"Wee Vee" Vets Visit West Virginia-- Part 1: Will the Real Carl Newton Please Stand Up?

From the September 28, 2012, West Virginia Gazette Mail.

Eleven former crew members of the battleship attended the reunion.  "Wee Vee" was the name sailors used referring to the ship.

One was Anthony Reiter of St. Paul, Minnesota.  Joseph Variot, 83, was on the ship at the end of the war.  The ship was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay because it had been at Pearl Harbor during the opening attack.

Joseph Variot joined the Navy at age 15 using a friend's birth certificate.  He was assigned to the USS West Virginia in 1944 at age 16 under the name Carl Wayne Newton.  The battleship was being restored and refitted from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when he joined.

After the Battle of Surigao Strait, he became aware of his mortality and came clean about his age and name so his parents could claim the insurance and benefits if something happened to him.

More to Come.  --GreGen