Doing this research has been a very rewarding experience. When I started out on this journey I had no idea I would get this far. It makes me wonder, how many other things are within reach to those who are looking for opportunity.

This is a story that needed to be told. For years, the interests of my family in knowing the truth about Stewart ran counter to the interests of national security. I found out for instance, that men assigned to the Liberty Ships were told not to take pictures of their ships nor to keep a diary for fear such information might fall into enemy hands. This makes sense during war but makes it difficult for researchers to do their work later.

To date, I have not yet located a picture of the SS Samuel Heintzelman, a ship that was built and destroyed in less than one year. Who knows, there may never have been a picture taken of the ship during the mere ten months of its existence. 

This sketch drawn on the bottom of a letter sent home
by Deck Cadet John Norton Stewart may be the only
image that exists of the SS Samuel Heintzelman. See his biography.

Allied commanders certainly knew that the ship must have exploded after being hit but revealing the ships cargo and therefore the reason for the loss of the ship would have run counter to national security interests even years after the sinking.

My family was devastated by the lack of knowledge concerning Stewart. The original "missing in action" letter did nothing to ease this situation. The document misspells Stewarts last name, names the Pacific as the theater of action and does not specify the date when the ship actually went down. For years, this is all my family knew about the fate of the SS Samuel Heintzelman.

What I have hoped to accomplished, was to undo the pain caused to my family by the lack of knowledge concerning Stewart's fate. I have attempted to get close to Stewart by following his footsteps. Finally, I wanted to "bring him home again" by making him real and by understanding what he went through all those years ago.

If you are a Heintzelman family member please let me know that you have seen the web site and heard the story. If you want to send me a photo of your relative and a short biography I would be happy to  add a page honoring your family's hero on this web site. Whatever you do please please let me know about your visit so I can properly track the families I have heard from. 

Thank You, 
Eric Andersen
Contact Me

As always, when new information is found this web page will be updated.

This is a 
 story that 
 needed 
to be 
told. 

please 
let me know 
 about your 
 visit 
to this 
website 

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