Lawrence John McPeake (1902 - 1942)

Born 21 Feb 1902 in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Gertrude Mollie (Mahoney) McPeake — married 29 Oct 1929 in St. Joseph’s Church, South Medford, Massachusetts.

Died 1 Mar 1942 at age 40 in at sea

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Katherine Hunter [send private message] and Matt Hunter [send private message]

Biography

Graduate of US Naval Academy, class of 1924. Executive officer of the USS Pecos, sunk during World War II off the coast of Java. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for valor for his actions aboard the sinking Pecos.

Married to Gertrude Mahoney on Oct 28 1929. Had issue.

Lawrence is recorded on the passenger manifest of the S.S. President Roosevelt, sailing from Le Havre, France on 1 September 1932 and arriving New York 9 September 1932. He was traveling with his wife Gertrude McPeake. This record gives exact dates and places of birth for both of them. Their address at the time was 16 Blue Hills Parkway, Mattapan, Massachusetts.

Lawrence was a member of the faculty of Harvard University at the outbreak of World War II. His name appears in the inscription on the World War II Memorial wall inside the Memorial Church on Harvard campus. The list, comprising ten columns of names, is "In Memory of Those Who Gave Their Lives in World War II."

From Wikipedia: "Executive Officer Lt. Commander Lawrence J. McPeake (Annapolis Class of 1924-Posthumously promoted to Commander after the war) was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for valor for his actions aboard Pecos. After the order to abandon ship was given by the ship's Captain, … Lt. Commander McPeake was seen engaging Japanese warplanes (Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers) which were machine-gunning and strafing survivors in the sea. By some crewmembers' accounts, he was reported to have made it off of the ship after it went down. Others reported him last being seen manning the machine gun. In fact, he did swim away from the vessel as it was going down with one other officer from the crew. However, his body was never recovered and he was eventually listed as Killed In Action after the War."

A bridge in Milton, Massachusetts was named in honor of him.

Sources

• http://memorialchurch.harvard.edu/world-war-ii-memorial
• https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/LAWRENCE_J._MCPEAKE,_CDR,_USN
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pecos_(AO-6)

Personal family history in possession of Hunter-4624.