A Key West Christmas

One Cuba City sailor, Edmond Vilas McDermott, spent the Christmas following World War II in Key West, Florida, with his fellow crew members of the PCS (Patrol Craft Sweeper) 1378.

At the time of this photo, McDermott's rank was gunner's mate, second class. Published in the Key West Citizen (January 8, 1946).

 

The PCS 1378 in Key West, Florida. Photograph by Wilber C. Peterson and courtesy of the Florida Keys Public Libraries (published on Navsource.org).

Edmond McDermott enlisted in the Navy in the fall of 1942, at age 18. When his service drew to a close after the war, he re-enlisted for two more years. According to McDermott's obituary, in addition to serving on the PCS 1378, he also spent time on the USS Texas battleship and the USS Rogers destroyer, and participated in the atomic bomb tests in the Marshall Islands.

World War II draft registration card of Edmond Vilas McDermott, made available by the National Archives and Records Administration and Ancestry.com. At the time, 18-year-old McDermott was working at the Savanna Ordinance Depot.

Image of Edmond V. "Mick" McDermott, published with his obituary in the Telegraph Herald (May 23, 2001).

Upon returning to civilian life, Edmond McDermott married and had two daughters. He called both Galena and Dubuque home and was a sales and warehouse manager for Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., where he worked for 26 years. After his death in 2001, McDermott was laid to rest in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Key West, Iowa.