Clayton Bates was born in Rome, New York on June 27, 1914. From the 1920 U.S. Census, we learned that his father Elmer, 33, was a tinsmith at the local cutlery factory. His mother Genevieve, 36, had three sons living at home at this time; Emerson, seven, Clayton, five and Stanley, three. They lived in Rome.

Ten years later, the family had moved to 717 North Jay Street in Utica, Oneida County, New York. Clayton’s mother added two more children to the family; Ellen, eight years old and Merle, six. Clayton, at 15, was just entering high school. This information was found in the 1930 U.S. Census.

Sometime in 1937, Clayton joined the Navy and was sent to basic training. At the completion of “Boot Camp”, Bates was selected for the aviation cadet program and was assigned flight training at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Upon completion he received his gold wings and was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy.

Next, Bates was sent to the Sand Point Naval Air Station in Seattle, Washington. There he received hands on experiences with multi-engine patrol planes. The 1940 U.S. Census of April 3, 1940 recorded Clayton as living on the base there. This document listed his pay as $1791 for fifty weeks of work in 1939. He was living in the Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ) while there.

It was there that he met Janet Prather, a 17 year old from Seattle. They were married and had a child, Al Clayton Bates. Father Clayton, unfortunately, never met his son.

From Sand Point Ensign Bates was sent to the Naval Air Base in Argentia, Newfoundland. He was a pilot aboard a patrol plane PBO-1 in Patrol Squadron VP-82. This duty mainly was an antisubmarine patrol and bomb unit protecting the harbor there.

On January 16, 1942, only five weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the four-man crew of PBO-1, BUNO O3845, flew out of Argentia and never returned. No other information about what happened to the plane and the crew could be found by this researcher.

Since no bodies of Bates and the crew of his plane could be recovered, Clayton’s family placed a memorial stone at the Lee State Road Cemetery. This marker was located in Lee, Oneida County, New York. The inscription reads “ENS. CLAYTON N. BATES 1914 – 1944, U.S. NAVY PILOT. PATROL SQD 82, GAVE HIS LIFE IN COMBAT”

Bates' wife Janet was given a Gold Star flag to hang in her window at 2439 41st Avenue North in Seattle. This was recorded in the U.S. Navy WWII Casualties Books.

An article appeared in the Seattle Star newspaper in August of 1942. Somehow Ensign Bates wrote a note on a scrap of paper intended to be his last will and testament. It was a makeshift will, drawn on a slip of paper to: “U.S. Atlantic Fleet Somewhere on the Atlantic.” He gave all of his belongings – valued at $1900 to his wife. It was dated December 24, 1941. Superior judge Donald A. McDonald awarded Mrs. Bates the estate. Janet and her son were living with her father Sam Prather at 2439 41st Avenue North in Seattle.

RESOURCES:

1920 U.S. Census: https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/43614650:6224

1930 U.S. Census: https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/62426263:2442?tid=&pid=&queryId=7491ca78-499c-412e-94b9-06f74bbc1511&_phsrc=hWQ45&_phstart=successSource

1940 U.S. Census: https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/6550968:61632?tid=&pid=&queryId=633a32cf-01a8-4fa8-968c-39190b3db011&_phsrc=hWQ50&_phstart=successSource

Find a Grave accessed at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9342159/clayton-e.-bates.

Pensacola News Journal 28 Oct 1937, Thu ·Page 5: https://www.newspapers.com/image/352894156/?xid=4639%20

Naval History and Heritage

Command (.mil): https://www.history.navy.mil › pdfs › chap4-6

https://m.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=587406876762777&set=a.464667562370043

U.S., Navy and Marine Corps Registries:

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3573668:60656?tid=&pid=&queryId=5e857aef-2534-48c2-ba63-b9f79671e3af&_phsrc=hWQ60&_phstart=successSource

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9342159/clayton-e-bates

The Seattle Star 27 Aug 1942, Thu ·Page 1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/773678114/?match=1&clipping_id=140084666

 World War II Scrapbook from the estate of Army veteran Robert Albert Mieskiel (1930-2014) of Rome, NY. Donated to the Oriskany Museum Collection in May 2016.

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