The search for a vanished WWII veteran gave me purpose during the summer of COVID-19
A heart-breaking outcome shining a bright light on the shameful actions of the U.S. military in WWII era America.
During the early days of the NYC pandemic shutdown in May I distracted myself with my family tree activities on ancestry.com. I checked my messages hoping to hear from unknown relatives as I had submitted DNA in late 2019. To my sheer delight, my father’s 3rd cousin Norah (living in the U.K.) contacted me. She was related to my father through his paternal grandmother, Mary J. Cooney, born in Ireland in 1871. I could not seem to find relatives in Ireland very easily and this was exactly the kind of connection I needed to help solve this dead end. I ‘d been working on my family tree for years, and was able to go back to the late 1400s on my mother’s English side, but my father’s Irish side was more difficult.
Norah explained to me that she was looking for information on her uncle, Michael Costello, who was the nephew of my great grandmother. Norah was able to get his military records from WWII and some draft and military enlistment cards from Ancestry.com which gave a decent amount of information to prove he was the Michael Costello she was searching for. However, after his discharge from the Army in 1944 — he literally vanished.
Living in Ireland, over the years, Norah’s mother had often lamented to her that she wondered what happened to her brother Michael who left Ireland in 1928 at the ago of 21 when she was only 5 years old. With the help of DNA testing and Ancestry.com Norah set out on her mission to find out what happened to Michael, to hopefully find his grave and place flowers there in honor of her mother who passed away many years ago. She had visited NYC, and even Ellis Island in the past, to try and piece together the puzzle, but to no avail.
Intrigued, I immediately wanted to help Norah. Together (with whatever family knowledge I had) we pieced together the life of Michael Costello until the paper trail stopped with a discharge from the the U.S. Army in 1944 which was neither “honorable” nor “dishonorable” often referred to as a “blue discharge".
Michael Costello was the grandson of my great-great grandfather Thomas Cooney, a thoroughbred horse breeder, in Nenagh, Tipperary, Ireland. He was born December 3, 1907. He was raised around horses and rode as a jockey. He went to the United States at the age of 21 in 1928 and lived and worked first at the Westbury House Estate and then the Greentree Estate in Manhasset Long Island (owned by the famed Whitney family) as a jockey and later a horse trainer. The Greentree Estate and its phone number at the time, “Manhasset 715” are the only address/phone number on record for Michael up until 1944 when he was discharged from the Army during WWII.
It was the roaring twenties when Michael arrived in New York City on the “Cedric” on April 1, 1928. I can only imagine how much fun a 21-year-old from a small town in Ireland was having working as a jockey and living amongst the rich and famous of America’s elite class. According to his Army record:
“In his teens he became a horse handler and jockey and devotee of the track. This was his occupation until drafted into the army. He is of Irish decent and has Irish mannerisms, speech and temperament. He is easily offended, quick to anger and voluble about his associations with the wealthy patrons of horse racing.”
The Great Depression commenced his second year in the country, 1929 and lasted until 1938. I guess if he had to be anywhere during that time, living on the Whitney estate was probably the best possible situation.
Michael was drafted into the U. S. Army on May 12, 1941 and served until November 21, 1941. He re-enlisted March 9, 1942 and was sent to New Caledonia in the Pacific. Because of its position, the country became a strategic rear base in 1942 for US forces to stop the Japanese expansion. As many as 50,000 American personnel were in New Caledonia at any given time. He was later moved to another location, right before his discharge, and that is where his troubles seem to have begun.
As a first step, I did some research into New Caledonia. I should reveal at this point that Michael’s papers stated that he was discharged from the Army for being homosexual. On top of that, they claimed he was an alcoholic. With that knowledge in hand — I immediately found out that New Caledonia was in fact a place where WWII soldiers openly lived as gay men. Imagine my surprise when I learned of this “coincidence”.
I stumbled across this article in the conversation.com entitled, “Belles in battle: how queer US soldiers found a place to express themselves in WWII”. It’s worth a read.
“US servicemen created vibrant and visible subcultures at home and abroad in World War II. Men confirmed identities they had already explored in civilian life or discovered exciting new possibilities. Models of sexuality in the 1940s were largely but not exclusively based on gender. Gay men embraced feminine self-presentation as a crucial part of their identity. Many “normal” or masculine men had sex with their effete comrades.”
The author of the article, Yorick Smaal, ARC DECRA Research Fellow and Historian, Griffith University goes on to state:
“Occasionally historians strike it lucky in the archives and stumble upon quite extraordinary evidence which compels us to re-evaluate what we think we know about gay life in the forces. My discovery of an official investigation into a large effete subculture among American sailors in New Caledonia in 1943 is a case in point.”
An “official investigation”. I remembered that one of the sworn affidavits in Michael’s discharge papers mention New Caledonia. I look back and I find the statement of “Dexter” (dated January 19, 1944) who basically states that on 20 different occasions Michael had come to him when he was sleeping and had attempted sexual intercourse. But as I read the statement, he flattered Michael by calling him “clever” and “well-mannered” and refers to the behavior as “annoying him” but he assures his commanders that:
“Michael is not normal when he is drinking; but I could not say in what way he isn’t normal because I have gotten rid of him as quickly as possible on each time he was annoying me. I cannot recall the exact date of these occasions, it was during the time we were located in New Caledonia.”
