John (Johnny) Santana, KIA, Iwo Jima, WWII.

Question

Looking for information on a Marine that was killed on Iwo Jima by the names of John (Johnny) Santana.

History Hub Info · Answer

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! 
 
 We searched online and located a listing for him on the NAVAL-HISTORY.NET unofficial website : SANTANA, John, 456253, HqCo, 3rdBn, 9thMar, 3rdMarDiv, FMF, April 1, 1945, died of wounds (mc) + SANTANA, John, Cpl., USMCR. Sister, Miss Julia Santana, Rt. 1, Box 199, Pittsburg, Calif (na). 
 
 According to Find-a-Grave , he is buried in Stockton Rural Cemetery. Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, USA. 
 
 We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the State Summaries of War Casualties for the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard during World War II in the General Records of the Department of the Navy (Record Group 80) that includes the listing for Santana, John . The digitized state booklet lists those men on active duty whose deaths were caused by enemy action or from operational activities against the enemy in war zones from December 7, 1941 to the end of the war. Casualties that occurred in the United States, or as a result of disease, homicide, or suicide anywhere are not included. Entries in the list include the name and rank of the decedent, and the name, address and relationship of his next-of-kin. The listing is not further delineated by county. The booklet has been digitized and is available using the Catalog. This combined list titled State Summary of War Casualties (Washington: Navy Department, 1946) also is available online directly through the National Archives Website. 
 
 We also located the Applications for Headstones, 1/1/1925 - 6/30/1970 in the Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General (Record Group 92) that include an application for the headstone of John Santana. We are attaching the card below.

Plus, we located Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947 in the Records of the Selective Service System, 1926&ndash;1975 (Record Group 147) that includes the draft registration cards for John Santana. We are attaching the card below.

You may also request his Classification History (SSS Form 102). The Classification History may contain: name; date of birth; classification and date of mailing notice; date of appeal to the board; date and results of armed forces physical examination; entry into active duty or civilian work in lieu of induction (may include date, branch of service entered and mode of entry, such as enlisted or ordered); date of separation from active duty or civilian work; and general remarks. Please complete a Form NA-13172 to request a search of these records and email it to the National Archives at St. Louis ( RRPO) at stl.archives@nara.gov . We recommend that you attach the draft registration card, as it includes information which will make it easier to locate his classification history. For more information, see Selective Service Records . 
 
 Next, we located Navy and Marine Corps Casualty Records, 1898 - 1970 and Navy and Marine Corps Casualty Records , 1940 - 1989 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24) that may include a file for him. For more information about these non-digitized records, please contact RRPO via email at stl.archives@nara.gov . 
 
 We suggest that you request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) . OMPFs and individual medical reports for those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II and separated from the service more than 62 years ago are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard OMPFs were not affected by the 1973 fire . Please complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. In Section 1, Item 1, where it asks which items you are requesting, please check &ldquo;Other&rdquo; and specify that you want the entire file. If there is any information requested by the form that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file if it survived the fire. Veterans and next of kin of deceased veterans also may use eVetRecs to request records. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests . 
 
 World War II era OMPFs, Selective Service Records, and Casualty records may also be requested by visiting the Archival Research Room at the National Archives at St. Louis. Please see the linked website for more information. Email stlarr.archives@nara.gov for further assistance prior to making an appointment. 
 
 We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries, 1/1941 - 12/1980 in the Records of the U.S. Marine Corps (Record Group 127) that may include listings for John Santana in the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. Some of these records have been digitized and are available using the Catalog. We also located Records of Ground Combat Units, Support Units and Other Commands, 1939 - 1950 in the Records of the U.S. Marine Corps (Record Group 127) that consists of war diaries, readiness reports, station lists, unit histories, action reports, operational plans and orders, and related documentation gathered by the Historical Division for WWII. For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RR2R) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov . 
 
 We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the the Population Schedules for the 1930 Census , and Population Schedules for the 1940 Census , and the Population Schedules for the 1950 Census in the Records of the Bureau of the Census (Record Group 29) that may contain information about John Santana in California. 
 
 The web page Search Census Records Online and Other Resources provides information about accessing these records online. There may be a fee for using Ancestry. We suggest that you check for access at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons. You may also view Ancestry for free at one of the National Archives&rsquo; facilities. For the nearest National Archives location, please consult our Visit Us webpage. FamilySearch can be accessed with a free account. 
 
 For information about the U.S. Census, see the Decennial Census of Population and Housing Technical Documentation as well as NARA&rsquo;s page on Census Records . You may also contact the National Archives in Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RR1R) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov , or post your questions to the Census Records community here on History Hub. 
 
 Finally, we searched Ancestry and located John Santana in the California Birth Index, 1905-1995 :

Name

John Santana

Birth Date

27 Jan 1921

Gender

Male

Mother's Maiden Name

Domingo

Birth County

Stanislaus

Source Information 
 Ancestry.com. California Birth Index, 1905-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. 
 Original data: State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995 . Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics. 
 
 Please see the following for information about California birth records: 
 
 https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/California_Vital_Records 
 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/california.htm 
 https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/Pages/Vital-Records-Obtaining-Certified-Copies-of-Birth-Records.aspx 
 https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/research-guides/vital-records 
 
 We also suggest that you review the FamilySearch Research wiki pages for United States Genealogy and California, United States Genealogy . The National Genealogical Society also lists a number of resources for genealogical research, as does the California Genealogical Society . 
 We hope this is helpful with your research!