Elmo Blum of Herculaneum and his wife, Ruth, were married in May 1945 while he was on a one-day leave from the military. “This was taken a few weeks later,” their daughter, Debby Campbell of De Soto, says. “This is the only picture we have of him in his uniform.”
Elmo Blum, holding the original radiogram announcing the surrender of Japan in December 1945.
Debby Campbell of De Soto sent in a photo of her father, Elmo Blum of Herculaneum, who served in the Merchant Marine during World War II. He and his twin brother, the late Elmer Blum, enlisted in the Navy cadet pilot training program, but after two years their entire class was offered a discharge when it was determined there was an excess of Navy pilots.
Both the Blum twins, however, decided to continue to serve their country. Elmer remained in the Navy as part of the Military Police and Elmo signed with the Merchant Marine to transport cargo and supplies between California and Hawaii. Elmo – nicknamed “Sparky” by the captain – was the chief radio officer aboard the Merchant Marine ship Nemaha and transcribed the Morse Code message sent to announce the surrender of Japan in December 1945.
