INVITE MOTHER TO BOSTON FOR LAUNCHING MAY 6
Destroyer Escort Vessel To Bear Name of Page County
Naval Flyer, Killed at Midway
The name of Don T. Griswold, emblazoned in American naval history for his gallantry in action “above the call of duty” against the Japs at Midway, will be carried on a sea-going vessel.
His mother, Mrs. Don Griswold, Sr., was informed this week by Frank Knox, secretary of the navy, that a naval vessel has been named in honor of Ensign Griswold, first Page county war casualty.
The navy secretary’s letter read:
“The name of Griswold has been assigned to a destroyer escort vessel in honor of your son. It gives me great pleasure to designate you as sponsor of the U S S Griswold which is scheduled to be launched at the Navy yard, Boston. Mass. May 6, 1943. The commandant of the Boston navy yard will arrange all details with you.”
It is a policy to name destroyers in honor of officers and enlisted men of the Navy or Marine Corps, secretaries of the Navy, Members of Congress, and inventors.
It is the first time, as far as is known, that a vessel has been named in honor of any person in the Clarinda vicinity.
Scored Direct Hit.
Ensign Griswold was killed in action June 4, 1942, in the Midway Sea battle, dive-bombing a Jap ship, making a direct hit, when his plane was caught in anti-aircraft fire. He was the first Page county youth to sacrifice his life in World War II.
A graduate of Clarinda high school, he played on the undefeated 1934 football team, later won two letters as member of Iowa State College (present-day Iowa State University) grid squad, playing as a regular in 1940. He finished his college course in 1941 and enlisted in the navy reserve. In January, the Navy Flying Cross was posthumously awarded the local flyer.
A daughter of the Griswolds, Mrs. Marjorie Brown, lives in Boston.
Details of the launching will be sent [to] Mrs. Griswold as soon as plans are complete.
Source: The Clarinda Herald-Journal, Clarinda, Iowa, Thursday, April 01, 1943 (photo included)
Destroyer Escorts Named for Iowans
Washington, D.C. (UP) - Three destroyer escort ships to be launched soon by the U.S. Navy have been named in honor of Iowans who have given their lives in this war, the Navy Department announced Saturday.
The USS Sellstrom will honor the late Ensign Edward Robert Sellstrom, Rockwell City, Ia., who received the Navy Cross as a pilot on an aircraft carrier early in the war. Sellstrom was born in 1916 at Dayton, Ia.
The second ship, the USS Bunch, will be named after the late Kenneth Cecil Bunch, aviation radioman first class, Pershing, Ia., who was killed in action last June in a diving attack on a Japanese ship.
Ensign Don T. Griswold, Clarinda, Ia., who was awarded posthumously the distinguished Flying Cross for bravery, will be honored at the naming of the third ship, the USS Griswold. Griswold was cited for his work in the battle of Midway.
Source: Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, morning edition, Sunday, April 25, 1943
Mother to Christen Ship Honoring Iowan
BOSTON, MASS. (AP)—Mrs. Don T. Griswold, sr., of Clarinda, Ia., was in Boston Wednesday to christen a new destroyer escort which commemorates the name of her son, a Naval flyer, who was killed in action against the Japanese during the battle of Midway, June 6, 1942.
Source: The Des Moines Register, April 29, 1943
Donald Thomas Griswold, Jr. is memorialized at the Clarinda Cemetery, Clarinda, IA and at the Courts of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Source: ancestry.com
