Life Vest
PeriodCirca 1942
Place MadeU.S.A.
MediumRubberized canvas, cotton webbing, steel, zinc, rubber tubing
Dimensions24 × 14 × 3 in. (61 × 35.6 × 7.6 cm)
InscribedA leather panel is sewn to the front of the canvas and includes extensive pen and ink inscriptions reading "To Good Old Spevock / From / Pvt. John F. Bartek / Long Beach Army Air Base / Long Beach, California / This life preserver was with me From the 22nd of Oct. 1942 to / Nov. 13th 1942. / We had 8 men in the crew. 1 / died the 11th day out. We only had / 4 oranges to eat. Caught / 2 sea gulls, killed 1 for / bait. Caught 2 fish / and 1 shark. / That's all. / We used this / to store water / in. We had 2 sips a day. / Rain water. / We call[ed] ourself the / Short Snorters. / Crew / Capt. Cherry / [illegible list of crew, but included Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, Col. Hans Christian Adamson, Capt. William T. Cherry, Lt. James C. Whittaker, Lt. John DeAngelis, Sgt. Frank Reynolds, and Sgt. Alex Kaczmarzyck.] / Sgt. Alex Kats.... / Was to join his outfit in / Austrilia [sic] / but was buried at sea. / Funo Futi is heaven / to me, but hell for poor / Spevock, and the boys. / So Long / John Bartek."
ClassificationsMilitary Artifacts
Credit LineGift of John Bartek, 2005
Object number2005.10
DescriptionA military issue life vest of ochre yellow rubberized sturdy cotton canvas, in two layers. the vest fits over the wearer's head, with two large front panels, able to be inflated through two small gasket and tube nozzles located between the panels at the right and left hip. two short woven black cotton tug cords hang from the assemblies. A 1 1/4" sturdy cotton canvas webbing strip wraps around the wearer's waist and fastening with a buckle strap at the wearer's proper right side. An additional strip is sewn to the bottom front seam of the canvas panels and is meant to wrap between the wearer's legs, fastening with a loop and snap to the waist strap, keeping the vest from riding up around the wearer's face.Curatorial RemarksThe inscription on the vest, written in ballpoint ink by John Bartek, seems to indicate that he inscribed and gave the vest to hospital corpsman George Spevock to commemorate Bartek's rescue and Spevock's care for the surviving crew members of the 21-day ordeal. At some point, perhaps after Spevock's death in 2004, the vest was returned to Bartek, who then donated it to the Monmouth County Historical Association in 2005. Bartek visited the Association's headquarters several times between 2005 and 2006 to see the exhibition "Home Front." The exhibition explored the experiences of Monmouth County men, women and children during the Second World War.NotesJohn "Johnnie" Bartek was born on 30 August 1919 in Bayonne, New Jersey. The Bartek family moved to Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, when John was small. The family lived on Bannard Street. John's mother and father were both born in Czechoslovakia; Charles emigrated to the United States in 1905, while his mother Mary arrived in 1910. The couple married in 1915 and had five children: two girls and three boys, including John. In 1940, prior to enlisting, Bartek worked at the A & M Karagheusian Rug Mill on Jackson Street in Freehold as a "spare hand." His father Charles was also a Rug Mill employee. Johnnie Bartek enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940 at the age of 21. In October of 1942, Bartek was one of eight men on a B-17 aircraft flying across the Pacific on a secret mission. The plane sunk almost immediately, making it almost impossible to gather food or supplies. The men lashed three rubber rafts together, with Bartek ending up in one of the rafts with World War I flying ace Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. The men were adrift for three weeks, with only a few oranges for food. They were able to catch two seagulls, eating one and using the other as bait, which allowed them to catch a couple of fish and a shark. Bartek's life vest was used as the men's water storage container. The men were finally rescued and taken to the Pacific island of Funafuti. During World War II, the island was the location of a 76-bed military hospital, base, and airfield. After returning home, Bartek left the Army and sold war bonds, traveling the United States relating his dramatic experience, and wrote a book titled "My Raft Episode: 21 Days Adrift at Sea." After the war, Bartek attended photography school and became a photographer for the New Jersey State Police Department until he retired in 1985. The "Spevock" Bartek noted on his life vest was George Spevock of Rivesville, West Virginia. During World War II, Spevock was a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Marines and was stationed at Funafuti in 1942 when Bartek and his fellow survivors were brought to the base hospital.
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