM3c.
Acorn Sixteen, September 30, 1943 · Acorn Sixteen, Port Hueneme, California, September 30, 1943 · Diary: Aug 6 1943
Oct 3, 1943
Sailed from San Francisco as a passenger in the cruiser USS Chester with Acorn 16’s radiomen and signalmen.
The diary dates the departure September 10 and names Pearl Harbor; the form censors the destination.
Chester, Sailing from San Francisco, October 3, 1943 · Diary: Sept 10 1943
Nov 20, 1943
Closing date of an Acorn 16 report on which his line is ruled out as a duplicate. The diary records landing on Tarawa this day.
The form is headed as a sailing report rather than a monthly one, so Acorn 16 may have left Pearl Harbor about this day and reached Tarawa after the assault. The record does not say where it sailed to.
Acorn Sixteen, November 20, 1943 · Diary: Nov 1943
Dec 31, 1943
On Acorn 16’s quarterly roll.
Acorn Sixteen, December 31, 1943 · Diary: Dec 25 1943
Mar 1, 1944
Advanced to signalman second class.
Acorn Sixteen, March 31, 1944
Mar 22–23, 1944
Transferred to the Atoll Commander at Majuro and received by Acorn 20, alongside signalmen Dale Booth and Jack Briesemeister.
The diary dates the move March 3 and says nine other men went with him.
Acorn Sixteen, March 31, 1944 · Acorn Twenty, March 31, 1944 · Acorn Twenty, March 31, 1944 · Diary: March 3 1944
May 4, 1944
Carried onto the rolls of Naval Air Base, Navy No. 3234, at its commissioning.
U.S. Naval Air Base, Navy No. 3234, Commissioning, May 4, 1944
June 3–4, 1944
Released by the air base on June 3 and received on board USS The Sullivans on June 4.
The diary and the ship’s report give the same day.
U.S. Naval Air Base, Navy No. 3234, June 30, 1944 · The Sullivans, June 6, 1944 · Diary: June 4 1944
June 1944 – March 1945
On every quarterly muster roll of The Sullivans as SM2c, “date first received on board June 4, 1944,” with fellow signalman Edward Conrad a few lines below each time.
The Sullivans, June 30, 1944 · The Sullivans, September 30, 1944 · The Sullivans, December 31, 1944 · The Sullivans, March 31, 1945
Feb 10 – Mar 30, 1945
The ship’s war diaries for February and March: the Tokyo strikes, Iwo Jima, the Randolph, the Halsey Powell, and the Ulithi typhoon, matching his entries day for day.
The one disagreement is the Randolph, hit on March 11 by the log and under March 8 in the diary.
The Sullivans, February 1–28, 1945 · The Sullivans, March 1–31, 1945 · Diary: Feb 16 1945
July 1, 1945
On the quarterly roll as the ship crossed the Pacific for home.
The Sullivans, July 1, 1945 · Diary: June 18 1945
July 9, 1945
New men start coming aboard from the Receiving Ship at San Francisco: the ship is home, eleven days before the July 20 the diary hoped for.
The Sullivans, August 1, 1945 · Diary: June 17 1945
July 15, 1945
Advanced to signalman first class, temporary, with Timothy Clifford advanced to second class the same day.
The Sullivans, August 1, 1945 · Diary: May 13 1945
July 23, 1945
Married Dorothy M. Davis in Olympia, on a license taken out in Shelton two days earlier.
Thurston County, Washington, Married July 23, 1945 · Diary: Dec 31 1944
Oct 1, 1945
On the last muster roll of The Sullivans to carry his name, as SM1c(T).
The Sullivans, October 1, 1945
Oct 10, 1945
Transferred to the receiving station at Camp Elliott, California, for further transfer to the Personnel Separation Center at Bremerton, Washington, for discharge.
The Sullivans, October 31, 1945
Oct 26, 1945
Registered with Selective Service Local Board No. 1 at Shelton, “unemployed – just discharged.”
Local Board No. 1, Mason County, Shelton, Washington, Registered October 26, 1945 · Diary: June 18 1945

Catalog

The documents

25 documents, in date order. Press any scan to see it large; the Navy’s records link back to their pages on Fold3.

