On Christmas Day 1937, the men of the USS West Virginia and their families sat down to a midday feast fit for a king: roast turkey, giblet gravy, whipped potatoes, chestnut dressing, buttered cauliflower, French peas, glazed yams, lettuce salad, hot rolls, mince pie, assorted fruits and nuts, and café noir. Santa Claus dropped by at 1330 hours (1:30 p.m.) to pass out gifts to the children, and crew members and their wives or girlfriends danced away the rest of the afternoon.

Two months earlier, on October 28, the servicemen gathered in the evening to watch Knights Without Armor, a romantic action story set during the Russian revolution and starring German film siren Marlene Dietrich.

The ship was docked in Seattle, Washington, on July 4, 1938. The crew's Independence Day dinner was another royal fare: cream of tomato soup, sweet mixed pickles, ripe olives, roast turkey, giblet gravy, sausage dressing, fresh apple pie, Neopolitan ice cream, and much more.

These snapshots of daily activities on the USS West Virginia are among the memorabilia collected by the late Russell L. McIlwain, a Marine who served four years aboard the battleship prior to its bombing by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor and its reconstruction and service during World War II.

This collection is now housed at West Virginia University, joining the mast of the USS West Virginia—which stands proudly on Oglebay Plaza-as a tribute to the men who served aboard the vessel. The gift also says loads about the donor, a man from the Chicago suburbs who never set foot in West Virginia but cherished the time he spent on the ship that bore the state's name.

"This gentleman loved the ship so much and his experiences on it, as we believe people love their experiences at WVU, that he wanted the memorabilia to be where the mast of the ship was," said Deb Green, who, as president of the WVU Alumni Association's Chicago Metro Chapter, played a critical role in acquiring the collection for the University.

McIlwain was stationed aboard the West Virginia from July 3, 1936, to April 1, 1940, as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Detachment, 7th Division. During this time, he saved a boatload of items, from holiday and movie programs to ports of call and personnel lists, from Radio Press news summaries to newspaper and magazine articles pertaining to the ship or its crew.

Other keepsakes include fabric from the wing of a catapult airplane that was aboard the USS West Virginia; copies of the ship's weekly, The Mountaineer; a printing of the ship's song, Song of the Mountaineer; two wrestling and boxing schedules, called smokers; and a 1938 Chesterfield college football schedule, with WVU's 26-0 loss to Michigan State among the scores recorded.

The memorabilia also contains executive officer's memorandums, to which McIlwain would have been privy as captain's orderly.

One such missive is a September 2, 1939, memo announcing the start of World War II and stating American neutrality. It reads in part: "England and France are now at war with Germany you will govern yourself accordingly. For the present the attitude of the Navy Department is to discourage speeches broadcast articles on the Military and Naval situation by Personnel of the Navy active or retired."

Another high-level document is a September 9, 1939, message from the acting secretary of the navy. In it, he relays a presidential executive order proclaiming a national emergency and announcing plans to increase Navy enlistment to 145,000 men and Marine Corps personnel to 25,000 men.

The collection also contains more than 40 photographs, most of them taken by McIlwain. The black-and-white prints feature the ship's captains in full regalia, crew members, the ship in dry dock at Bremerton, Washington, and views from the deck of other vessels and San Francisco Bay.

McIlwain's military service did not end with the completion of his tour of duty aboard the West Virginia. He saw action in the South Pacific after America entered the war.

Following the war, he became an electrician, settled down in Lisle, Illinois, and became a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 701.

McIlwain was aware the USS West Virginia mast came to WVU after the ship was dismantled in the late 1950s and contacted the Chicago Metro Chapter in 1998 about his memorabilia, said Green, a high school guidance counselor.

"Besides attending church with a chapter member, he was familiar with the organization through local press coverage of its annual gatherings," she said. These get-togethers have featured speeches by such well-known WVU alumni as MIT President Charles Vest, U.S. State Department of Interior Design and Furnishings Director Vivien Woofter, and best-selling author Stephen Coonts.

McIlwain's offer piqued the curiosity of Green, who earned a bachelor's degree in history from WVU in 1970 and once taught West Virginia history at Suncrest Junior High School in Morgantown.

The two met, and McIlwain showed Green the memorabilia. The Morgantown native, who also has a guidance counseling degree from WVU, said she was moved to tears when she saw the history the former serviceman wanted to give to her alma mater. Green heartily accepted the gift on behalf of the University.

McIlwain died October 17, 2000, at the age of 85. His gift has been included with the WVU Libraries' West Virginia Collection. It is Green's hope that a University history professor will delve into the memorabilia and write about it.

"I view this as a treasure trove," she said. "I'm proud that Mr. McIlwain was willing to entrust us with mementos from an important time in his life and delighted that the Chicago Metro Chapter was able to play a significant hand in getting this memorabilia back to the University."

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