Family History Notes and Photos by Bob Mesenbrink

My dad, Russell Mesenbrink, served on the battleship West Virginia (BB-42) during World War 2. I never heard a lot about the time he spent in the war, a bit relayed to me by my mom, but nearly nothing from him. He was a cook. Dad kept some memorabilia from his time in the service. I remember seeing the Japanese occupation money he saved from the war, and being in awe of it as a child. But nothing was more mysterious than the pictures of some of his shipmates, mostly without names, in the family albums. I always wondered who these men were, where they were from and what happened to them. John Henry Robertson John Henry Robertson - This is one of few that was identified. He was born in Litchfield, Illinois in 1923, died in 1995 and is buried in the National Cemetery in St. Louis. He grew up in East  St. Louis. I haven't found any more information on him. Silvio Rende Silvio Rende was easy to pick out from the book "USS West Virgina Crosses th