I researched Dexter and found out he was 24 years old and very good looking. Michael was 36 years old at the time, likely viewed as being a bad influence on the younger soldiers. There’s no way to know if Dexter was coerced into filing these charges against Michael, but his choice of the word “annoyed” and his attempt at smoothing it over by blaming it on alcohol leaves me with more questions than answers.
As I piece the timeline together through the military record, it seems as though certain men were moved from New Caledonia to APO# 453 in Auckland, New Zealand some time in 1943 and by January 17, 1944 Michael was under investigation and summarily discharged from the Army by March of that year.
In his statement, Michael denies the charges, says his new commander hates him and the feeling is mutual, and that he yearns for his old “outfit” the 42nd Engineers. He admits he was drinking heavily on the evening referenced in the report. He heartbreakingly states:
“In civilian life I was a horse handler and trainer. If I were discharged from the Army I wouldn’t go back to the same trade, for I would never be able to live with my own conscience. I wouldn’t live 24 hours. I have no dependents. I have never been accused of an such actions in my civilian life.”
At the time, the Army treated homosexuality as a mental disorder. Michael was given various psychological and medical screenings and possibly hospitalized during all this probing. With my modern-day perspective on homosexuality, it was difficult to read the kinds things they said and did to the accused. It’s hard to decide which is worse, being treated as a criminal or as a genetic defect/psychopath.
Michael was given a “blue discharge” on March 28, 1944. More than 48,000 soldiers were given “blue discharges” between 1941 and 1945, a disproportionate number of which went to black, gay, or lesbian service members. The administrative discharge was neither honorable nor dishonorable, but was considered a badge of shame. Many stories have surfaced over the last couple of years about WWII veterans having these dismissals reversed to “honorable” as a result of the efforts of advocate groups. One case which comes to mind most recently is of Nelson Henry, an African American WWII veteran who died at the age of 96, on May 9, 2020, a few weeks before I started my mission with Norah.
Following his discharge and emotional final statement, I could not find any record anywhere in NYC for Michael Costello. NYC was the only place Michael had relatives or contacts that we could ascertain. At that point, we wondered if perhaps he killed himself upon release in California.
Finally, I found a California state death record dated December 26, 1957 for a Michael Costello born December 3, 1908 (not 1907) born in Ireland and buried in a “potter’s field” in Sacramento, California. I contacted the Coroner’s office and his cause of death was severe alcohol poisoning. I was able to ascertain the social security number on the death record.
I sent in a request for Michael’s social security information as there was no record of his SS# on any of his military records, but because of COVID was told it could take six months to a year. With some fenagling, I was able to ascertain that the social security number on the death certificate in fact matched our Michael Costello. The date of birth on the dead record was wrong, off by one year. The mystery Norah lived with her entire life was finally solved, but not in the way she had hoped.
We wanted to know what happened to Michael in those thirteen years following his abrupt discharge from the Army. We don’t know exactly what happened, but as noted on his death record he was a “horse trainer” and given the number of horse tracks around the area of Sacramento at the time, we can only assume that to be true. He never returned to New York which is why the family never knew what happened to him.
Sadly, based on the death certificate we were able to find a picture of his last know residence, a hotel in Sacramento which no longer exists but was clearly not a luxury residence.
Michael died a day after Christmas in 1957 of alcohol poisoning, alone and mainly anonymous. He never told anyone at the hospital that he was a WWII veteran or that he won medals during his service and that he was entitled to a military burial as a WWII veteran. He died ashamed of who he was and buried in a mass grave in a potters field where our society discards of its burdens.
The Sacramento County burial ground was an indigent grave site owned by the county. In 1975 the Catholic St. Mary Cemetery purchased all 12 acres. In 2005, the remains of 72 people (including Michael) from the old Sacramento County Hospital Cemetery, FOUND during expansion of the UCD Cancer Center, were re-interred at St. Mary and they generously erected a granite memorial to them. Michael’s name is among those displayed.
Michael’s story will NOT end here. My cousin Norah and I intend on seeking reversal and correction of Michael’s military record to an “honorable” discharge as has been achieved by many former gay U.S. military members. As a WWII veteran there are a number of unique death and burial rights he would have been entitled to (beyond monetary rights which we are not seeking). There also may be a technicality that since he served twice, his initial honorable discharge supersedes the “blue discharge”. Although we cannot gain possession of his remains since they are in a mass grave, we hope to, at least, have a proper headstone placed in a military cemetery.
We’re in touch with the Modern Military Association of America and we will work with whatever resources are available to right this wrong for a man who suffered unnecessarily and died tragically due to intolerance, unjustified fear, and discrimination by the U.S. military. We find encouragement in the fact that the military is open to hearing these cases and reversing their mistakes of the past.
On this day, the 63rd anniversary of his death, we pray that Michael Costello’s soul finally finds peace.
