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World War I-dated DS, signed “F. D. Roosevelt,” one page, 8 x 10.5, May 3, 1918. Official letter from the Secretary of the Navy sent to the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which finds that “the death of John Francis O’Rourke, electrician first class, U.S. Navy, was incurred in the line of duty, and was not the result of his own misconduct” and that “no further action will be taken.” Signed at the conclusion in fountain pen by Franklin D. Roosevelt as the acting Secretary of the Navy. In very good to fine condition, with some light staining and creasing, and a multitude of file holes to the top edge.
O’Rourke (1891-1918) was a Texas native who joined the U.S. Navy in 1915 in San Francisco. During World War I he was an electrician on the USS Savannah, a submarine tender. While the ship was in Boston Navy Yard for an overhaul, O’Rourke died in the hospital from an apparent reaction to a prescribed medicine that contained cocaine.
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