December 15, 2020 Edged Weapons, Armor & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/15/2020
John L. Drotar was born to George and Mary Petrusky Drotar on 13 March 1913, his father was a steelworker and died of pneumonia in Johnstown, Pennsylvania five years later, leaving John to be raised by his mother, who later remarried. Drotar enlisted in the US Army in 1935 and following basic training stateside, was assigned to the 8th Field Artillery Battalion of the Hawaiian Division at Schofield Barracks. Drotar, judging by his correspondence, was adventurous, athletic and fun-loving. Evidenced also by the two photo albums that survive from his 4-year stint in Battery C of the 8th FA, as well as his letters home from Hawaii and the Philippines before the attack on Pearl Harbor, which compose the bulk of this military archive. Photos of Drotar and his comrades relaxing off-duty in Honolulu beer gardens, the beach, and during lulls in field maneuvers are interspersed through both albums (one containing a mint example of the 8th FA cloth patch), along with photos of him competing in battalion and divisional boxing matches. To the student of the pre-war “brown shoe” army in Hawaii, his albums provide an invaluable photographic resource, showing mechanized towed field artillery, antiaircraft batteries and coastal artillery, as well as armor and infantry, in scenarios that include drill, wargames, and military reviews. Drotar and his camera also captured planes of the Army Air Corps at nearby Wheeler Field and Navy vessels at Pearl Harbor. Important non-military events are also chronicled in photographs of the arrival of Amelia Earhart and crew in her Lockheed Electra at Wheeler through her stay prior to the failed takeoff from Ford Island that aborted her attempted circumnavigation of the globe in March 1937. Returning stateside in 1939, Drotar reenlisted in the quartermaster corps and was this time sent to Manila and assigned to the Headquarters Company, Philippine Division. His last letter to his mother, written from Pasig Rizal on 22 October 1941 (part of the correspondence in this archives and, per her penciled annotation, received three days before the attack on Pearl Harbor), John noted that we “got in a couple days ago from a 2500 mile trip…nearly 3 months”, in which they took full packs or war regalia with us…always moving by sea and land…to establish supply bases on the most important Islands.” Drotar ruefully admits that “when supply activities are done then we have to round up the native boys and send them here to the Island of Luzon for the army”, confessing that “It’s a hard task for us Amer[ican] boys and officers but its all in prepare [sic] for war.” Drotar believed that he would be returning home in time for Christmas, sailing to “Hong Kong and Shanghai and maybe to the states….on American President Lines, Travel 2nd class” and advises to “Have a batch of good old home brew ready for Xmas, Mom”, as “home brew is unknown over here” and only two breweries, “San Miguel and Balintawak.” After the fall of Corregidor and surrender at Bataan, Drotar was MIA and in 1944, Drotar was determined to have been killed in action, as reflected in a condolence certificate signed in autopen by President Franklin Roosevelt and dated 8 May 1944, accompanied by a Purple Heart Certificate signed by Secretary of War Stimson on that date. It was not until following the liberation of the Philippines that Private Drotar’s actual fate was fully determined from the positive identification of his remains, found in the Camp O’Donnell Prisoner of War Cemetery on Luzon (later reinterred at the Fort McKinley Military Cemetery in Manila and date of death estimated and another set of certificates, again signed by President Roosevelt and the Secretary of War, were sent to his mother (now Mary Sirokman), both reflecting May 5, 1942 as the updated “official” (but estimated) date of death. General Douglas MacArthur, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, also sent a letter of condolence, signed (possibly in autopen) and dated 21 July 1945. In addition to the above documents and the photo pre-war photo albums, there are extensive communications from the War Department and the Red Cross to Mrs. Sirokman concerning her son’s status from 1942-1945 and a resulting survivor’s pension in 1946, as well as newspaper articles, contained in this fascinating, yet tragic, collection. Provenance: By descent in the Drotar-Sirokman family to present. CONDITION: The spines of the two photo albums are partly separated, but contents intact and in very good condition; newspapers folded and with toning; personal letters and official documents with original covers in very good condition, including McArthur letter; condolence and Purple Heart certificates (4) bright, but with a few marginal finger smudges to one of the Roosevelt examples.
Item Dimensions: 25" x 16"