Navy Badge
  • Name: Daniel "Dan" Herbert McNitt
  • Location of Birth: Shell Lake, Wisconsin
  • Date of Birth: February 29, 1924
  • Date of Death: May 30, 1983
  • Parents: Herbert McNitt & Myrtle (Walker) McNitt
  • High School and Class: 1942 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
  • College: 1947 Itasca Junior College, Coleraine, Minnesota
  • Highest Rank: ART 1C (Aviation Radio Technician 1st Class)
  • Branch: Navy
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: July 10, 1942
  • Place Sworn In:
  • Date of Discharge: January 8, 1946
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:

  • Military Highlights:
    WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
    State: Minnesota
    Name: Daniel Bert McNitt
    Race: White
    Age: 18
    Birth Date: February 29, 1924
    Birth Place: Shell Lake, Wisconsin, USA
    Residence Place: Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
    Registration Date: June 30, 1942
    Employer: Oliver Iron Mng. Co., Coleraine, Itasca, Minnesota
    Weight: 154
    Height: 5-9
    Complexion: Ruddy
    Eye Color: Brown
    Hair Color: Light brown
    Next of Kin: Herbert McNitt, Bovey, Minnesota

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota – October 15, 1943 – “Bovey Service Men’s Club. Dear Friends: I received another nice letter from your club today. I am sorry I never got around to answering them before now, but I really did appreciate them. Also the Bovey Press. It sort of keeps us in touch with what the fellows are doing. We have been here about three months and guess we will probably stay in this area up to 18 months before we are eligible for a transfer. We are at the air station, but I am in the ground crew so don’t do much flying. We have pretty good duty, but the liberty is not so good. The natives are dark and not many white people, and those that are here are British, so Minnesota would really look good. We have to put in a year here before we can get a leave so I have quite a while to go yet. We work eight hour watches, so it is not much different from the mines. There is no one here from the Range, but two fellows in the shop are from Minnesota. I enlisted with “Blondie” Sandberg from Nashwauk and L. D. Patterson from Deer River, but I haven’t seen them since “Boot” camp. Well, not much news, so will close for now. Sincerely yours, Danny McNitt.”

    Newspaper article: 1944 – Dan McNitt, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. McNitt, is home from Trinidad on a 30-day furlough. He has been in the Navy eighteen months. He is being transferred to Florida. His sister, Mrs. Chas. Bakke of Rice Lake, Wisc., and Mrs. Tony Cassio of Washington, D.C. are also at home visiting.

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - 1944 – “Dan McNitt, in the Navy, writes to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herb McNitt from somewhere in the Central Pacific, that he received the Christmas present from the Service Club, and also that he receives the Bovey Press and appreciates both of these gifts.”

    Newspaper article: November 1945 – “Chicago, Ill. – Daniel Herbert McNitt, aviation radio technician, first class, of Bovey, can claim a share in one of the most outstanding records of the war while service with the Fleet Air Wing One, whose record in the final phases of the conflict now is being released by the Navy. The newly announced details of the wing’s record show that it sent more than 175,000 tons of Jap shipping to the bottom with its Mariner, Coronado and Privateer planes, damaged at least that much more tonnage, and shot down more than 40 enemy planes. Units of the wing still were harassing the Japanese from their base at Okinawa when news of the surrender was received. It was at Okinawa that the Japs made their most frantic effort to disrupt the operations of the Air Wing, turning loose an almost steady stream of suicide fliers at its base there. The Navy’s records have disclosed that, from Korea to China and Formosa – even to Japan itself, the Air Wing helped keep the Japs in confusion while other Fleet units pounded the enemy from Okinawa to Tokyo. Her planes teamed up with Army Airmen to rain destruction on the Jap homeland.”

    Newspaper article: November 1945 – “On the USS Kenneth Whiting, Daniel H. McNitt, aviation radio technician, first class, USNR, served on this seaplane tender when she moved into Sasebo Bay, Kyushu, Japan with the vanguard of the U.S. occupation forces to take over a Japanese naval base. The Whiting arrived the day before the main force, and the crew had the opportunity of watching an enemy stronghold being seized.”

    Newspaper article: February 1946 – “Daniel H. McNitt, aviation radio technician, first class, USNR, Bovey, served on the USS Kenneth Whiting, a seaplane tender which recently reached San Francisco after 17 months in the central and western Pacific. The Whiting took part in several Pacific invasions and helped in the occupation of Japan. This release was delayed enroute, and Dan McNitt is now at home.”


  • Wars Involved:
    World War II

  • MIA / POW:

  • Civilian Life:
    Daniel McNitt died May 30, 1983 in Stanislaus County, California. He is buried in Turlock Memorial Park, Turlock, CA. (Lot 58, Block 38)

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):

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