Gerald Orean Pearl – Warrant Officer One, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report:

Gerald O. Pearl, 83, who served in the Navy about 27 years before retiring in 1966 and then worked in the security department of the Institute for Defense Analyses until retiring again in 1981, died December 7, 2001, at Fair Oaks Hospital. He had pneumonia.

Mr. Pearl, an Iowa native and Fairfax, Virginia, resident, lived in Florida from 1981 until returning to the Washington area in 1998.

He was serving aboard a ship at Pearl Harbor when that base was attacked by the Japanese navy December 7, 1941. He spent World War II aboard ships in the Pacific, becoming a Warrant Officer. After the war, he was a Chief Yeoman, working in such
areas as communications. He was stationed at the Pentagon when he retired and was later advanced to Warrant Officer 1 on the retired list.

Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Shirley, of Fairfax; a son, William M., of Chantilly; a daughter, Claudia J. Lewis of Fairfax City; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

PEARL, GERALD OREAN
WO1   US NAVY

• VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 10/24/1936 – 09/02/1964
• DATE OF BIRTH: 02/08/1918
• DATE OF DEATH: 12/07/2001
• DATE OF INTERMENT: 01/08/2002
• BURIED AT: SECTION 66  SITE 6534

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard