I'm wondering if someone can help me identify this punch card I found among my grandfathers things. He was in the Navy. View attachment 14213 Another mystery is, the card says U.S.S. Monitor, but I checked over 1,000 pages of Monitor muster rolls and never saw his name mentioned once. I know for a fact he was on the U.S.S. Unicoi much of 1945. He left Farragut, Idaho Naval training base in Dec 1944. Would there be a reason for someone to have this card if they never served on the Monitor? It has his initials on it. Thank you in advance.
There are a couple of things to consider about that ID card. First Off it is a "Chowhall pass" and was used when ship's crews were in port for extended periods and it gave them access to the base or area chow hall. Secondly: He could have been assigned to the Monitor, for accountability, while waiting to be picked up by the ship he was assigned to. It looks like the card was used for 42 trips to the chow hall. Thirdly: there was a war on and things were rationed. A standard chow pass allowed you one trip per meal per day and having an additional chow pass would allow your uncle twice as many trips to the chow hall. When I was active duty in the 80's and 90's we would often make additional trips through the chow hall during lunch or on Sunday mornings.
Thanks, formerjughead. I guess my title is a bit confusing, I wasn't calling it an I.D., but looking for someone to identify it hehe. Regardless, I'm glad to know what it was for. I had my suspicions given the mess hall words on it, but your info about it use and the conditions are really helpful. I appreciate your response. Thank you!
