BERNARD V. EEKHOUT, LT, USN
Bernard Eekhout '18
Lucky Bag
From the 1918 Lucky Bag:
BERNARD VANDERBILT EEKHOUT
Staten Island, New York
"Roody" "Bernie" "Sneakout"
THIS lad hails from Dongan Hills, Staten Island, don'tcherknow! By his own admission he had designs on this "Navy School" for about n years before he entered, and now, after three years' service, he is even more in love with the place.
From reliable sources of information up home, we know that "Boinard" is, by nature, a fusser; but ever since plebe summer he has been a stag by design. He attends all the functions, all right, but he lets the other fellows furnish the fair ones.
The "Crum" is generous, a splendid companion, and a friend you can anchor to. Of course, he has a few faults. Who hasn't? He loves to spend money too well, and he is somewhat irresponsible in regard to a certain set of regulations that we have around here. He also loves to cut photogravures of society buds from the picture section of the Sunday New York Times, and tack them on his locker door. Perhaps one of these accounts for his persistency in not dragging; we are not sure, though.
The V of Roody's name might just as well stand for versatile as Vanderbilt, because he is an extremely clever man. Being of a mechanical mind, with an additional weakness for exploring into everything he gets, his room resembles the storehouse of a combined clock and electric company. Radio, motor-cycles, automobiles, and boats are his necessities in life, and his knowledge of these things combined with the fact that he is a "natural savoir," make him a thoroughly practical man.
Athletically, he is just as well balanced as he is in other lines. In short, Eekhout is a well-rounded, capable man, a staunch friend, and his services to the class have been invaluable. We'll bet our last cent that he makes a corking good officer.
"Where's my Motorcycle Magazine?"
"Ah-h! As I live—the 'lovely' Snapper!"
Football Numerals (4); Swimming Team (4, 3, 2); Class Swimming Champion (4, 3); Expert Rifleman; Class Ring Committee; Class Supper Committee; Class Pin Committee; Lucky Bag Staff.
The Class of 1918 was graduated on June 28, 1917 due to World War I.
BERNARD VANDERBILT EEKHOUT
Staten Island, New York
"Roody" "Bernie" "Sneakout"
THIS lad hails from Dongan Hills, Staten Island, don'tcherknow! By his own admission he had designs on this "Navy School" for about n years before he entered, and now, after three years' service, he is even more in love with the place.
From reliable sources of information up home, we know that "Boinard" is, by nature, a fusser; but ever since plebe summer he has been a stag by design. He attends all the functions, all right, but he lets the other fellows furnish the fair ones.
The "Crum" is generous, a splendid companion, and a friend you can anchor to. Of course, he has a few faults. Who hasn't? He loves to spend money too well, and he is somewhat irresponsible in regard to a certain set of regulations that we have around here. He also loves to cut photogravures of society buds from the picture section of the Sunday New York Times, and tack them on his locker door. Perhaps one of these accounts for his persistency in not dragging; we are not sure, though.
The V of Roody's name might just as well stand for versatile as Vanderbilt, because he is an extremely clever man. Being of a mechanical mind, with an additional weakness for exploring into everything he gets, his room resembles the storehouse of a combined clock and electric company. Radio, motor-cycles, automobiles, and boats are his necessities in life, and his knowledge of these things combined with the fact that he is a "natural savoir," make him a thoroughly practical man.
Athletically, he is just as well balanced as he is in other lines. In short, Eekhout is a well-rounded, capable man, a staunch friend, and his services to the class have been invaluable. We'll bet our last cent that he makes a corking good officer.
"Where's my Motorcycle Magazine?"
"Ah-h! As I live—the 'lovely' Snapper!"
Football Numerals (4); Swimming Team (4, 3, 2); Class Swimming Champion (4, 3); Expert Rifleman; Class Ring Committee; Class Supper Committee; Class Pin Committee; Lucky Bag Staff.
The Class of 1918 was graduated on June 28, 1917 due to World War I.
Loss
Bernard was lost on January 28, 1920, when he died of injuries sustained when the airplane he was piloting crashed near Guantanamo, Cuba. He was assigned aviation duty aboard the battleship Nevada.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
His plane was a single seater Nieuport.
In August, 1904, Bernard and his mother traveled from Liverpool to New York City on the S. S. Arabic. In the 1910 census, Bernard was listed as Bernard Morton, and he had a stepbrother John, Jr., age 4.
In June, 1913, Bernard graduated from the Polytechnic Preparatory. In 1911, he belonged to the Beta Pi fraternity, Alpha Chapter. He then studied at Columbia University.
In 1914, Bernard received a bequest of $1,500 per year during his minority from George Washington Vanderbilt’s estate.
Bernard’s engagement to Hortense Rigley was announced ten days before his death.
His father, who was born in Scotland, was a prominent lawyer. His mother Faith (her mother Clara was a Vanderbilt) was granddaughter of Col. Jacob Hand Vanderbilt, the only brother of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. His stepfather John Morton was a chemist.
Bernard is buried in New York; he was survived by his mother.
Photographs
From the 1918 Lucky Bag
Photo taken in 1911. Located by researcher Kathy Franz
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.
March 1918
January 1919
January 1920
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