[William H. Warren]      

My aunt's first husband Henry Warren died in the fire.  She (Connie Warren) was dancing at the CG that night. He worked for NCR and volunteered to cover the register  to be with her.  Connie escaped via the stage door. Henry did not make it.  My mother , Connie's sister lived with the grief from that event all her life.  She was scheduled to dance that night, but asked my aunt to take her place.

[Martin Breen]

My grandfather Martin Breen was killed in the fire. My mother was 4 years old at the time. Her name was Joan Houde (Breen). She passed away this past February. My grandfather was a bartender in the Melody Lounge according to my mother’s memory from back then. She told us that he was taken to Boston City Hospital alive but died soon after. I do have some pictures of him bartending at the grove I believe if you would be interested in those. I often wonder about what he was like and what he went through that night.

[S. Joseph Melick, Jr]

On November 28, 1942, my father, S. Joseph Melick, Jr., was home on leave from the Army Air Force, and went into Boston to have some fun. In the summertimes before the war, Dad had been a volunteer firefighter in Wells Beach, Maine; and when Dad heard the sirens from the fire trucks Dad headed over to see what was going on. As he arrived at the scene, someone told him "hey, Soldier -- we need help over here." Dad ended up helping to take quite a few people out of the building, some alive but certainly some who were dead.

 

Growing up, I remember the fire being mentioned in our house, but Dad never said a word about it. It was only after Dad died in March of 2009 that his younger brother Richard told Dad's story at his memorial service; and it was then that I truly understood why the fathers of my contemporaries who, unlike Dad, saw combat in World War II never liked to talk about their experiences. How could Dad have ever put into words, to me, what he saw and did that night?"

[Robert B. Charles and Gladys K. Charles]

Bob Charles was my father's (William A. Faragher, deceased) best friend. They grew up in Oak Park, IL together. The story, as told to me by my Dad, is that Bob and Gladys were celebrating the upcoming birth of their child at the Cocoanut Grove on that fateful night. She was 9 months pregnant and ready to deliver any minute. Her advanced pregnancy prevented them from attending my parents wedding on November 14th. Bob was to have been my Dad's Best Man. Such a horrific tragedy. So, in our minds, the list of casualties will always include one, "Baby Charles". And finally, as you might imagine, it is no coincidence that my name is Robert Charles. Just thought I would share this with you as I reflect today.

[Jesse Duncan Elliott Jr and Marion M. Elliott]

I am one of the 11 "children" who were orphaned on Nov. 28, 1942.  It has taken me 60-70 years to learn more about my family.  I was given an "assignment" by the Lord to write a biography about my parents.  All I had to go on was a scrapbook of my father's father.  I wrote what I was able to find out and published it, bound it, and passed it out to my children (who have never cracked the cover).  A bright friend of my husband asked if he could read it.  I was happy for him to do so.  After he finished it, he asked: "Do you know WHY your father was in Boston?" (I was living in San Antonio, TX).  I had to confess that I did not really know.  Our friend told me that my father had fought in the Naval Battle of Casablanca and his ship, the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa, had put in to Boston Harbor for repairs.  Even his NARA records did not have any mention of this.  I am 72 and was FLOORED by this information.....also, ticked off that it meant doing more research and probably writing a Vol. II :).  I began reading about the battle and found Samuel Eliot Morrison's "History of U.S. Naval Operations in WWII", a TWELVE volume history published in 1947!  Of course it was out of print, but the Lord led me to a used volume.  As I read about the battle, I suddenly was flooded with tears.  The RENOWNED naval historian Samuel Eliot Morrison quoted MY FATHER - a 27 year old "baby" naval aviator.  I was overcome that the Lord would allow me to find this rare book and to see my father's name in it!  I did contact NARA and get the "Action Reports" (which I had never heard of). My father was senior aviator (had no idea) so he authored/signed almost every daily report of the battle action.  When I received them, I felt as if I had been given a letter from my father after 70 years.  It was a tremendous blessing.

B.A. 11/19/2012

[Jean Levy]

My Dad Max Taitel wrote the following: ""Jennie (Max's sister also known as Jean) married Maurice Levy in March of 1942, and they lived in an apartment on Seaver St. in Roxbury , Mass. -- but her life ended tragically when she died eight months later in the terrible Coconut Grove Fire in Boston in November of 1942.  They had planned a night at this popular night club to celebrate Max's graduation from Officer's Candidate School.  Max's leave was cancelled at the last minute and they decided to celebrate anyway, which turned out to be a fatal decision.

N.T. 11/18/2012

My mother was across the street from the Grove, on the Statler Roof where BC was holding a ""Consolation Dance"" after their football defeat.

She went to nine funerals the week after the fire.

She went to Regis College, and the Monday after the fire, a priest who taught them religion came in with banged fingers on his right hand. He had second- degree burns from anointing the dead outside the club, their flesh being that hot.

Also her good friend there, Polly Sharby of Keene NH, lost her father and brother there, and her mother who survived, never recovered mentally.

In 1982 when I was in school, I did a paper on the Grove fire, and have several detailed written interviews with survivors and others. I also have several AP original prints of morgue crowds. I'd glad to donate them.

C.M. 11/14/2012

I have an old scrap book put together by a prisoner at Charlestown State Prison (which no longer exists) but this glued together scrap book has every newspaper clipping about the fire. The prisoner kept busy doing this it is authentic and gave it to my grandfather who gave it to me. 

My Grandfather Frank Graves who was Deputy Warden of the State prison at that time.

My father-in-law, Marshall Cole, was given your story about the Cocoanut Grove fire and is interested in getting in touch with the people who are looking into the fire. 

He was a young dancer performing at the Cocoanut Grove on the night of the fire and has some interesting stories to tell.

In the 1980's I was contracted by HBO to do a series of TV docu dramas based on Famous American Disasters. One of the them was the Coconut Grove Fire. Our docu drama was based on the facts but did invent 2 characters to make the drama more personal. Since there is very little docu footage of the fire we created almost all of the scenes with our actors. There is a short video of a young woman who was a victim and we did use stills from the Boston Globe archives. 

We created the exterior of the CG in Allston; we did the interior inside the Wonderland Ballroom in Revere. The medical scenes were done at Boston City Hospital (its name back then) in the actual rooms where the CG victims were taken after the disaster. It was not being used at the time and they allowed us in. We published a book based on the 5 docu dramas we did but it never really sold. I have a few copies and would be pleased to donate those along with a DVD of the docu drama to you.... if there is any interest in a docu drama. One other thing, we used Paul Bensaquin (sp??) a local radio personality who had written a book about the fire, as our "expert" We produced the architectural layout of the CG for the book. We believed it was the first time that had been done.

I have the original art work which I would be pleased to donate also.