On 23andme I spotted a third cousin female on a state on the west coast. Normally, third cousins are not hard to find in the USA, so I contacted her. Better yet, she showed considerable Filipina ancestry. I thought immediately of a certain first cousin, deceased. He not only fought on Iwo Jima, he brought back a Filipina wife.
She disappeared not long after, and the hot-headed cousin admitted he had hit her a few hours before she split. My first thought was, he threw a tantrum and killed her, then buried her on his farm. But, once I found her real name, she was on the records, later, in San Francisco. So, that horrid option was ruled out.
My next thought was, she ran off but was pregnant with his baby when she did run. After many weeks on Family Search and other pages, I discovered when she eventually applied for nationality, she testified under oath that she had no children. Women do hide the birth of children, but I finally decided it was correct.
I was side-tracked by a person in SF with the same exact name as my first cousin's father. And, he showed no father listed. Weeks later, I found his father so scratch that possibility.
My brother remembered the missing wife. She was small, and incredibly pretty. I concluded she lived an hour or two away from US-30 which runs into San Francisco. So, she may have hitched a ride to US-30 and found a ride to SF where she stayed as long as her documents were available. She divorced, remarried then divorced again, then married and reported herself as separated when she got nationality. She worked as a waitress.
The third cousin herself was not much help. She had two siblings and her mother had no idea at all who their fathers were.
Back to my first cousin. He fought on Iwo Jima, was discharged in Hawaii, drove taxi, then when he decided to go home no one had money to help him, so he enlisted in the Army for three years, then discharged in the USA. How did he meet his wife? I assume he served in the Philippines and met her there. I have never found her maiden-name as much as I have searched. But, of course, the Philippines were torn up considerably during the war so those records may have been destroyed. Records did show which state in PI she was from.
I may be wrong, wouldn't be the first time all day. But, if he was my first cousin, and if he had a son, and that son went with the mother of the third cousin, I think it would explain her being my third cousin, or very close to it. The third cousin is close to 40, so it is within a believable range.
After many hours of searching, I have come to a totally different view point. what are the Philippines known for in many military circles? Subic Bay. I will say no more about that, but if my first cousin impregnated a working girl on Subic Bay, and it produced a son, who impregnated the mother of my third cousin, that is a possible solution.
Of course, there are other possibilities, since a few other family members also served in the Pacific, including an uncle who became a Colonel. And, a first cousin who was killed on (?) Bougainville on the last day of the Japanese offensive. He was a Marine, and died after the Marines were pulled out, which was strange, but he was part of an anti-aircraft unit which was obviously left there after the main Marine group was moved out. I have a picture of his funeral tent, with his data on what looks like a large surfboard. He was so young his nickname was Baby.
He could have been the missing link. At this point I am guessing we will never know.
I did find a different long path to the third cousin. The Marine cousin was on my father's ancestry. On my mother's side, her mother's grandfather's father had descendants who over many years moved west eventually ending up in Yakima, WA, where my very temporary artillery unit went for field practice from Fort Lewis. Then, another three or so generations, ended up connected to my third cousin. But, of course, that would not be a path to a third cousin. Well, it was a path via her mom and more like 6th cousin.
She disappeared not long after, and the hot-headed cousin admitted he had hit her a few hours before she split. My first thought was, he threw a tantrum and killed her, then buried her on his farm. But, once I found her real name, she was on the records, later, in San Francisco. So, that horrid option was ruled out.
My next thought was, she ran off but was pregnant with his baby when she did run. After many weeks on Family Search and other pages, I discovered when she eventually applied for nationality, she testified under oath that she had no children. Women do hide the birth of children, but I finally decided it was correct.
I was side-tracked by a person in SF with the same exact name as my first cousin's father. And, he showed no father listed. Weeks later, I found his father so scratch that possibility.
My brother remembered the missing wife. She was small, and incredibly pretty. I concluded she lived an hour or two away from US-30 which runs into San Francisco. So, she may have hitched a ride to US-30 and found a ride to SF where she stayed as long as her documents were available. She divorced, remarried then divorced again, then married and reported herself as separated when she got nationality. She worked as a waitress.
The third cousin herself was not much help. She had two siblings and her mother had no idea at all who their fathers were.
Back to my first cousin. He fought on Iwo Jima, was discharged in Hawaii, drove taxi, then when he decided to go home no one had money to help him, so he enlisted in the Army for three years, then discharged in the USA. How did he meet his wife? I assume he served in the Philippines and met her there. I have never found her maiden-name as much as I have searched. But, of course, the Philippines were torn up considerably during the war so those records may have been destroyed. Records did show which state in PI she was from.
I may be wrong, wouldn't be the first time all day. But, if he was my first cousin, and if he had a son, and that son went with the mother of the third cousin, I think it would explain her being my third cousin, or very close to it. The third cousin is close to 40, so it is within a believable range.
After many hours of searching, I have come to a totally different view point. what are the Philippines known for in many military circles? Subic Bay. I will say no more about that, but if my first cousin impregnated a working girl on Subic Bay, and it produced a son, who impregnated the mother of my third cousin, that is a possible solution.
Of course, there are other possibilities, since a few other family members also served in the Pacific, including an uncle who became a Colonel. And, a first cousin who was killed on (?) Bougainville on the last day of the Japanese offensive. He was a Marine, and died after the Marines were pulled out, which was strange, but he was part of an anti-aircraft unit which was obviously left there after the main Marine group was moved out. I have a picture of his funeral tent, with his data on what looks like a large surfboard. He was so young his nickname was Baby.
He could have been the missing link. At this point I am guessing we will never know.
I did find a different long path to the third cousin. The Marine cousin was on my father's ancestry. On my mother's side, her mother's grandfather's father had descendants who over many years moved west eventually ending up in Yakima, WA, where my very temporary artillery unit went for field practice from Fort Lewis. Then, another three or so generations, ended up connected to my third cousin. But, of course, that would not be a path to a third cousin. Well, it was a path via her mom and more like 6th cousin.