Muster roll: Quarterly list of every enlisted man on a ship or station.
Report of changes: List of arrivals, departures, and rating changes, filed monthly and on sailing or commissioning.
War diary: The monthly account a ship’s commanding officer sent to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet: positions three times a day, a narrative, and ammunition expended.
SM3c, SM2c, SM1c(T): Signalman third class, second class, and first class; (T) marks a temporary wartime advancement.
V-6: Naval Reserve class for general-service volunteers enlisted for the duration.
USNR: United States Naval Reserve.
NRS: Navy Recruiting Station.
Rec, Trans, C.R.: Received, transferred, change of rating.
BuPers C/L, ALNAV: Bureau of Naval Personnel circular letter, and a dispatch to all Navy commands: the authorities cited for an advancement.
R/S, PSC, FFT: Receiving station; personnel separation center; “for further transfer.”
RCM, FDO, SOPA: Radar countermeasures; fighter director officer; senior officer present afloat.
0720/10: The war diary’s way of writing a time and a day of the month: 0720 on the 10th.
Acorn: A Navy unit organized to build and run an advance airfield.
Navy No.: A numbered fleet address that stood in for a censored place name.

US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949, digitized by Fold3 (Ancestry) from the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel. US, WWII Draft Registration Cards, 1940–1947 (Washington), digitized by Fold3 (Ancestry) from the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 147, Records of the Selective Service System. US, World War II War Diaries, 1941–1945, digitized by Fold3 (Ancestry) and the National Archives Catalog from the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Family papers: a certified copy of the marriage certificate issued by the Clerk of the Superior Court, Thurston County, Washington, and two portraits from his high school yearbook, from the family’s own scans.

Elmer Carlson’s senior portrait from his high school yearbook, a young man with fair hair in a dark suit and tie, with the printed caption beside it.

High school yearbook, senior portrait

Yearbook, Elmer

Senior year · One page of the family’s copy

As written

ELMER CARLSON (Swede) · Baseball 10, 11, 12; “S” Club 10, 11, 12, Sec. 12; Pres. Class 12.

The only photograph of him in this archive, and the earliest record here, from the family’s copy of his high school yearbook. The caption gives his nickname, Swede, and what a yearbook records: three years of baseball, three years in the “S” Club and its secretary as a senior, and president of the senior class. The page does not give the school or the year. He was born on July 10, 1924, and enlisted in November 1942, at eighteen. Dorothy’s portrait is on another page of the same book.

Family papersKept by the family
Diary: Sept 10 1942

Dorothy Davis’s senior portrait from the same yearbook, a young woman with dark hair in a dark top with a white collar, with the printed caption beside it.

High school yearbook, senior portrait

Yearbook, Dorothy

Senior year · One page of the family’s copy

As written

DOROTHY DAVIS · Entered from Wapato, Wn. 12.

Dorothy, the girl he wrote to, on another page of the same yearbook. The caption says she entered the school from Wapato, Washington, for her senior year. It is the earliest record here that places the two of them in the same school; the diary, which begins in September 1942, never says how they met. By the time they married, in July 1945, the certificate gives her home as Marion County, Oregon.

Family papersKept by the family
Diary: Dec 13 1944, Dec 31 1944

Report of Changes

U.S.S. Acorn Sixteen

Month ending September 30, 1943 · Page 1 · Line 14 · Bureau receipt stamp: Mar 16 1944

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 14, his name. — Line 14, his name

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 14, the change: received September 19, 1943, from the communication school at Camp Pendleton. — Line 14, the change: received September 19, 1943, from the communication school at Camp Pendleton

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM3c · enlisted 10 Nov 42, NRS – Seattle, Wash.

V6 USNR · Rec · 19 Sept 1943 · AmphForPac (CommSch) – Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Elmer joined Acorn 16 on September 19, 1943, from the Amphibious Forces Pacific communication school at Camp Pendleton, already rated signalman third class. Two men on the same page, Jack Briesemeister and Emil Bruner Jr., arrived the day before straight from the Navy signal school at the University of Illinois, the school Elmer had graduated from that July, and both were still unrated seamen first class. Briesemeister would follow the same path as Elmer to Majuro the next spring.

