[First created on April 6, 2022, this post has now been updated … read on! …
As you can read just below – as the very “opening line” of this post, “Sometimes, it is a good thing to be wrong.”
I penned that sentence as a result of having received – to my happy surprise and great appreciation – information and numerous photographs about Lt. JG Saul Chernoff, as a result of the appearance of the December, 2021 post Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: May 4, 1945 – United States Navy – Naval Aviator Saul Chernoff. From Donna and Susan, Lt. JG Chernoff’s nieces, this material transformed their uncle’s identity from that of a mere “name and serial number” to a person with a fully three-dimensional life in history, and has been the basis for “this” second post, which was created in early April of 2022.
With that, Donna has clarified an aspect of their Uncle’s story about which was a little “off” – geographically speaking, that is. This pertains to the photograph of Saul and his sister Lillian. The correction appears below, in the same dark red text as used for this – and the preceding – paragraphs. Scroll on down!…]
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Sometimes, it is a good thing to be wrong.
My recent post about Lt. (jg) Saul “Sonny” Chernoff, an F4U Corsair fighter pilot in Navy fighter squadron VBF-85, who scored three aerial victories on May 4, 1945 and was killed in action almost a month later, concluded on this ambiguous note: “I have no further specifics about Lt. (jg) Saul Chernoff. Perhaps he crashed at sea, just off the Ibusuki Seaplane Base; perhaps somewhere on the Satsuma Peninsula. To the best of my knowledge, he was never a POW. Even if he had been captured, his chance of survival to the war’s end, even during these closing three months of the Pacific War, in the context of the fate of Allied fliers captured by the Japanese, would only have been about 1 in 2.”
I also noted – in lieu of other information – that, “Saul Chernoff’s name appears on page 288 of American Jews in World War II, where he is listed as having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and Purple Heart. His name also appears in both volumes of the 1946 publication Combat Connected Naval Casualties of World War II. In Volume I, his name appears on page 99 as being “Missing in Action or During Operational War Missions”, while in Volume II, his name can be found on page 12, where he is listed as “Reported in California as Missing”.”
And there, I supposed, things would remain: That nothing more would be known about Lt. (jg) Chernoff besides the appearance of his name in military records from a war – the Second World War – that ended nearly eighty years ago.
After all, time has a way of carrying – sometimes gently; sometimes abruptly; always irrevocably – recollections of the past to horizons beyond the grasp and memory of man. So as for Saul Chernoff the person, nothing more, I thought, would ever be known.
And so, if sometimes it is good to be wrong, this is one such time…
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Not long after the post appeared, I was more than startled to be contacted by Susan, Donna, Sandra, Nancy, and Larry, Saul Chernoff’s nieces and nephew. Though fate never gave them the opportunity to know their uncle personally, awareness of his “place” in their family had never been lost, and continues to this day. Perhaps, the memory of man (and, the memory of a man) can more strongly defy the grasp of time than we might imagine.
As a result of Susan and Donna’s efforts, and especially Susan’s fine job of image scanning, this follow-up post includes images of the Chernoff family, and, Saul himself. Also included are images of photos and documents from other sources. Through these, it’s possible to have a glimpse of Lt. (jg) Chernoff as a pilot, and simply, a person.
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First, from the Jackson – McKane Family Tree at Ancestry.com, this image shows Saul’s father Morris in a Denver Park in 1917. My knowledge of military aircraft surpassing my familiarity with automobiles by several order of magnitude (!), I don’t know what kind of car this is. But, well, it is a car. (That’s a start!)
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The next ten images of Saul and his family are Susan’s ultra-high-resolution scans of family photographs.
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Morris Chernoff and his children in 1926: Three-year-old Saul and his five-year-old sister Lillian stand on the running board of their father’s car, somewhere in Los Angeles.
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Saul and Lillian, with their parents Sima and Morris, some-unknown-where in the Los Angeles area, during the late 1930s.
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The next three images – the first, below, of Saul and Lillian, and the latter two only of Saul – were taken on the same day and same location. The obvious clues: Saul wearing the same striped shirt in each picture, each picture sharing the same background with an advertising banner for a realtor, and, the overall lighting conditions. The words “Holly Vista” on the sign pertain to a neighborhood in San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles.
