Jim Burke Stinson was from California. His mother was living in Long Beach at the time of his death. Until more records are found, his biographical data is limited.
Jim Stinson enlisted in the Navy in San Diego October 10, 1939.
The Navy muster rolls for December 31, 1939 show Apprentice Seaman Stinson on the USS Pennsylvania, BB-38; then on December 31, 1940, he is an S2c on the Pennsylvania; on March 13, 1941, he is shown as S1c leaving the Pennsylvania to board the transport, USS Henderson. On September 1, 1941, he was promoted to SF3c; on November 22, he left the Henderson in San Diego with orders to report to the USS Saratoga. On December 16, 1941, he is shown transiting on the USS Aldebaran, AF-10 from California to Hawaii, to report to the Saratoga.
They arrived in Pearl Harbor on December 30, and on December 31, 1941, SF3c Stinson is shown as being at the Receiving Station in Pearl Harbor. If he did get on the Saratoga, he may have been on board on January 12, 1942 when it was torpedoed, but he may have left because Saratoga remained out of service for months thereafter. He may have transferred to the Yorktown in VT-3 and would have been there when Yorktown sunk in the Battle of Midway. (June 4-6, 1942) VT-3 must have transferred to the Enterprise where that squadron and Stinson were until Stinson's death on August 24, 1942. Enterprise took 3 direct dive bomber hits just after 1700 hrs that killed a total of 77 crew.
AM2c Stinson's group includes his officially engraved posthumous Type 1 Purple Heart with its small purple presentation case as issued by the US Mint plus copies of internet research.
The picture below shows a bomb blast in the Enterprise deck August 24, 1942.
SOLD to a collector 04-2021