Fold3 image 313298703Carlson Elmer Eric-3.jpg
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: July 3 1943, July 12 1943, Aug 6 1943

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. Acorn Sixteen, Port Hueneme, California

Quarter ending September 30, 1943 · Page 2

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: His line on the roll. — His line on the roll

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM3c · enlisted 10 Nov 42 · date first received on board 19 Sept 1943

The quarterly roll places Acorn 16 at Port Hueneme, the base the diary calls “Point Hunume,” and confirms the September 19 arrival.

Fold3 image 313298716new fold3/1943(1).jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-10.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: Aug 6 1943

Report of Changes

U.S.S. Chester

Sailing from San Francisco, October 3, 1943 · Page 48 · Line 26

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 26, his name. — Line 26, his name

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 16, the entry that covers lines 16 to 30: transferred October 3, 1943. — Line 16, the entry that covers lines 16 to 30: transferred October 3, 1943

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM3c V6 · USNR

TRANS. · Oct 3, 1943 · AMPHIBIOUS TRAINING COMPACFLT ACORN 16

A report of enlisted passengers, filed when the heavy cruiser Chester sailed from San Francisco. Elmer appears in a block of Acorn 16 communications men: eleven radiomen strikers and four signalmen third class, himself, Lem Jay House, Donald Haywood Myers, and Harry W. Van Dam. The destination is censored on the form; the diary says Pearl Harbor, but dates the departure three weeks earlier, on September 10.

Fold3 image 303994155new fold3/1943(3).jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-5.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: Sept 10 1943

Report of Changes

U.S.S. Acorn Sixteen

Period ending November 20, 1943 · Page 7 · Line 15, ruled out

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 15, ruled out. — Line 15, ruled out

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 15, the change block, also ruled out. — Line 15, the change block, also ruled out

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM3c · 10 Nov 42, NRS – Seattle, Wash.

V6 USNR · Rec · 19 Sept 1943 · AmphForPac (CommSch) – Camp Pendleton, Calif. (the whole line struck through)

A clerk repeated the September receipt and then ruled the line out, so this page adds no new event for Elmer. Its heading is worth noticing: “month ending” is struck through, which makes it a sailing report, and the other lines drop men at the Pearl Harbor receiving station on November 13. Acorn 16 seems to have left Pearl Harbor about November 20, 1943, the day the diary records landing on Tarawa and the day the Marines went ashore. A transport takes over a week to make that run. The record does not say where the unit sailed to or when it arrived.

Fold3 image 313298755new fold3/1943.jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-4.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: Nov 1943

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. Acorn Sixteen

Quarter ending December 31, 1943 · Page 2

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM3c · 10 Nov. 1942 · 19 Sept. 1943

Elmer was still carried on Acorn 16’s books at the end of 1943, the quarter in which the diary records Tarawa, Apamama, Christmas with the marines, and seven air raids.

Fold3 image 3133009221943 - Page 126.jpg
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: Nov 1943, Nov 1943, Dec 25 1943, Jan 5 1944

Report of Changes

U.S.S. Acorn Sixteen

Month ending March 31, 1944 · Page 2 · Lines 25 and 26

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Lines 25 and 26, his name twice. — Lines 25 and 26, his name twice

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Lines 25 and 26, the changes: advanced March 1, transferred to Majuro March 22. — Lines 25 and 26, the changes: advanced March 1, transferred to Majuro March 22

As written

Line 25: CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM3c · 10 Nov 42, NRS – Seattle, Washington · V6 USNR · C.R. to SM2c · 1 Mar 1944 · BuPers C/L #110-43 and #218-43

Line 26: CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c · V6 USNR · Trans. · 22 Mar 1944 · Atoll Commander, MAJURO

Two events on one page: advancement to signalman second class on March 1, 1944, and transfer to the Atoll Commander at Majuro on March 22. The diary gives the Majuro transfer as March 3 and says nine other men went with him. Two other signalmen on this page, Dale Booth and Jack Briesemeister, left for Majuro the same day.

Fold3 image 313301325new fold3/1944(1) copy.jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-6.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: March 3 1944

Report of Changes

U.S.S. Acorn Twenty

Month ending March 31, 1944 · Page 3 · Line 14

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 14, the change: received March 23 from Acorn 16. — Line 14, the change: received March 23 from Acorn 16

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c · 10 Nov 42, Seattle, Wash.

