"In addition to the 4,597 American servicemen honored here who lost their lives in her service and who sleep in the American coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the United States of American honors the 6,185 seamen of the United States merchant marine and 529 seamen of the United States transport service who lost their lives during World War Two."
Inscription on the Eagle Pedestal at the East Coast Memorial. It aligns with the Statue of Liberty and complements the West Coast World War II Memorial in San Francisco overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge
John William McDonald was born on October 27, 1917, to William and Cora Hope Butcher McDonald. John McDonald was born in Weston, Lewis County, but the family lived in the nearby Hacker's Creek community. To the couple were also born Thorn and Anabel.
American Battle Monuments Commission photo
According to the 1930 and 1940 Federal Censuses, Mr. McDonald was a teamster who worked for a gas company.
John McDonald joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1936. (Lewis Countians in World War II [Weston, WV: Independent Publishing Company, 1943].) In 1940, according to the census, he was living in New London, Connecticut, in the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He was ranked as a seaman, then, but by 1942, he was assigned to the USS Muskeget as a pharmacist's mate first class. Perhaps he was in New London receiving training that resulted in this new rank and series.
A pharmacist's mate provided medical services. While a pharmacist's mate may have worked in a medicine dispensary, a person in this position may also have provided basic medical care, such as first aid, or performed general hospital duties. Many also continued to take training en route to further advancement in specialized fields, such as epidemiology and sanitation, or providing medical technical services, such as operating X-ray machines. A pharmacist's mate may also have assisted medical officers in their duties. ("Pharmacist's Mate Second Class," AF-10: U.S.S. Aldebaran, accessed 22 October 2021, home.epic.net/~nooyawka/Phm2.htm.) No record was found of the specific duties that John McDonald performed aboard the Muskeget.
USS YAG-9, later named USS Muskeget. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration public domain photo
The Muskeget had been converted to a weather patrol ship after having been a cargo ship on the Great Lakes. The ship drew patrol duty off the coast of New York for a few months, and then was loaned to the Coast Guard from the Navy. With the Coast Guard, she became a weather observation patrol ship. The first assignment for the ship and crew was to patrol Weather Station Number 2 in the North Atlantic in July 1942. On August 24, 1942, the Muskeget left port in Boston to return to the same spot. Weather reports were received from the ship on August 28 and 31 and on September 9. The Muskeget was to be relieved by the Monomoy on September 11, but the crew could not establish communication with the Muskeget as it arrived at Weather Station Number 2.
The Monomoy returned to Boston without ever establishing communication with the Muskeget or seeing evidence of the ship. The Monomoy crew reported that there had been 20 to 35 enemy submarines operating in the area. Records found post-war established that the Muskeget was likely torpedoed by a German submarine, U-755. On September 9, 1942, U-755 fired three torpedoes at a ship at or near the location where the Muskeget was last reported to be on weather patrol. The U-755 crew recorded that two hits of torpedoes were heard as a result of their attack, followed by noises identified with sinking ships. ("USCG History," U.S. Coast Guard Newsfeed Unofficial, accessed 22 October 2021, https://www.facebook.com/531374546931771/posts/uscg-historyon-this-day-september-9-1942-the-coast-guard-manned-weather-ship-uss/864491726953383/; "USCGC Muskeget Torpedoed, Lost with All Hands-Sept. 9, 1942," Chuck Hill's CG Blog, 10 November 2015, accessed 22 October 2021, https://chuckhillscgblog.net/2015/11/10/uscgc-muskeget-torpedoed-lost-with-all-hands-sept-91942/; "USS Muskeget [WAG 48]," uboat.net, accessed 22 October 2021, https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2135.html; "U-755," uboat.net, accessed 22 October 2021, https://uboat.net/boats/u755.htm.)
At the time, the Muskeget was lost without a trace, despite a search by ships and airplanes. All crew were lost, which included 107 enlisted men, nine officers, a public health service officer, and four weathermen.
The Weston Independent reported that John McDonald was missing at sea. His parents received notice on a Friday. Their other son, Thorn, left the next day for service with the U.S. Army.
A year plus one day after disappearing, all the crew of the Muskeget were declared dead. John McDonald was awarded a Purple Heart and is memorialized with a cenotaph in the Lewis County Memorial Gardens and on the Tablets of the Missing, East Coast Memorial, New York.
Cenotaph for John William McDonald in Lewis County Memorial Gardens. Courtesy Cynthia Mullens
Article prepared by Cynthia Mullens
October 2021
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