During World War II, my father (pictured on his military i. d., above at left) and three of his brothers and two brothers-in-law all served in the armed forces. All survived the war. However, the family lost both parents during war-time. My grandmother, Loula Alexander, died in February of 1943, and then my grandfather, Frank Alexander, (pictured at right above, 1945) was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in 1945.

A document filed with my father’s military records reveals a lot about the family’s situation.

The Servicemen’s Dependents Allowance Act of 1942 provided allowances for the support of the families of soldiers. Class B covered parents and siblings who were dependent on the soldier. The allowance for one parent was $15 per month, plus an additional $5 for each sibling, not exceeding $50 per month. The deduction from the soldier’s pay was $22 per month.

A Dependency Affidavit filed by Frank Alexander January 3, 1945, stated “Due to ill health I am confined to bed and unable to support myself and children.” He was age 64 and lived in Vass, N. C. His wife had died in February of 1943. The affidavit certified that he was dependent on a serviceman for more than half of his income, and asked for a Class B-1 family allowance.

Frank had two dependent children living at home, Max and Patsy Lou, who were both in school. Frank had $140 in the bank and had received $200 in “allotments” from his son, PFC Lewey Alexander, since September of the previous year. Lewey (called Tuppin by the family,) was age 20 and unmarried. Frank’s son Jack was age 30, married and serving in the Army, and son Robert, age 17 and single, was in the Merchant Marine.

At that time, Frank and his children lived in a house that he owned in the town of Vass. The house and lot were worth $1000. He had an additional 82 acres of land, also worth $1000. From the estate of his wife he had inherited $2300 worth of stock in the Carolina Power and Light Company. He was debt-free.

In 1942 and 1943, Lewey had worked on the farm, helping to raise crops during his vacation from college (Lees-McRae.) After enlistment in the U. S. Marines in 1944, he contributed $50 per month to his family’s income. Frank had become unable to work and only Lewey was able to contribute to the family income.

Additional notes:

Frank died eight months later, on August 4 of 1945. He had eight surviving children, including two older, married daughters, and a son, John Alexander, who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and received a medical discharge in 1942. John was married, and his first child was born a week after the affidavit was signed.

Upon requesting my father’s military records from World War II, I learned that a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973 destroyed most of them. You can request copies of documents online through the E Vet Records application, but the local V. A. helped me apply for the few records that are left from other sources.

Sources:

“Lewey Glenn Alexander Dependency Affidavit,” Jan. 3, 1945; NARA.

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v6n7/v6n7p21.pdf, acceded 9 Nov. 2024; Administration of the Servicemen’s Dependents Allowance Act; https://maint.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/77th-congress/session-2/c77s2ch443.pdf, publication on Library of Congress website.

“The 1973 Fire, National Personnel Records Center,” https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/fire-1973, accessed 9 Nov. 2024.

Family Records in the possession of the author.