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Donna’s update: “You guessed that the pictures of Saul with his sister/our mom and with his model plane were taken in San Bernadino, based on the sign that said Holly Vista. But if you look in the background of the pic of Saul and our mom, you’ll see a sign for Schwab’s Pharmacy. Their house was located across the street from Schwab’s on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, on the edge of the Sunset Strip. It’s a pretty iconic place; read about it here: A Look Back: L.A.’s Schwab’s Pharmacy Was More Than A Drugstore.”
Well, that was interesting! As a sometime movie-buff, I’m certain that I heard in passing “of” Schwab’s Pharmacy over the years, but I had little knowledge of its historical and cultural significance. And so, even just a brief perusal of the Internet revealed an abundance of information and photos of Schwab’s, let alone the personalities connected to it. Though this fascinating topic lies far beyond the scope of this blog, here are three representative images of Schwab’s, and, its present (former, really) location on Sunset Boulevard.
A high-resolution image of Schwab’s storefront, taken some time before 1949.
Schwab’s in the early 1950s, uploaded to Pinterest by Betsy Thompson. This image appears to be a frame from an 8mm or 16mm movie, or, a 35mm Kodachrome slide. To the right of Schwab’s is Googie’s Coffee Shop, designed in 1949.
Schwab’s (on the right) and adjacent businesses, in the 1930s.
According to Wikipedia, “Schwab’s was closed in October of 1983. On October 6, 1988, the building was demolished to make way for a shopping complex and multiplex theater.” A May, 2022 Oogle Street view of Schwab’s former location appears below.
From the YouTube channel of NASS Video Restoration, in the video “California 1952, Sunset Blvd: Hollywood to Sunset Strip in color [60fps,Remastered] w/added sound”, Schwab’s and Coogie’s are visible at the right center from 8:27 to 8:35.
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And so, back Saul’s story…
“Builds Models”
It seems that the event prompting the three above photos was Saul’s proud display of a powered model airplane, of which he was the builder, as indicated in the class yearbook for the Hollywood High School class of 1940…
…which indicates the interest that eventually led him to become a fighter pilot.
As for Saul’s model, it’s interesting to note that at least in terms of the popular culture of the ’30s, the phrase “airplane model” typically denoted flying, powered model aircraft, constructed of balsa and other light-weight material. This was a some two decades before that phrase connoted non-flying (very non-flying!) models constructed from kits comprised of injection-molded polystyrene pieces, and intended purely for static display. We’re talking some years before the advent of Monogram, Revell, AMT, MPC, Jo-Han, Renwal, Pyro, Lindberg, Aurora, Hawk, and the many plastic kit manufacturers that have come and gone, as well as the few – like Tamiya – that have survived and grown, or – like Airfix – reemerged phoenix-like, over the past few decades.
Saul’s airplane, still under construction (note that only the upper side of the wing leading edges are “skinned”) appears to be powered by a one-cylinder engine, with a control mechanism or fuel tank in the center of the fuselage.
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Since, sadly, any and all documents about Saul’s aviation training and military career no longer exist, nothing is known about the location and occasion of the following photo, which “speaks for itself”, or more aptly put, “shows for itself”: Saul is seated in the rear of a biplane. I don’t know if – in light of his interest in aviation – Saul attained a pilot’s license before WW II, or, his aviation training occurred solely in the Navy. But, I think this photo suggests the latter, for it looks like he’s wearing attire and equipment associated with military aviation.
As for the type of aircraft this is, I have no idea. I was unable to find any images of this aircraft in either United States Navy Aircraft since 1911, or Navy Air Colors, suggesting that it’s a civilian aircraft. Key identifying features are the radial engine, all metal fuselage with cylindrical front section, and a sort of notch in the lower wing near where it joins the fuselage.
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Location and time completely unknown, I guess that this image shows Saul’s pilot training class … at the inception of training? In any event, Saul is fourth from right, in the second row…
…and here he is in close-up.
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A step forward in time: Again undated; again names unknown; again location unknown, Saul has progressed further in training. On a sunny day, a Grumman F4F Wildcat serves as a backdrop for Saul (p r o b a b l y rear row, second from right) and seven other pilots.
