Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

John Creegan Edmonds Papers, 1940-1980. Accession 51040. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Peter Edmonds, Maidens, Virginia, 10 September 2013.

Biographical Information

John Creegan Edmonds was born on 20 February 1923 in Alexandria, Virginia. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy as a bomber pilot with Bombing Squadron Seven, attached to the U.S.S. Hancock. Returning to civilian life, Edmonds married Bette Kremer on 2 November 1947 in Alexandria, Virginia. The couple went on to have four sons, John Jr., Greg, Steve, and Peter. John Sr. worked for 38 years at Life of Virginia Insurance Company, where he retired as a 2nd vice president. In 1984, he opened Gelati Celesti Ice Cream in Richmond, Virginia, with his son, Peter, and worked there for 18 years until his death. John Creegan Edmonds died on 11 October 2002 in Richmond, Virginia.

Scope and Content

Papers, 1940-1980 and undated (bulk 1940-1950), of Lieutenant John Creegan Edmonds (1923-2002) consist of letters, 1943-1946, written from Edmonds to his future wife, Bette Kremer (1920- ), while training and serving as a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II; his flight log, December 1942-April 1946; Edmonds' ground school navigation workbook kept while at the U.S.N. Air Training Center in Pensacola, Florida, 1943; a copy of the 1943 Flight Jacket , the training center's yearbook; several training and technical manuals, including a series of six booklets produced by the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, which somewhat humorously advise trainees on the topics of "Patrol Sense," "Oxygen Sense," "Prisoner Sense," "Aleutian Sense," "Flat-hatting Sense," and "Arctic Sense"; a program from the commissioning of the U.S.S. Hancock, 15 April 1944; a small diary, 10 October-25 November [1944?] with brief notations on various bombing missions in which Edmonds participated as part of Bombing Squadron Seven, attached to the U.S.S. Hancock in the Philippines and South China Coast region; a "squadron narrative" for Bombing Squadron Seven; an undated souvenir photo of Edmonds and four fellow navy men at Club Samoa in New York City; citations marking Edmonds' receipt of two Gold Stars, the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and the Air Medal for "meritorious achievement" and "heroism" in action in the Pacific; a typed transcript of a 1945 newsletter distributed on board the U.S.S. Hancock; his appointment as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve, June 1946; Edmonds' official "accident form" giving personal information to be accessed in the event of his death or serious injury; a group photograph from a 1978 reunion of U.S.S. Hancock shipmates; and other assorted papers related to his service. Also included are a handful of letters and postcards written to Bette Kremer, 1942-1945 and undated, by other individuals.