I believe that Chester Louis Lipa may be my third cousin once removed. The fact that his holy card was in the possession of M.E.'s mother and shares our Lipa surname in common leads me to believe there is a family connection. I'm working on getting confirmation on just what that connection is.In the mean time, I'd like to know more about Chester's military service. I have very limited experience in military records research. I'm wondering how I can find out more about his death. M.E.'s mother seems to remember that he died while stationed in Hawaii prior to his deployment to Korea during the Korean War. That's really all I have to go on. Would the state of Hawaii have his death certificate if in fact he died while stationed there? Will the USMC give me any information about him given that I'm not a direct descendent? Which way do I go here?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
On this Veteran's Day I'd like to acknowledge and thank Chester for serving our country. I hope that by next Memorial Day I can write a fitting tribute to him with information about his time in the United States Marine Corps.