While the clothing and equipment worn by the pilots is largely the same, note the square pouches attached to the Mae Wests (life vests) worn by Saul, and the pilots to his right and left. These are Life Jacket Dye Marker packets, which were used (still used today) by aviators or naval personnel lost at sea, to assist searchers and observers in rescue ships and aircraft to more easily pinpoint their location from a distance. When opened, a Dye Marker packet releases a fluorescent bye that imparts a brilliant green color to water adjacent to the release point – in marked contrast to the shades of blue and gray typically associated with the sea – thus facilitating spotting a person’s location from either distance or altitude. Used by flying personnel in both the Army Air Force and Navy, and the air arms of other Allied nations, there were variations in the design and markings of the packets (I guess the operating instructions were very simple, anyway), but the general appearance was consistent through the war.
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One version of the below image, of the pilots and enlisted men of VF-85 as seen in December of 1944, appears in my first post about Lt. JG Chernoff, where it’s taken (and improved a little via Photoshop) from the War History of VF-85 at Fold3.com.
However, this copy this of image – as seen in this post – is of greatly (really; vastly) higher resolution, contrast, and overall quality. Susan scanned it at a resolution of 600 dpi. (It’s big – 6 MB.) The fact that a copy of this photo remained in the possession of Saul’s family suggests that other individuals in the picture received their own copy.
Saul is tenth from left in the second row from the front, directly to the left of the F4U’s lowermost propeller blade.
The name of the men in the picture are listed below.
Front Row (sitting)
Ens. Bean, Roy N.
Ens. Hatfield, Elvin H.
Ens. Siddall, Frank S.
Ens. Edwin, Norman L.
Ens. Kirkham, Charles N. (KIA June 2, 1945)
Ens. Noel, Richard L.
Lt. Cdr. Gilmour
Lt. Cdr. Ford, Warren W.
Lt. Cdr. Roberts
Lt. Tilton, Eugene B.
Ens. Lawhon, David W.
Ens. Dunn, John C.
Ens. Bloomfield, Robert A.
Ens. Solomon, Leonard E.
Ens. Egolf, James O.
Lt. Irgens, Donald L.
Lt. (jg) Lamphar
Ens. Huber, Joseph A.
Second Row
Lt. (jg) Blair, George M.
Lt. (jg) Robbins, Joe D.
Ens. Moos, Kennard “A.”
Lt. (jg) Edwards, (William H.?)
Ens. Moore, John H.
Ens. Meltebeke, Raymond L.
Lt. (jg) Callan, Allie W.
Lt. (jg) Nichols, James B.
Lt. Wollum, Donald G.
Ens. Chernoff, Saul
Ens. Shinn, William G.
Ens. Marr, William H. (KIA June 2, 1945)
Ens. Clark, John G.
Lt. (jg) Sovanski, Lawrence
Ens. McCraken, Billie R.
Ens. Fuog, Howard W.
Ens. Yirrell, Francis
Lt. Goodnow, Robert G.
Ens. Loeffler, John D.
Third Row
Lt. (jg) Webster, Bayard
Lt. Fuller, Roy A. (KIA June 2, 1945)
Ens. Kling, Nelson P.
Ens. Kennedy, Harold R. (KIA June 2, 1945)
Ens. Pierce, James W.
Lt. Vickery, Arthur E.
Ens. Bruening, Floyd W.
Lt. (jg) Black, James B.
Lt. (jg) Horne, Hugh R. or Joseph S.
Lt. (jg) Whitney, Robert C.
Lt. (jg) Horne, Hugh R. or Joseph S.
Ens. McPhee, Duncan C.
Ens. Harrington, Henry M.
Ens. Clarke, William “R.”
Ens. Meyers, Donald E.
Ens. Fitzgerald, Louis A.
Lt. (jg) Spring
Lt. (jg) DeMott, Richard W.
Ens. Sabin, Donald G.
Enlisted Men (on Wing)
Schmidt
Goessling
ART 1C Curry, Roland H.
AMM 2C Thompson, Claud W.
AMM 1C Stransky, Lloyd J.
AMM 2C Kusmer, Erwin L.
AEM 1C Lewis, Frank H.
AM 1C Callahan, William J., Jr.
ACMM Young, Kenneth D.
ACRM Wright, Wilbur T.
Y 1C Hager, Franklin T.
AMMP 1C Brackett, William A.
AMM 3C Keegan, Joseph J.
PR 2C Kinner, Wilbert K.
AOM 3C Tanner, Charles L.
AOM 1C Richardson, William L.
ACOM Klein, Irving
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As mentioned in the first post, Saul was married. His wife, Georgette Dorothy Kamm, resided with her family at 139 Main Street, in Northport, Long Island, New York.