V-6 · REC · 23 [March] · From Acorn SIXTEEN

Acorn 20 received Elmer on March 23, 1944, the day after Acorn 16 released him. Dale Booth and Jack Briesemeister are received from Acorn 16 on the same page. Fold3 holds three scans of this page, and all three are in the source folder.

Fold3 image 313300964new fold3/1944 copy.jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-7.jpg (2026)
Fold3 image 313300966 (duplicate scan)Carlson Elmer Eric-14.jpg
Fold3 image 313300963 (duplicate scan)1944 - Page 16.jpg
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: March 3 1944

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. Acorn Twenty

Quarter ending March 31, 1944 · Page 3

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c · 10 Nov 42 · 23 Mar. 44

The quarterly roll confirms the March 23 arrival and the new rating.

Fold3 image 313301564new fold3/ACORN.jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-9.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: March 3 1944

Report of Changes

U.S. Naval Air Base, Navy No. 3234

Commissioning, May 4, 1944 · Page 12 · Line 25

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 25, his name. — Line 25, his name

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 25, the change: from Acorn 20. — Line 25, the change: from Acorn 20

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c · 10 Nov 42, Seattle, Wash.

V-6 · REC · 4 MAY 1944 · ACORN TWENTY

When the naval air base at Navy No. 3234 was commissioned on May 4, 1944, Acorn 20’s men were carried onto its rolls. Navy numbers were the fleet’s coded mailing addresses; The Sullivans’ own report in June names the same base at Majuro, as does the diary.

Fold3 image 313301301Carlson Elmer Eric-13.jpg
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: March 3 1944

Report of Changes

U.S. Naval Air Base, Navy No. 3234

Month ending June 30, 1944 · Page 2 · Line 26

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 26, the change: transferred June 3 to The Sullivans. — Line 26, the change: transferred June 3 to The Sullivans

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c · 10 Nov 42, Seattle, Wash.

V6 · TRAN · 3 [June 1944] · U.S.S. THE SULLIVANS

The shore side of the transfer. On June 3, 1944, the air base released Elmer to USS The Sullivans.

Fold3 image 313303133Carlson Elmer Eric-2.jpg
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: June 4 1944

Report of Changes

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Period ending June 6, 1944, sailing from port to sea · Page 1 · Line 6 · Bureau receipt stamp: Jun 23 1944

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 6, his name. — Line 6, his name

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 6, the change: received June 4, 1944, from the air base at Majuro. — Line 6, the change: received June 4, 1944, from the air base at Majuro

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c V6 · 10 Nov 1942, Seattle, Wash.

USNR · REC · 6/4/44 · FROM U.S. NAVAL AIR BASE, NAVY 3234 ACORN TWENTY; AUTH. COMSERON TEN ltr P16-3/MM Serial 933 of 6/2/44

The ship’s copy. Elmer was received on board on June 4, 1944, the date of his diary entry “Transferred to the destroyer USS The Sullivans. Decided to keep daily diary.” Five lines above, signalman second class Raymond Berthiaume leaves the ship for the Majuro communication unit on June 2 under the same serial-933 letter, apparently from Commander, Service Squadron Ten, which ran the Majuro anchorage. Elmer was, in effect, his relief. The ship sailed on June 6, the day the diary says “Got underway at noon today.”

Fold3 image 304266197new fold3/1944(1).jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-15.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: June 4 1944, June 6 1944

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Quarter ending June 30, 1944 · Page 2

As written

CARLSON, Elmer, Eric · 386-31-91 · SM2c · 10 Nov. 1942 · June 4, 1944

The first quarterly roll with Elmer aboard, covering the weeks the diary spends off Saipan and Tinian. Almost every man around his name was received on September 30, 1943, the day the ship was commissioned, so Elmer joined a crew nine months into their ship’s life, along with a batch of brand-new seamen received June 29, 1944. Six lines below him is Edward Martin Conrad, signalman third class and a commissioning-day man: the Conrad of the diary’s November 10, 1944 entry.

