Sargent expanded his research to neighboring communities, working with local historical societies as well as municipal and federal agencies. His growing Memorial Project has ferreted out photos, facts, and other archival material often unknown even to surviving families and relatives, with whom he freely reaches out to share what he’s found.
Samuel “Sonny” Rosen died on Dec. 18, 1944, when his ship, the USS Spence, was sunk in the Philippines. He left a wife in the states, who was three months pregnant with a boy he’d never meet. Nearly 80 years later, that boy is Eric Rosen. Eric went on to a career as a lawyer and, overtime, with help from his father’s family, was able to acquire more knowledge and artifacts related to his father.
In 2023, Rosen received a letter from Sargent, who had found additional information about the late Sonny Rosen. For Eric, Matthew Sargent’s dogged research uncovered that his late father had earned a commendation for helping a risky rescue at sea…