Searching on Ancestry.com yielded her graduation portrait from the yearbook of the 1943 class of Northport High School…
…while here’s a low-resolution close-up of her portrait.
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Here’s the couple’s wedding announcement, from the Northport Journal of October 6, 1944, found via FultonHistory.
CHERNOFF-KAMM
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Kamm of 628 East Main Street announce the marriage of their daughter Georgette Dorothy to Mr. Paul [sic] Chernoff, Ensign, U.S.N. Air Corps on last Sunday, October 1.
Ensign and Mrs. Chernoff will make their home in Hollywood, Calif.
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With Georgette wearing her wedding ring, the married couple pose for a photo, probably in the Los Angeles area.
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On March 8, 1946, about nine months after Lt. (jg) Chernoff was killed, the Northport Journal carried the following news item, also via FultonHistory:
The Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for action over Okinawa and Iwo Jima have been awarded Lieut. (jg) Saul Chernoff, USNR, who has been missing in action since June 21, 1945. His wife is the former Miss Georgette Kamm, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kamm of Main Street, who is at present [still, in 1946] with her husband’s people in California.
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The image below, at at SAS – Special Aircraft Service (digital aviation art) posted by “Lagarto” on May 19, 2019 – shows the Ibusuki Seaplane Base under attack by United States Navy aircraft on April 16, 1945. If you examine the picture very closely, you’ll see an SB2C Helldiver dive-bomber banking to the right, in the upper center of the image. Five aircraft, possibly Kawashini H8K “Emily” (二式大型飛行艇) Type 2 Large-Size Flying Boats, are visible on the concrete apron at the lower right center of the picture.
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Of the six VF-85 / VBF-85 pilots killed in action on June 2, 1945 during the squadron’s air battle with N1K2-J fighters of Japan’s 343rd Naval Air Group, Saul was the only pilot whose body was recovered, and who thus has a place of burial. This document, from the Casualty File for VF-85 / VBF-85, covers his recovery and identification, his Corsair evidently having crashed somewhere near the Ibusuki Seaplane Base, perhaps in the vicinity of Uomidake Peak. Though the document indicates that searchers found the wreck of his Corsair, unfortunately, the specific location is not given.
The page is transcribed below.
November 8, 1948
Report of Investigation Division, Legal Section, GHQ, SCAP.
Remains of Lt. CHERNOFF recovered and identified.
Investigations, conducted to date, indicate no atrocity involved in the death of the pilot concerned in this case. Case closed.
Chernoff – Saul – Presumed Dead to Determined Dead
Reference: Reports of William R. Gill, dated 22 April 1948 and 21 February 1948.
DETAILS:
At Tokyo:
Previous Investigation Division Reports indicate that according to information received from Graves Registration, Unknown X-779 has been identified and confirmed by the Office of the QM General as Lt. Saul CHERNOFF, USNR.
Lt. CHERNOFF’s remains were recovered at Kagoshima-ken, Kumotsuki-gun, Neshime-machi, by Graves Registration team and was [sic] reinterred at the U.S. Cemetery in Yokohama. The remains have been listed as Unknown X-779 prior to identification, and have been investigated under Graves Registration Case History No. 610.
Graves Registration report further stated that the Engine Number of the recovered plane coincides with the plane, piloted by Lt. CHERNOFF and dental charts also compared favorably. Investigations conducted by this office indicate that there has been no indication of an atrocity committed in the death of Lt. Saul CHERNOFF.
Copies of all reports written on cases concerning the Kyushu Area are directed to Inv. Div. File 1505 which is a central reference for the Kyushu Area plane crashes.
On another document…
February 17, 1948 Supplementary Determination of Death
The Japanese records and the records of this Bureau agree as to date and place of crash. The search and recovery team investigating the crash cite noted the following numbers on the engine plate: “Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, Contract No. A/S/2344, Mfg. No. P-22541”. This corresponds with the engine number of the plane in which Lieutenant CHERNOFF was flying.
The Casualty File for VF-85 / VBF-85 is one of many such sets of documents covering US Navy WW II aircraft and aircrew losses. It’s in NARA Records Group 24, specifically records of the “Casualty Branch / Casualty Assistance Branch of the Personal Affairs Division”.
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Saul was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 16, 1949.
