Several things to note about this:

1. Most importantly is the date--November 5, 1942--just two years and a half years after arriving in the United States. I knew that service in the armed forces could accelerate eligibilty, but wasn't sure by how much. This is 1 1/2 years after his induction. This was due to provisions of the Second War Powers Act of 1942 and Dad was apparently one of 109,382 foreign born member of the military to be naturalized.

2. Called his eyes brown and his hair blonde. Usually we have seen him as having hazel eyes and light brown hair!

3. Height is listed as 5' 5". I doubt that he wasn't at his full height, but I've always thought of him as 5'7".

4. He is shown as married. I haven't looked at the divorce papers, but I've always wondered when he actually married Alice Joseph.

5. Dad was stationed at Ft. Barrancas, Florida, at the time, and the certificate was issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northen District of Florida.

On the back side of the naturalization certificate, I found that Dad changed his name officially at the same time. He had already been using this name. Certainly see it as soon as the fall of 1940 and his army papers were always in that name form his draft card on.