BENJAMIN GHETZLER, LT, USN

Benjamin Ghetzler '31

Date of birth: September 19, 1907

Date of death: October 31, 1941

Age: 34

Lucky Bag

From the 1931 Lucky Bag:

Benjamin Ghetzler

San Antonio, Texas

"Bennie"

In the first place Bennie was tired of toting a rifle. "This R. 0. T. C. business of raising dust over all the plains in Southern Texas was all right," soliloquized the future midshipman, "but a life on the bounding blue for mine. " Thereupon the carpet bag was packed, and a short time later there arrived at the gates of the Naval Academy this sunburned Texan. The high school military training stood him in good stead not only in his ability to show others the whys and wherefores of a rifle but also in his methods of keeping his room in order at all times, despite the invasions of his classmates.

Bennie's main joy in this life is arguing. He'll argue on or for anything that is capable of being debated, with anyone from his Dago prof to his long suffering roommate. This hobby does nothing more than bring out the real character of this son of Texas, who would rather read than go to a hop. He displayed enough savviness to get by at all times and to show others that anything he tackled was going to be done correctly.

Class Bowling 4, 3, 2, 1; Plebe Soccer; Class Handball 3, 2; Class Soccer 3; 1 P. O.

Benjamin Ghetzler

San Antonio, Texas

"Bennie"

In the first place Bennie was tired of toting a rifle. "This R. 0. T. C. business of raising dust over all the plains in Southern Texas was all right," soliloquized the future midshipman, "but a life on the bounding blue for mine. " Thereupon the carpet bag was packed, and a short time later there arrived at the gates of the Naval Academy this sunburned Texan. The high school military training stood him in good stead not only in his ability to show others the whys and wherefores of a rifle but also in his methods of keeping his room in order at all times, despite the invasions of his classmates.

Bennie's main joy in this life is arguing. He'll argue on or for anything that is capable of being debated, with anyone from his Dago prof to his long suffering roommate. This hobby does nothing more than bring out the real character of this son of Texas, who would rather read than go to a hop. He displayed enough savviness to get by at all times and to show others that anything he tackled was going to be done correctly.

Class Bowling 4, 3, 2, 1; Plebe Soccer; Class Handball 3, 2; Class Soccer 3; 1 P. O.

Loss

Benjamin was lost when USS Reuben James (DD 245) was sunk by a torpedo attack from German submarine U-552 near Iceland on October 31, 1941.

He had likely not been aboard Reuben James for very long; the April 1, 1941 Navy Directory lists him as aboard USS Goff (DD 247). A newspaper report says he was executive officer of the ship.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

In 1902 Ben's parents, Emanuel/Mendel and Peppa, and older brother Marselle immigrated from Romania to New York City. Benjamin was born in New York City as were his brother Fred and sisters Mary, Anne, and Silvia. Florence, Beatrice, and the twins Caroline and Arthur were born in Illinois. In 1910 his father was a lithographer in a factory. In 1920 he had his own photographer studio, and his brother Marselle was an engraver in San Antonio. Benjamin graduated from the Main Avenue High School (a military school) in San Antonio.
Benjamin had just married Katherine "Katie" Lindell on August 30, 1941 in Maine. She was a resident of Annapolis, Maryland, and they had just seen each other two weeks earlier.

He has a memory marker in Texas — its inscription reads in part "beloved son and brother."

Photographs

From The Times on November 5, 1941
From the San Antonio Evening News on October 31, 1941

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.