Fold3 image 304266206new fold3/1944(2).jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-16.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: June 7 1944, Nov 10 1944

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Quarter ending September 30, 1944 · Page 2

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c V6 · 10 Nov. 1942 · June 4, 1944

Unchanged: signalman second class, received June 4, 1944. Signalmen Edward Conrad and Timothy Clifford, both third class, are on the same page.

Fold3 image 304266232new fold3/1944.jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-12.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Quarter ending December 31, 1944 · Page 2

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c · June 4, 1944 (enlistment columns left blank on this roll)

Unchanged through the Leyte and Luzon operations and the December typhoon. Conrad, still SM3c, is six lines below.

Fold3 image 304266266new fold3/1944(3).jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-11.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: Nov 10 1944

Page 1 of the war diary of U.S.S. The Sullivans for February 1945: task organization, operation orders, and daily positions from February 1 to 17.

Page 2: daily positions from February 18 to 28 and the start of the narrative.

Page 3: the narrative of the strikes on Japan, Iwo Jima, and the run on Nagoya, with ammunition expended.

Page 4: the last of the ammunition expended, signed R. J. Baum.

War Diary

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

February 1–28, 1945 · Four pages · DD537/A9-4, Serial (058), dated March 1, 1945 · Confidential

As written, selected passages

Task Organization: Operating in company with Fifth Fleet (Admiral R.A. SPRUANCE, U.S. Navy, Commander Task Forces Central Pacific). This vessel in Task Group 58.2 (Rear Admiral R. DAVISON, U.S. Navy, Commander Carrier Division TWO, U.S.S. LEXINGTON, Flagship) composed of LEXINGTON, HANCOCK, SAN JACINTO, WISCONSIN, MISSOURI, SAN FRANCISCO, BOSTON, DESRON 52 and DESRON 53.

Narrative: At 0700/2, left PRAIRIE nest and moored alongside TINGEY. On the third conducted AA firing practice, using sleeve targets, at anchor in firing berth in the Southern Anchorage. Upon completion of firing practice anchored in Southern Anchorage and dry docked ship on the fifth for replacement of sound dome. During the morning of the sixth, conducted post repair full speed run and returned to Northern Anchorage, refueled and replaced ammunition.

Sortied from ULITHI ATOLL at 0720/10, with Task Group 58.2 proceeding toward rendezvous with Task Force 58.

After completion of fueling at 1208/15, Task Force commenced a high speed run in for air strikes against JAPAN, commencing at dawn of the sixteenth. Air strikes were continued until noon of the seventeenth when weather over the target made further strikes inadvisable. Task Force 58 retired from the TOKYO Area. Task Groups 58.2 and 58.3 proceeded to support Amphibious operations on IWO JIMA.

Upon completion of fueling Task Force commenced a high speed run in for air strikes against JAPAN, commencing at dawn of the twenty-fifth. At noon of the twenty-fifth weather over the target made further air strikes inadvisable. Task Force retired from the TOKYO Area and commenced a high speed run in for air strikes against the NAGOYA Area. Weather during the night became progressively worse and heavy seas made high speed impracticable. Task Force abandoned the NAGOYA strikes and proceeded to make air strikes against HACHIJO JIMA on the twenty-sixth. During the night of the twenty-fifth, several Japanese picket boats were sunk by Task Force pickets.

At 1200/28, Task Force commenced a high speed run in for air strikes against OKINAWA JIMA. At 1344/28 destroyed a Japanese Mark IV moored mine with 40 MM fire.

Daily positions at 0800, 1200, and 2000. February 16, 1200: 34-13 N, 141-28 E. February 25, 1200: 34-35 N, 142-58.5 E.

Signed R. J. BAUM. Copy to CinCPac.

The ship’s own account of the month Elmer wrote “Going to make strikes on Tokyo.” It confirms his dates almost to the hour: the engine test on February 6 was the “post repair full speed run” after a day in dry dock; the ship left Ulithi on the morning of the 10th (he wrote 0600, the log 0720); fueled on the 15th; sent strikes against Japan at dawn on the 16th and 17th; turned to support the Iwo Jima landings; and made the second run on Tokyo on the 25th, cut short by weather, as he also recorded. The positions table shows how close the ship came: at noon on the 16th about ninety miles off the coast of Honshu and a hundred from Tokyo Bay, not the fifteen miles he heard. Ammunition is listed by the day. R. J. Baum, who signs, is the Capt. Baum of the diary.

