CHARLES H. CALLAWAY, LT, USN

Charles Callaway '24

Date of birth: November 9, 1904

Date of death: April 4, 1933

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1924 Lucky Bag:

CHARLES HOWARD CALLAWAY

Clarkesville, Georgia

"Cal"

THE cynosure of the hour, he sits on the edge of a table and pours forth his usual entertaining and laughter-inspiring line to his audience of classmates.

"Compare Kuzooka! Was I embarrassed?—Does a rose ever blush ?

"Why, when they called for couple number three to step forward and receive the prize, I just assumed that look-me-over-reporter posture, gave my girl my arm and up we went to receive the bouquet of cabbage leaves.

"Did they give a yell for me?—Nine rahs, Ash can."

"In the next 'Paul Jones' dance I got an awful brick and when the music stopped she gave me that who-shot-Sally look and said, 'You certainly dance divinely, Mr. Ash Can.'"

"Charlie" is not only our Touchstone, however; he is one of those who has his serious thoughts but does not burden his friends with them.

In short he is a typical Southerner, quite unassuming, seemingly unambitious, truly sportsmanlike and "a man for a' that".

Inter-Collegiate Duelling Sword Champion (3); Fencing Squad (4, 3, 2, 1); N (3), FNT (2); Class Baseball (4, 3, 2), Numerals (2); Class Football (1).

CHARLES HOWARD CALLAWAY

Clarkesville, Georgia

"Cal"

THE cynosure of the hour, he sits on the edge of a table and pours forth his usual entertaining and laughter-inspiring line to his audience of classmates.

"Compare Kuzooka! Was I embarrassed?—Does a rose ever blush ?

"Why, when they called for couple number three to step forward and receive the prize, I just assumed that look-me-over-reporter posture, gave my girl my arm and up we went to receive the bouquet of cabbage leaves.

"Did they give a yell for me?—Nine rahs, Ash can."

"In the next 'Paul Jones' dance I got an awful brick and when the music stopped she gave me that who-shot-Sally look and said, 'You certainly dance divinely, Mr. Ash Can.'"

"Charlie" is not only our Touchstone, however; he is one of those who has his serious thoughts but does not burden his friends with them.

In short he is a typical Southerner, quite unassuming, seemingly unambitious, truly sportsmanlike and "a man for a' that".

Inter-Collegiate Duelling Sword Champion (3); Fencing Squad (4, 3, 2, 1); N (3), FNT (2); Class Baseball (4, 3, 2), Numerals (2); Class Football (1).

Loss

Charles was lost when the airship USS Akron (ZRS 4) crashed off the coast of New Jersey on April 4, 1933.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Charles' wife was Helen Woodyard, and his son Charles, Jr., was born on June 7, 1927, in San Diego.
His father William was a farmer. HIs mother was Leslie, brothers Leslie and William, and sister Ellen.

He was survived by his wife, son, mother, and sister.

Photographs

From the Daily News on April 5, 1933

Video

Akron's executive officer, LCDR Herbert V. Wiley '15, one of only three survivors, was filmed shortly after the crash:

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.