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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War II
John McLeod Westhaver
Name:
John McLeod Westhaver
Rank:
Second Lieutenant
Service Number:
O-768344
Service:
48th Bomb Squadron,
41st Bombardment Group (Light), USAAF
Date of Birth:
October 31, 1921
Place of Birth:
Martins Brook, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia
Date of Enlistment:
November 1, 1939
Place of Enlistment:
Unknown
Address at Enlistment:
Unknown
Age at Enlistment:
18
Marital Status:
Single
Next of Kin:
Edna Westhaver (Mother)
Date of Death:
October 7, 1945
Age:
23
Cemetery:
Woodlawn Cemetery, Wellesley,
Norfolk County, Massachusetts
John McLeod Westhaver was the son of Clayton McLeod Westhaver (1892-1945) and Edna Jean (Urquhart)
Westhaver (1892–1972). His father was born in Martins Brook, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. His mother was
born on Tancook Island, Lunenburg Co., NS. John had one sister, Blanche Evelyn (Westhaver) Gauld
(1928–1991), and two brothers, Gordon Earl Westhaver (1931 – 2022), Donald Cecil M. Westhaver (1920-
1944).
The family resided in Nine Mile River, Nova Scotia, in 1931; however, moved to the United States some time
during the 1930’s.
John enlisted in the US Army Air Force in November of 1939, prior to the United States entering WWII,
In 1940, John was stationed at Wheeler Field, and living in base accommodations (Base Headquarters and
18th Street) in Wahiawa, Honolulu County, Hawaii, on Oahu. His brother Donald and his cousin Clayton
McKinnon Westhaver (1918-1984) also served and lived at the same address at Wheeler Field.
John was wounded during the attack at Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. His brother Donald and his
cousin Clayton were also stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time.
Four years later, and after Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945, and signing of the surrender on September
2, 1945, John and his father, Clayton Westhaver, were killed in a transport aircraft crash at Ryukyu Retto
Island, Okinawa, on October 7, 1945.
John was interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Wellesley, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts. He is also
remembered on the Cornerstone of Peace memorial at the Peace Memorial Park on Mabuni Hill in Itoman City,
at Okinawa, Japan.
Cornerstone of Peace (Japan)
Woodlawn Cemetery