World War II War Diaries, National Archives Record Group 38Downloaded in July 2020; the page link was not kept. The series is digitized on Fold3 and in the National Archives Catalog.new fold3/0410.jpg – 0413.jpg
US, World War II War Diaries, 1941–1945National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
Diary: Feb 6 1945, Feb 101 945, Feb 15 1945, Feb 16 1945, Feb 20 1945, Feb 25 1945, Feb 26 1945

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Quarter ending March 31, 1945 · Page 2

As written

CARLSON, Elmer Eric · 386 31 91 · SM2c V6 · June 4, 1944

Elmer was still signalman second class as the ship went into the Okinawa campaign, and Conrad still third class. The diary carries on to June 18, 1945; the rolls carry on to October.

Fold3 image 304266294new fold3/1945 copy.jpg (July 2020 download, the scan shown here); Carlson Elmer Eric-8.jpg (2026)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: June 18 1945

Page 1 of the war diary of U.S.S. The Sullivans for March 1945: task organization and positions for March 1 to 14.

Page 2: the narrative at Ulithi, including the Piedmont and the attack on the Randolph, and positions from March 14.

Page 3: positions for March 17 to 23 and the narrative of the sortie with the Hunt and the Bataan.

Page 4: standing by the Halsey Powell, the return to Ulithi, and the typhoon warning.

Page 5: the end of the typhoon, signed R. J. Baum.

War Diary

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

March 1–31, 1945 · Five pages · DD537/A9-4, Serial (065), dated April 1, 1945 · Confidential

As written, selected passages

Narrative: Operating in support of amphibious landings on IWO JIMA in the Volcano Islands in company with Task Force 58 less Task Group 58.4 in cruising disposition 5-W. Task Force conducting high speed run-in for air strikes against OKINAWA JIMA commencing at dawn of the first.

At 1607/4 Task Group entered ULITHI ATOLL for provisions, upkeep, and recreation. During the afternoon of the fourth fueled from the CHOTAUK and remained alongside overnight. At dawn of the fifth anchored in the vicinity of the PIEDMONT. At 1400/5 moored alongside PIEDMONT for installation of RCM and FDO equipment. Work was not completed prior to departure for sea and was completed by ship’s force at sea.

At 2017/11 the RANDOLPH in the Northern Anchorage was attacked by enemy planes, causing considerable damage.

Task Force sortied from ULITHI commencing at dawn of the fourteenth. At 0900/14 set ships clocks to minus 9 zone time. This vessel and HUNT sortied with BATAAN at 1300/14 and proceeded to join Task Group at 1900/14.

Task Force proceeded to conduct air strikes against KYUSHU and Southern HONSHU as reported in Commanding Officer, U.S.S. THE SULLIVANS Secret Letter DD537/A9-8, Serial 003 of March 25, 1945.

Operating independently in company with damaged HALSEY POWELL retiring from the Southern HONSHU Area. At 1517/20 this vessel left formation to standby HALSEY POWELL as reported in Commanding Officer, U.S.S. THE SULLIVANS Secret Letter DD537/A9-8, Serial 003, of March 25, 1945. After the air attacks of the twenty-second this vessel and the HALSEY POWELL proceeded uneventfully to ULITHI, arriving at 0830/25.

During the morning of the twenty-eighth an approaching tropical disturbance was reported by SOPA and during the afternoon winds reached a maximum of 40 knots. Again, on the twenty-ninth, an approaching tropical disturbance was reported and at 1030/29 Typhoon Condition 1 was set by SOPA. Winds up to 50 knots were experienced with a one hundred and eighty degree shift in direction occuring during late afternoon. Winds subsided during the night and shifted back to normal force and direction during the morning of the thirtieth. At 1430/30 SOPA secured from Typhoon Condition 1.

Signed R. J. BAUM.

