ARTHUR P. THURSTON, LT, USN

Arthur Thurston '19

Date of birth: October 27, 1895

Date of death: December 10, 1924

Age: 29

Lucky Bag

From the 1919 Lucky Bag:

Arthur Piers Thurston

Orange, New Jersey

PETE is one of the charter members of the 8-W gang: "We want what we want when we want it." For instance, he got three stripes. Now we won't accuse him of wanting them, but he got them anyhow, and now that he doesn't care for them.

This wild and wooly specimen has been petted and made much of for so long that he is beginning to believe the blandishments of his admiring friends. Well, we don't blame him, we would too, under similar circumstances. He rarely ever drags outside of his own family, mainly because he finds nearer approaches to a 4.0 there than he can on the outside.

Pete has given evidence of his ability along business lines in his handling of Reef Points and the Christmas Carnival. Yet he never indulges in the usual pleasures of the bald-headed T.B.M. (Crabtown is not on the Big Time.)

"Shoot the nickel, shoot the V, shoot the ten—aw, shoot the Liberty Bond." This is how Pete waxeth warm under the persuasive influence of the impinging ivory cubes. Plebe and Youngster years Piers played football on the scrubs, but with the arrival of First Class year, three stripes, etc., he doffed his moleskins in favor of a sword-belt—said article of attire being considered a snarky addition. Now he has developed into a social lion. His particular circle of scintillation is the O. W. faction out in town. Many others have felt their lure, but to Pete belongs the High-Chair. He is King.

In spite of the worry caused by the early morning oscillations of one of his file-closers in an attempt to impersonate the eight, Pete has preserved his good-nature. He is not a member of the "Gimmie, Let me have, Have you got" club, but on the contrary is always heard saying, "Are you sure that will be enough?"

Honors: Three Stripes; Plebe Football Team; Football Squad 3; Business Manager Reef Points 1; Lucky Bag Staff; Business Manager Christmas Carnival 1.

The Class of 1919 was graduated on June 6, 1918 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Arthur Piers Thurston

Orange, New Jersey

PETE is one of the charter members of the 8-W gang: "We want what we want when we want it." For instance, he got three stripes. Now we won't accuse him of wanting them, but he got them anyhow, and now that he doesn't care for them.

This wild and wooly specimen has been petted and made much of for so long that he is beginning to believe the blandishments of his admiring friends. Well, we don't blame him, we would too, under similar circumstances. He rarely ever drags outside of his own family, mainly because he finds nearer approaches to a 4.0 there than he can on the outside.

Pete has given evidence of his ability along business lines in his handling of Reef Points and the Christmas Carnival. Yet he never indulges in the usual pleasures of the bald-headed T.B.M. (Crabtown is not on the Big Time.)

"Shoot the nickel, shoot the V, shoot the ten—aw, shoot the Liberty Bond." This is how Pete waxeth warm under the persuasive influence of the impinging ivory cubes. Plebe and Youngster years Piers played football on the scrubs, but with the arrival of First Class year, three stripes, etc., he doffed his moleskins in favor of a sword-belt—said article of attire being considered a snarky addition. Now he has developed into a social lion. His particular circle of scintillation is the O. W. faction out in town. Many others have felt their lure, but to Pete belongs the High-Chair. He is King.

In spite of the worry caused by the early morning oscillations of one of his file-closers in an attempt to impersonate the eight, Pete has preserved his good-nature. He is not a member of the "Gimmie, Let me have, Have you got" club, but on the contrary is always heard saying, "Are you sure that will be enough?"

Honors: Three Stripes; Plebe Football Team; Football Squad 3; Business Manager Reef Points 1; Lucky Bag Staff; Business Manager Christmas Carnival 1.

The Class of 1919 was graduated on June 6, 1918 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

Arthur was lost on December 10, 1924 when the aircraft he was aboard crashed into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California. Four others aboard were also killed.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Per The Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1924:

H R. Davenport, aviation machinist’s mate, survived the crash and later told his story. The plane was nose-heavy and hard to handle. She went into a left turn and then a spin. Lieut. Varini applied the left control, but the left wing failed to respond.
“Davenport said that Lieut. Arthur P. Thurston, assistant pilot of the plane, seemed to sense that Lieut. Giochino Varini, chief pilot, was in trouble as the latter was frantically manipulating the controls. Lieut. Thurston, Davenport said, grabbed the dual control wheel and looked at the first pilot the moment the plane went into a spin at an altitude of about 1200 feet.
“Lieut. Varini seemed to feel that Lieut. Thurston wanted to help,” the injured man said, “But Varini shook his head. The chief pilot retained the controls until the plane crashed. Lieut. Thurston did not grab the control from Lieut. Varini.”

All members of Arthur’s family were born in Canada except his last sister Lois who was born in New Jersey in 1908. In 1900, the family lived in Chicago, and shortly thereafter moved to Orange, New Jersey. His parents owned a summer cottage on the Dunes in Westhampton Beach, New York. Arthur was well known there and was a good friend of Lieut. E. L. Erickson who died on October 27, 1922, in a crash of a JN-4 at Hampton Roads.
In October, 1910, Arthur and his mother entered horses in the annual Horse Show held on the grounds of the Montclair Athletic Club in New Jersey. He graduated from South Orange High School in May, 1913. Arthur read his chemistry thesis at graduation, and he and a classmate gave the class history at the class evening held two nights earlier. Arthur was also in the senior play “The Wrong Mr. Wright.”
Arthur’s father Charles was president of the Thurston Fruit Company of New York City. His mother was Lena, and brothers were Lisle and Charles, Jr. His sisters were Bernice (Mrs. John G. Schultze), Ruth (Mrs. Arthur Herbert Brook, Montclair,) Iris (Mrs. Elliot D. Fox, Essex Falls,) Lois, and Doris (one was Mrs. Thomas W. Dennison, Jr., Verona; and the other was Mrs. John L. Peterson, D. C.)

He is buried in New Jersey.

Photographs

From The Los Angeles Times on December 11, 1924

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.