Waters Men in the Navy

With a name like 'Waters,' when it's time to join the military, you'd go with the obvious: the Navy. And that's what my Great-Uncles did. Milton, Lewis (LC), and Jack Waters all enlisted in the Navy and, I believe, served throughout World War II.

I don't have much to go on aside from family stories, photographs, and grave markers. Unlike army records, which seem to abound on sites such as Footnote and Ancestry, Navy records are relatively scarce. Ancestry has been working to expand its collection of Navy Cruise Books, but so far I haven't found my Great-Uncles. Also, information seems a little hard to request without information on the sailor's service details. Because of this, and because these men aren't on my direct line, I haven't been able to find much information on them.

Here's what I do know:

Milton Waters (1916, GA -1966, FL) served in both the Marines and the Navy (this based on photos). I believe that he enlisted before the war. His grave lists his rank as AOM3 in the Navy for WWII (I don't know what that means and I'm having trouble finding information on Navy Ranks and Rates).

Lewis Cranford (LC) Waters (1920 - 1978, GA) served in the Navy. I can't find his tombstone and don't have any information on his rate. I do have photos of him from his ship. It seems that he served on the USS Barney, which at one time was docked in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There, the crew took a bunch of photos. An arm patch in one photo, indicates that he was a Petty Officer 3rd Class.

Jack Franklin Waters (1924 - 1961, GA) also served in the Navy for WWII. According to his gravestone, he was a S2 in the Navy Reserves for South Carolina. Aside from his grave, I only have one photo to give hint to his service.

I'd like to find more information on my Great-Uncles and their, but I don't have information such as service numbers and dates of service, which appear to be required to obtain information from the National Archives. I'm hoping that as online databases expand their records, they will put more emphasis on military branches besides the army.

If anyone has advice on researching Navy veterans, I'd love to hear it.