CONRAD A. KREZ, LT, USN

Conrad Krez '16

Date of birth: September 29, 1894

Date of death: August 26, 1924

Age: 29

Lucky Bag

From the 1916 Lucky Bag:

Conrad Adolph Krez

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Doc" "General" "Kreeze"

DOC roomed with the departed Molly for three years and bore up nobly, be it said to his credit. But even this soothing influence could not for long keep him out of the eye as an orator of no mean talent and as a target for Special Paps. Poor Doc has spent a vast portion of his four years afloat, which in most cases would bring about a marked decrease in class standing, but it doesn't seem to phase the General at all. On the contrary, he has always stood well in spite of the setbacks of this and like nature.

Where he shines principally though, is in his ability to heave the hop. As a walla-walla dispenser he is without a peer, and is deservedly famous for his accomplishment. He could persuade a militant suff that women have no rights at all, to speak of; or he could as rapidly make an anti blush with confusion over her unrighteous viewpoint. No subject can be suggested on which Doc has not the most decided opinions—either way, at will; and he can speak with unfaltering tongue for hours at a time without once repeating himself—which makes him valuable as a staller at the Eleventh Company banquets. Do not conclude that this is the General's sole claim to a place in the sun. He has always been an enthusiastic fusser, absolutely tireless; but during his First Class Year he has embraced his opportunities to their fullest extent—with concentration, however, not indiscriminately—which certainly is commendable.

The General's chief pride is his coiffure—and he keeps it in an up-to-the-minute state of cultivation by countless tonics, restorers, violet waters, and knit caps. Whether his destination is a hop or a gym drill, the swimming tank or a tea-fight, his motto is ironclad: "A place for each hair and each hair in its place."

But we are sure that when Doc leaves the clutches of the Discipline Department he will make up for the many shackles that they have imposed upon him and forge ahead. He has all of the requirements of a good officer and all depends on his application of them.

Buzzard; Clean Sleeve; Reina Squad (2, 1).

Conrad Adolph Krez

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Doc" "General" "Kreeze"

DOC roomed with the departed Molly for three years and bore up nobly, be it said to his credit. But even this soothing influence could not for long keep him out of the eye as an orator of no mean talent and as a target for Special Paps. Poor Doc has spent a vast portion of his four years afloat, which in most cases would bring about a marked decrease in class standing, but it doesn't seem to phase the General at all. On the contrary, he has always stood well in spite of the setbacks of this and like nature.

Where he shines principally though, is in his ability to heave the hop. As a walla-walla dispenser he is without a peer, and is deservedly famous for his accomplishment. He could persuade a militant suff that women have no rights at all, to speak of; or he could as rapidly make an anti blush with confusion over her unrighteous viewpoint. No subject can be suggested on which Doc has not the most decided opinions—either way, at will; and he can speak with unfaltering tongue for hours at a time without once repeating himself—which makes him valuable as a staller at the Eleventh Company banquets. Do not conclude that this is the General's sole claim to a place in the sun. He has always been an enthusiastic fusser, absolutely tireless; but during his First Class Year he has embraced his opportunities to their fullest extent—with concentration, however, not indiscriminately—which certainly is commendable.

The General's chief pride is his coiffure—and he keeps it in an up-to-the-minute state of cultivation by countless tonics, restorers, violet waters, and knit caps. Whether his destination is a hop or a gym drill, the swimming tank or a tea-fight, his motto is ironclad: "A place for each hair and each hair in its place."

But we are sure that when Doc leaves the clutches of the Discipline Department he will make up for the many shackles that they have imposed upon him and forge ahead. He has all of the requirements of a good officer and all depends on his application of them.

Buzzard; Clean Sleeve; Reina Squad (2, 1).

Loss

Conrad was lost on August 26, 1924 when he was struck by the turning propeller of a moving De Havilland aircraft at Naval Air Station San Diego, California. He was a member of Observation Plane Squadron 2.

Other Information

From Find A Grave:

Lieutenant C. A. Krez, USN, was designated Naval Aviator #3080 in 1923. Graduated U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1916. Saw service during the World War.
Conrad Krez was the son of County Judge and Mrs. Paul Theodore Krez and was married to the former Miss Julia Marie Halm of Hagerstown, MD.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Conrad graduated from Sheboygan high school in 1912 where he was on the debate team. In April 1911, at a two-school debate, he spoke on the negative side for the issue “That the Open Shop is Preferable to the Closed Shop.” His debate included the disgraceful conditions of some shops and the protection given to employees by unions.
He was named to the Naval Academy by Congressman Burke in January 1912.
Two days after graduating from the Naval Academy, Conrad married Julie Halm. Their son Paul (’39) entered the Naval Academy in 1935. Their younger son Conrad was a Naval Academy non-graduate, Class of 1947.
At the outbreak of World War I, Conrad went overseas in command of the naval guard on the Transport Momus with the first American expeditionary forces. He returned from France and was detailed to the Leviathan, another transport. He then transferred to the Arizona. He returned and again went to France on the transport Pocahontas. He became ill with influenza and spent the rest of the war on a receiving ship at New York.
While on the Pittsburgh on July 6, 1919, he witnessed the massacre of French colonial troops by the Italians in the Fiume, Italy, riots. One eyewitness account mentioned American naval officers from the Talbot appeared after the attack.
Conrad went to the naval war college at New London in late 1919, and after completing the course, he was sent to the submarine base at Coco Solo, Panama. He was there from 1920 to December 1922.
Conrad’s obituary in The Sheboygan Press, August 27, 1924, included these words about him: “Such traits – courage, love of adventure, quick wit and sagacity – making up a captivating personality, explain why his friends were so numerous and why his tragic end was one of the greatest shocks Sheboygan residents have undergone for many years.”
Conrad’s father Paul was a lawyer, mother Minnie, and brother Frederick who also became a lawyer. Their grandfather General Conrad Krez enlisted in the Civil War in 1862 and raised the Twenty-Seventh Regiment of Wisconsin. He later became Milwaukee’s city attorney.

Conrad was survived by his wife, two sons, and a sister. He is buried in Wisconsin.

Career

He appears to have been commanding officer of USS O-15, a submarine, before or during 1922.

Photographs

From the 1916 Lucky Bag
From The Sheboygan Press on August 27, 1924
From The Sheboygan Press on January 29, 1912

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.