March as the ship reported it. On the 5th she moored alongside the tender Piedmont for radar countermeasures gear, the “radar jaming gear” of Elmer’s entry that day. The Randolph was hit at 2017 on March 11; the diary has it under March 8, so either that entry was written up under the wrong day or the days before it were. On the 14th the ship and the Hunt stayed behind to escort the Bataan, exactly as he wrote. The 20th is the day of the diary’s Franklin entry: the log records leaving formation at 1517 to stand by the damaged Halsey Powell (he wrote that she was hit at 1500), refers the details to a secret letter of March 25 that is not in this set, and takes the two ships to Ulithi by 0830 on the 25th after air attacks on the 22nd, the day he wrote that Tokyo radio was telling its planes to sink them. The storm he noted on the 29th was Typhoon Condition 1, with winds to 50 knots.

World War II War Diaries, National Archives Record Group 38Downloaded in July 2020; the page link was not kept. The series is digitized on Fold3 and in the National Archives Catalog.new fold3/0710.jpg – 0714.jpg
US, World War II War Diaries, 1941–1945National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
Diary: March 5 1945, March 8 1945, March 14 1945, March 20 1945, March 21 1945, March 24 1945, March 29 1945

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Quarter ending July 1, 1945 · Page 2

As written

CARLSON, Elmer E. · 386 31 91 · SM2c · V6 (the enlistment and date-received columns are left blank on this roll)

The roll taken as the ship crossed the Pacific for home, two weeks after the diary’s last entry. The clerk now types initials instead of full names and fills in neither the enlistment date nor the date received on board. Elmer is still signalman second class; Timothy Clifford, six lines below, is still third class. The Fold3 print-out in the same folder gives the image number.

Fold3 image 304266334new fold3/1945(1).jpg (also 1945(1) copy.jpg, and document(1).pdf, a Fold3 print-out of the same page)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: June 17 1945, June 18 1945

Certified copy of marriage certificate

Thurston County, Washington

Married July 23, 1945 · No. 4294 · one page, the family’s scan

As written

License dated the 21st day of July 1945, issued by the County Auditor of the County of Mason · did, on the 23rd day of July 1945, at the hour of 10:30 P.M., in the County and State aforesaid, join in lawful wedlock Elmer Eric Carlson of the County of Mason, of the State of Wash., and Dorothy M. Davis of the County of Marion, of the State of Oregon · in the presence of Floyd Fuller and Violet Johnson, witnesses · officiating clergyman Ernest R. Drews, Lutheran Minister, P.O. address Olympia

Parties: Elmer E. Carlson · Dorothy Davis · filed Aug. 24, 1945, Paul Paulk, County Clerk · clerk’s certificate at Olympia, 6th day of September 1945 · stamped Received and Filed Nov 3, 1945, Clerk of the Superior Court, Mason County, Wash.

Not a Navy record but the family’s, and the one that says how the story ends. The license was taken out in Shelton on July 21, twelve days after the ship reached San Francisco, and the wedding was in Olympia two days later, at half past ten at night. Dorothy is the Dorothy of the diary, the girl he wrote to and “thought a lot about” on New Year’s Eve; she was from Marion County, Oregon. Of the two witnesses, Violet Johnson is, we believe, the Violet who sent him packages in December 1944, though the diary gives no surname and this is a belief rather than a finding. He was still in the Navy: the ship’s records show him advanced to signalman first class on July 15 and aboard until October 10.

Family copyA scan kept by the family. The certified copy it reproduces was issued by Thurston County and filed in Mason County in 1945.new fold3/marraige cert dorothy and elmer.png
Family papersKept by the family
Diary: July 10 1944, Dec 13 1944, Dec 31 1944, June 17 1945

Report of Changes

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Month ending August 1, 1945 · Page 1 · Line 1 · Bureau receipt stamp: Aug 23 1945

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 1, his name. — Line 1, his name

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 1, the change: advanced to SM1c(T) on July 15, 1945. — Line 1, the change: advanced to SM1c(T) on July 15, 1945

As written

CARLSON, Elmer E. · 386-31-91 · SM2c V6

USNR · C.R. · 7-15-45 · To SM1c(T). AUTH: BuPers Circ. Ltr. 297-44 and ALNAV 110-44.

