John Chester Aloysius Charles Isermann was born in 1898 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Isermann joined the Coast Guard and trained at Great Lakes in Illinois in 1917. The U.S.S. Tuscarora was commissioned for naval use once the United States entered World War I. After the war, the Tuscarora was assigned to tow in derelict vessels along the east coast and visit ports on a Victory Tour. For this Victory Tour, the Tuscarora towed a German U-Boat 88 to various ports so citizens could tour the Tuscarora and the German U-Boat. In 1919, Isermann was transferred to the U.S.S. Seminole and finished his service, returning to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Within a few months, he had met Marie Ratigan, with whom he fell in love, and married in 1923, as detailed in his diary. Isermann died in 1989 and is buried in the All Saints Mausoleum in Kenosha, Wisconsin. John C. Isermann's son, John Isermann, Jr., served in the United States Navy in World War II.
