DEAD ENDS AND A BLESSED EVENT
I decided that my next step was to find out what records I could get on Joe from the government. Having been in the Marine Corps myself, I knew that detailed service records were kept on all servicemen. Somehow, I can't remember how, I got the address to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. I wrote and told them my relative was killed in action and that I was the next of kin as far as I knew. I received a letter in return that said that due to the Privacy Act, no records could be released without the veteran's signature. I was infuriated by this stupidity as I clearly told them that Joe was dead. I got a phone number and called. The woman at the other end of the line repeated what the letter had said. I told her, again, that the vet in question was dead. She then asked for a service number. I told her that I did not have it, that all I had was a name and unit. She informed me that was not good enough, that I must have a service number. I said that mine was uncommon name and that my cousin was the only Joseph De Cusati to ever serve in the US armed forces. She said that was still not good enough, and that without a service number I could not get anything.
Needless to say, I was frustrated and angry. The records were there in St. Louis and I could not get them! I had no correspondence of any kind that would provide me with Joe's service number. How would I find it? I found out later that there had been a fire at the St. Louis Personnel Center in 1979 and the records they had would have been no help to me anyway.
About this time I learned that my wife Lori was pregnant with our first child. The doctor said that her due date was March 11 (1990). I said to Lori, "Wouldn't it be great if the baby is a few days late?" With a quizzical look she asked, "Why?" With a smile I told her, "If the baby is born on March 16th, it will be born on the same day as Joe. He was born March 16, 1923." Lori knew how much this would mean to me, so she put aside the names she had picked out and we then decided that if the baby was a boy, we would name him Joseph after my cousin. Nine months later my son Joseph was born. He came into the world at 2:01 P.M. on March 16, 1990! My son's being born on the same date as Joe was a special, wonderful coincidence. |
