CAREY A. ARTHUR, LTJG, USN
Carey Arthur '79
Lucky Bag
From the 1979 Lucky Bag:
Carey Allan Arthur
Wayne, New Jersey
"My enemy is hopelessness, my ally honest doubt" - H. Chapin
The four years at Annapolis have taken Carey further away from the things he left behind than distance can describe, but the horizons he discovered during those four years speak well of his adaptability and his appetite for life. His newfound talents range from acting in movies to sailing and driving exotic foreign cars (“Say, what is that you’re driving?). Known for his late-night talks and early morning walks, he soon became an expert on the Naval Academy subway system. His strong sense of commitment revealed itself early and repeatedly especially with those long trip to Radford. Carey’s willingness to lend an ear or a hand will be remembered by those few who knew him well.
Some people hear, other people listen.
Carey Allan Arthur
Wayne, New Jersey
"My enemy is hopelessness, my ally honest doubt" - H. Chapin
The four years at Annapolis have taken Carey further away from the things he left behind than distance can describe, but the horizons he discovered during those four years speak well of his adaptability and his appetite for life. His newfound talents range from acting in movies to sailing and driving exotic foreign cars (“Say, what is that you’re driving?). Known for his late-night talks and early morning walks, he soon became an expert on the Naval Academy subway system. His strong sense of commitment revealed itself early and repeatedly especially with those long trip to Radford. Carey’s willingness to lend an ear or a hand will be remembered by those few who knew him well.
Some people hear, other people listen.
Loss
Carey was lost on November 17, 1981 when his S-3A Viking crashed short of USS Nimitz (CVN 68) approximately 70 miles northwest of Sicily. He was a member of Air Anti-Submarine Squadron (VS) 24.
Other Information
From the March 1982 issue of Shipmate:
Lt. (jg) Carey Allan Arthur was killed on November 17 in the crash of a Viking ASW aircraft from NIMITZ in the Mediterranean Sea.
Carey was a lifelong resident of Wayne, New Jersey. At Wayne Hills High School he was co-captain of the wrestling team and president of the Ecology Club. He was an Eagle Scout and was active in scouting programs wherever he was stationed.
Appointed to the Naval Academy after graduation from high school, Carey was assigned to the 22nd Company. At graduation he was awarded the Frederick L. Sawyer Prize for outstanding achievement in the study of economics. He was active with the sailing team and helped return the Academy's sailboat ALLIANCE across the Atlantic after the Fastnet Races.
Carey was designated a naval flight officer in 1980 and reported for duty with Air Anti- Submarine Squadron 41 at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, California. Last August he was assigned to the Air Wing VS-24 at Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Florida, and joined the crew of NIMITZ.
He is survived by his parents, Dr. and Mrs. E. Foster Arthur of Wayne, New Jersey; a brother, Raymond Lawrence Arthur of Wayne; and his maternal grandmother, Evelyn Fleming, of Raleigh, North Carolina. His paternal uncle is Capt. Charles Snowden Arthur USN (Ret.) '38.
From The Record of Hackensack, NJ on November 19, 1981:
He was a passionate ocean sailor, and he loved flying, so he became a U.S. naval aviator....
He joined the Nimitz in August after completing flight training in Pensacola, Fla., and qualifying as a naval flight officer. His mother, Anne Arthur, said he was pleased with his duties on the four-man crew of the S-3A Viking, a twin-engine jet attached to Air Anti-Submarine Squadron 24.
He'd just received his Duty Cat patch, awarded after 10 day and six night landings on the carrier. His main complaint about life aboard ship was that he slept just below the catapult and needed earplugs to fall asleep.
"That was his passion; he loved the ocean.” Lt. Arthur's mother.
The cause of Tuesday afternoon's crash about 70 miles northwest of Sicily, which killed all four crew members on board, is still unknown. Navy officials told the Arthur family that the plane was flying about 50 feet above the water when its nose dropped and it plunged into the sea.
Carey has a memorial marker at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Burlington, N.C.
Photographs
From "Heroes of the US Naval Academy"
Related Articles
Philip Reed '65 and Douglas Deem '76 were also killed in this crash.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
