1.  Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1938 (online at familysearch.org):

Name	Walter Morris Straub
Event Date	06 Dec 1919
Event Place	Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Gender	Male
Father's Name	Walter Morris Straub
Mother's Name	Margaret Tinsley Haslup
GS Film Number	1309347
Reference ID	43329

2.  1920 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com):  can't find Walter or his parents.  We know his parents were in Baltimore, MD, in 1918; Bronx, NY, in 1922; and Brooklyn, NY, in 1924.

3.  1930 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com):  can't find Walter's father, though he is said to be deceased.  His twice-divorced mother is living with her parents in Baltimore, MD.  Why is Walter not living with his mother?  Was he sent away to school?

4.  1940 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #36 of 48):  Bancroft Hall, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis City, Anne Arundel Co., MD, Roll: T627_1502, p. 133B, Line 49, SN 18B, SD 5, ED 2-33-A, enumerated 16 Apr 1940:, official enumeration date 1 Apr 1940 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

1940:  for an explanation of the column headings, please see What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).
NAME		PERSONAL				EDUCATION			BIRTHPLACE		RESIDENCE in 1935				EMPLOYMENT STATUS
7		9	10	11	12	13	14		15		17	19	20		21		28	29	30		31	32	33
Straub Walter M		M	W	20	S	Y	C-1		Illinois		Ventnor	New Jersey	N		Y		Midshipman	US Navy	GW		52	780	Y

5.  Find-a-Grave: Entries (online at findagrave.com):

Name	LtJG Walter Morris Straub
Birth	unknown, Baltimore, MD
Death	Nov. 13, 1942, at sea
Bio	Walter served as a Lieutenant Junior Grade, USS Atlanta (CL-51), U.S. Navy during World War II.  He resided in Baltimore, Maryland, priot to the war.  He was declared "missing in Action" when the Atlanta was sunk during the Naval Battle fo Guadalcanal during the war.  He was awarded a Purple Heart. Service #O-123580.  (Bio. by Russ Pickett)
Note	Entered the service from Maryland.
Plot	Tablets of the Missing
Burial	Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Manila, Philippines
Mother	Mrs. M.E. Straub
Memorial #	56774135; created by CWGC/ABMC, 8 Aug 2010

6a.  Navy Department.  Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.  United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (online at Ancestry.com and GenealogyBank.com):

Date	Page	Line	Class	Name	Appointed from—	Date of admission
1 July 1939	423	555	Midshipman - 3rd Class	Walter Morris Straub	Md	15 July 38
1 July 1940	428	500	Midshipman - 2nd Class	Walter Morris Straub	Md	15 July 38
1 July 1941	434	489	Midshipman - 1st Class	Walter Morris Straub	Md	15 July 38

6b.  Navy Department.  Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.  United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (online at Ancestry.com and GenealogyBank.com):

Date	Page	No. in grade	Signal No.	Name	Special courses and qualification	Date of  temporary rank	Permanent status
							Rank	Date of rank
1 July 1942	292	469	8279	Walter Morris Straub			Ensign	19 Dec 41

7.  Navy Department.  1946.  Combat Connected Naval Casualties:  World War II, by States.  Rev. Ed.  Casualty Section, Office of Public Information, USN (online at Ancestry.com):

State	Status	Vol	Pg	Entry
Maryland	Dead	I	11	STRAUB, Walter Morris, Lieutenant (jg), USN, Mother, Mrs. M.E. Straub, 400 N. Charles St., Baltimore.

8.  Anon.  30 Nov 1942.  "Navy Officer Here Who Warned Over War Dies in Action."  Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph (Pittsburg, PA) (names abstracted and posted on www.carnegielibrary.org): 

Lt. (j.g.) Walter M. Straub.  Mrs. Margaret Straub.  Mrs. Edna Straub Whitesell.  Miss Frieda Straub.  Walter M. Straub.

It would clearly be worthwhile obtaining a copy of this article.  Even with just this excerpt, the article is important because it confirms that our subject definitely is the Walter Morris STRAUB born in 1919 in Chicago to this Walter & Margaret STRAUB because Edna (STRAUB) WHITESELL is the senior Walter's sister (our subject's aunt).

9.  "Walter M. Straub."  American Battle Monuments Commission (online at www.abmc.gov):

Walter M. Straub Lieutenant Junior Grade, U.S. Navy United States Navy Entered the Service From: Maryland Service #: 0-123580 Date of Death: November 13, 1942 Wars or Conflicts: World War II Memorialized:   Tablets of the Missing   Manila American Cemetery   Manila, Philippines Awards: Purple Heart

10.  Anon.  Monday, 20 Sep 1943.  "Nine Vessels Are Launched in U.S."  State Times Advocate (Baton Rouse, LA), p. 4 (online at GenealogyBank.com):

Same Associated Press article published on the same date in the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), p. 31, and the Springfield Republican (Springfield, MA), p. 2.

11.  Messages posted to the STRAUB Surname Board (online at Ancestry.com).

12.  Public Member Trees (online at Ancestry.com).