His mother Sima died just under one year later, and was buried alongside him. They share the same matzeva, as seen in this image by FindAGrave contributor dml.
In terms of military aviation history, with a natural focus on the design of warplanes, aerial combat strategies, aerial aces, victories and losses, camouflage and markings, military aviation heraldry, “nose art”, flying equipment, the sub-types and serial numbers of aircraft, and yet more (well, the subject is interesting) it seems that something quite fundamental is easily be lost: The fact that behind all these facets of tactics and technology is the impact of war, even upon the side of the victors. The more one delves into the “human” side of conflict, this becomes all the more apparent.
And so…
The timing between Saul’s death in 1945, his 1949 burial, and his mother’s passing only one year further, was more than a mere coincidence.
Saul’s sister Lillian related to her children that Sima’s passing was literally, “…of a ‘broken heart’, so in some ways she was another casualty of the war.”
Lillian’s specifically recalled her mother’s reaction to the news of Saul’s Missing in Action status: “After my mother got news that my brother got shot down, she took off one day and she didn’t tell us where she was going, and what she did was on her own she went to San Diego to go on the boat that my brother had been on to see where he had slept. So she was very very traumatized by my brother being killed. And she really didn’t have any desire to go on.”
Saul’s father Morris died at the age of eighty, in 1970.
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Born on May 24, 1925, Georgette remained in California. In time she remarried. She died in Alameda on September 2, 1994.
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In many, many (did I say many?) of my prior posts, I’ve made reference to or commented about the 1947 publication of the dual-books American Jews in World War II, one volume of which is a state by state compilation of the names of American Jewish servicemen who were killed or wounded in action, and / or received military awards. These entries are based on information recorded on color-coded index cards by the National Jewish Welfare Board, which list a serviceman’s name, rank, branch of service, (sometimes) serial number, (some other times) theater of service, awards, next of kin, and residential or correspondence address. Paralleling the example given for Major Milton Joel, here are the two cards filed for Lt. (jg) Chernoff: One pertaining to his “Death in Action” status, and the other denoting his receipt of the Air Medal and Purple Heart.
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This is the page (page 288) from Volume II of American Jews in World War II which lists Saul’s name: At bottom right, under “New York”, rather than “California”, reflective of his wife’s original residential address.
Here Are Some Books
Doll, Thomas E., Jackson, Berkley R., and Riley, William A., Navy Air Colors – United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aircraft Camouflage and Markings – Vol. 1 1911-1945, Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, Tx., 1983
Dublin, Louis I., and Kohs, Samuel C., American Jews in World War II – The Story of 550,000 Fighters for Freedom, The Dial Press, New York, N.Y., 1947
Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War, Hanover House, N.Y., 1958 (Kawashini Shiden pp. 111-116)
Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War – Volume II, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y., 1969 (Chance Vought Corsair pp. 79-92)
Sakaida, Henry, and Takaki, Koji, Genda’s Blade – Japan’s Squadron of Aces 343 Kokutai, Classic Publications, Surrey, England, 2003
Swanborough, Gordon, and Bowers, Peter M., United States Navy Aircraft since 1911, Funk & Wagnalls, New York, N.Y., 1968
Young, Edward M. (Illustrated by Gareth Hector), F4U Corsair vs. Ki-84 “Frank” Pacific Theater 1945, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England, 2016
Specific Reference Works – No Author Listed
Combat Connected Naval Casualties, World War II, by States, United States Navy Department Office of Information, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1946
A Bunch of Websites
History of Bomber Fighting Squadron Eighty-Five, at VBF85.com
Fighting Squadron Eighty-Five – May 15, 1944 – September 25, 1945, at VBF85.com
VBF-85 Cruise Book, at VBF85.com
Morris Chernoff’s Scrapbook, 1916-1938, at University of Denver Archives
Holly Vista, at Neighborhoods.com
Aircraft Action Reports, Reports of Air Operations, War Diaries, and War Histories – at Fold3.com
VF-85 / VBF-85 Aircraft Action Report (Fighter Sweep over Airfields at Kagoshima, Chiran, and Izumi, Kyushu, Japan) – 2 June 1945
USS Shangri-La Report of Air Operations against Kyushu, Japan
USS Shangri-La War Diary – Report of Air Operations Against Kyushu
USS Shangri-La War History
War History, VP 13, 12 7 41–10 1 44 & War History, VPB 13, 10 1 44–12 21 45