Elmer’s last advancement: signalman first class, temporary, on July 15, 1945. Timothy Clifford, on line 3, was advanced to second class the same day by the same authority. The other lines record men received from the Receiving Ship at San Francisco on July 10 and 19 and from the Navy training center at Shoemaker, California, on a draft dated July 9, which puts the ship on the West Coast by July 9, eleven days ahead of the July 20 the diary had hoped for. The page was filmed out of focus; the Fold3 print-out in the same folder is no sharper.

Fold3 image 304266351new fold3/1945.jpg (also document(2).pdf, a Fold3 print-out of the same page)
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: May 13 1945, June 17 1945

Muster Roll of the Crew

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Quarter ending October 1, 1945 · Page 2

As written

CARLSON, Elmer E. · 386 31 91 · SM1c(T)V6

Still on the ship’s books at the start of October as signalman first class, with Clifford now second class three lines below. This is the last roll of The Sullivans with his name on it. The war was over; the ship had been on the West Coast since July.

Fold3, US World War II Navy Muster RollsDownloaded from Fold3 in July 2020; the page’s image number was not kept.new fold3/1945(3).jpg
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel

Front of Elmer Eric Carlson’s typed Selective Service registration card, Shelton, Washington, October 26, 1945, with his signature.

Back of the registration card: the registrar’s report describing the registrant, signed M. E. Ellis and stamped Local Board No. 1, Mason County.

Selective Service registration card (DSS Form 1)

Local Board No. 1, Mason County, Shelton, Washington

Registered October 26, 1945 · Front and back

Elmer E. Carlson, signed in ink on the registrant’s signature line of the card. — His signature, from the foot of the card

As written

Front: Serial number W 1-AA · order number 11107-AA · Elmer Eric Carlson · residence Route 3, Box 26, Shelton, Mason, Wash. · mailing address: same · telephone: none · age 21 · born July 10, 1924, Shelton, Washington · person who will always know your address: Father – John Carlson, Route 3, Box 26, Shelton, Wash. · employer: unemployed – just discharged · signed Elmer E. Carlson

Back, registrar’s report: race White · height 5′ 9″ · weight 160 · eyes blue · hair blonde · complexion dark · other characteristics: “broken finer – index, left hand.” · registrar M. E. Ellis, Local Board 1, Mason, Wash. · date of registration October 26, 1945 · stamped Local Board No. 1, Mason County, U.S. Post Office, Shelton, Washington

Men who came home from the service registered with their local draft board on discharge. Elmer signed this card in Shelton on October 26, 1945, four months after the diary’s last entry, “Its hard to believe that we are actually going home.” It gives his birth date, his birthplace, his father’s name, the family address, and the only physical description in the set. The birth date matches the diary exactly: on July 10, 1944 he wrote “Twenty years old today.” His signature on the front is the only sample of his handwriting in this archive, since the diary itself is known here only through its transcription.

Fold3 file 647868608Carlson Elmer Eric-2.pdf (3 pages; page 3 is Fold3’s source sheet and is not reproduced)
US, WWII Draft Registration Cards, 1940–1947 (Washington)National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 147, Records of the Selective Service System
Diary: July 10 1944, June 18 1945

Report of Changes

U.S.S. The Sullivans (DD-537)

Month ending October 31, 1945 · Page 1 · Line 15 · Bureau receipt stamp: Dec 4 1945

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 15, his name. — Line 15, his name

The typed line naming Elmer Eric Carlson, cut from the scan: Line 15, the change: transferred October 10, 1945, for discharge. — Line 15, the change: transferred October 10, 1945, for discharge

As written

CARLSON, Elmer E. · 386-31-91 · SM1c(T) V6

USNR · Trans. · 10/10/45 · To R/S, Camp Elliott, Calif. FFT to PSC, Bremerton, Wash. for discharge.

The end of his sea duty. On October 10, 1945 he was transferred to the receiving station at Camp Elliott, near San Diego, for further transfer to the Personnel Separation Center at Bremerton, Washington, the one nearest Shelton. Sixteen days later he signed his draft card at home. Two other men on the page went the same route to Bremerton, on October 3 and November 1; most of the rest were sent to Camp Elliott for reassignment.

Fold3, US World War II Navy Muster RollsDownloaded from Fold3 in July 2020; the page’s image number was not kept.new fold3/1945(2).jpg
US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Diary: June 18 1945