How to find U.S.N. Navy veteran names, etc.?

I was sorting through my jewlery tonight, and re-discovered a bracelet I bought from eBay 10 years ago. It has a man's name, SSN# (I think; the last part only has 2 digits), and "U.S.N." engraved on it. On the back, it is engraved with dates : July 16, 1942-July 15, 1948.  It's silver, with a snake's head at one end. I seem to remember the seller said it may have been American Indian, bought in Arizona, then engraved. This may be true; my Dad said once said something about getting off the train in Arizona (while in the Army/after WWII release), and Indians had set up stalls on the platform, selling Fred Harvey silver jewelry. 

It's too late to ask the seller about it.

The problem is, this man's name is very common. I tried searching for his name and middle initial in Arizona, and some age-appropriate names pop up, but it's one of those stupid "you gotta pay to really find out" sites. I tried a few Navy sites, but found nothing matching.  I tried searching the SSN#, to no avail.  Does anyone know of FREE sites I can search? Again, I'm not sure his home state was Arizona. Thanks!

Are you comfortable PMing me the information on the bracelet? I have a friend with a few paid accounts on some geneology sites that can look that kind of thing up. I can ask her if she's willing to take a look. 

My dad fought in WWII and I found his name in this database, don't know if it will help you: http://aad.archives.gov/aad/

The number might not be a SSN, people used to keep those to themselves probably wouldn't put it on a bracelet any more than you would your bank account number, but maybe it's his enlistment number?

LOL, my dad (a Navy vet) puts his SSN on everything (tools, bags, etc.). But since a couple numbers are missing it's probably something else.

ETA: I asked him, and he said that back then the Navy assigned you a number that wasn't your SSN. He thinks it was called a service number.

Thanks, Willowy! I asked DH (himself a veteran) and it is called the service # (name, rank & serial number!), as you said.

I tried the National Archives, as SwampWitch suggested, but those 2 names don't seem to be it--1 is from the Army; the other is a civilian. Drat.

My suggestion would be to contact a media outlet such as a news paper or a TV news station.  They often have resources that could help. Plus they love stories like this.... people being reunited with long lost things.

You could also contact the museum and ask if they would know how to go about locating more information.  They too have resources because they often trace things back to original sources.

An auction house is another go to place where they have ways of locating original owners of things in order to verify it's authenticity.