CREIGHTON K. LANKFORD, LTJG, USN

Creighton Lankford '25

Date of birth: September 21, 1902

Date of death: September 16, 1931

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1925 Lucky Bag:

Creighton Kirby Lankford

Plattsburg, Missouri

"Sam"

ALL right, better get there for the first translation, only going through the Dago once today. That's good, sit on the other bed, that's mine. Yes, she's from Missouri. Now in Missouri———' and Sam is off again.

"Sam" missed Plebe summer and so not many of us knew him until late in the year. We don't pretend that this fellow with the big brown eyes is an athlete or even a scholar, but could you imagine an indoor golf tournament without Sam? Fact is, he attended once too often around about the end of Second Class year.

The proof of the pudding's in the eating; so if you know "Sam" you already know how entertaining he is. Once Plebe year he and two or three others kept the whole duty squad awake until 4:00 A. M. with their attic antics.

He doesn't drag often because, as Caesar said, "I would rather drag one forty than be bricked twice."

"Sam" is one of the most staunch supporters of the Radiator club, only every pay-day he leaves his post to play golf.

"Hey, doc, gowan down to Nobel's room and get something started."

Masqueraders (3); Gymkhana (2); Black N* *.

Creighton Kirby Lankford

Plattsburg, Missouri

"Sam"

ALL right, better get there for the first translation, only going through the Dago once today. That's good, sit on the other bed, that's mine. Yes, she's from Missouri. Now in Missouri———' and Sam is off again.

"Sam" missed Plebe summer and so not many of us knew him until late in the year. We don't pretend that this fellow with the big brown eyes is an athlete or even a scholar, but could you imagine an indoor golf tournament without Sam? Fact is, he attended once too often around about the end of Second Class year.

The proof of the pudding's in the eating; so if you know "Sam" you already know how entertaining he is. Once Plebe year he and two or three others kept the whole duty squad awake until 4:00 A. M. with their attic antics.

He doesn't drag often because, as Caesar said, "I would rather drag one forty than be bricked twice."

"Sam" is one of the most staunch supporters of the Radiator club, only every pay-day he leaves his post to play golf.

"Hey, doc, gowan down to Nobel's room and get something started."

Masqueraders (3); Gymkhana (2); Black N* *.

Loss

From Find A Grave:

Ensign C. K. Lankford, USN, was designated Naval Aviator #3439 in 1929. Graduated U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1925.
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Lankford died from severe burns following the crash of his aircraft while flying relief supplies into Costa Rica following a deadly earthquake.

His date of death was September 16, 1931.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

As a young child, Creighton attended the Urich school. He graduated from Plattsburg High School in 1920. In 1919, Creighton and a classmate won the school’s first silver cup in an inter-school debating contest. In the senior graduation program, he performed “School Oracle.”
He next attended Westminster College at Fulton for a year where he again won debating distinction. Congressman Dickerson appointed Creighton to the Naval Academy.
Creighton did stunt flying at the air races at Cleveland in 1929. He crashed during the races. He also crashed in making a forced landing in Virginia shortly afterward.
While he was stationed in California, his squadron did the aerial flying and stunt flying for the movie “Sea Gulls” starring Wallace Berry. Creighton was also in the Squadron VF-1, known as the “High Hats” which did the aerial flying for the movie “Hell Divers.” He was flying the plane I-F-II.
In June, 1931, Creighton visited his family before going to duty in Panama.
Creighton's wife was Georgia. She was born in the Philippines and her father was a Navy officer.
His father Chatham was a farmer. His mother Jennie was a teacher and was the Clinton County superintendent of schools. Her maiden name was Creighton, and she was born in Creighton, Missouri. His sisters were Ruth and Louise.

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Career

Creighton was earlier a member of Fighting Squadron (VF) 1B, aboard USS Saratoga (CV 3), in San Diego. In the summer of 1929 the entire squadron journeyed cross-country to participate in the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio. Before he arrived, though, he had a very rough landing in a field near Lorain, Ohio, that fractured his jaw. Charles Lindburg filled in for him in a flight demonstration at the event.

The link above also includes some additional details on Creighton's loss.

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.

July 1925

Ensign, USS Idaho

Others at this command:

LCDR Norman Scott '11

ENS Harold Madsen '25

October 1925

Ensign, USS Idaho

Others at this command:

LCDR Norman Scott '11

LT Robert Smith, Jr. '19

ENS Harold Madsen '25

January 1926

Ensign, USS Idaho

Others at this command:

LCDR Norman Scott '11

LT Robert Smith, Jr. '19

ENS Harold Madsen '25

October 1926

Ensign, USS Decatur

January 1927

Ensign, USS Decatur

April 1927

Ensign, USS Decatur

October 1927

Ensign, USS Decatur

January 1928

Ensign, USS Sinclair

April 1928

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

LT Robert Fleming '17
LT William Sample '19
LT Frederick Roberts '20
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20

LT Stephen Cooke '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LTjg Robert Larson '24

ENS Thelman Lester '25
ENS Jack DeShazo '25
ENS John Graff '26
ENS Charles Signer '26

July 1928

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

LT Van Moore '19
LT Frederick Roberts '20
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT Stephen Cooke '21
LT James Carney '21

LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LTjg James Craig '22
ENS Jack DeShazo '25

ENS John Gotjen, Jr. '26
ENS Irving Howell '26
ENS William Watson '26
ENS John Graff '26

October 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

LT Frederick Roberts '20
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT Stephen Cooke '21
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21

LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Jack DeShazo '25
LTjg James Smith, Jr. '25

ENS John Gotjen, Jr. '26
ENS Irving Howell '26
ENS William Watson '26
ENS John Graff '26
2LT Lofton Henderson '26

January 1929

Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command: