DONALD G. WILLIS, 1LT, USMC

Donald Willis '24

Date of birth: February 24, 1901

Date of death: September 21, 1932

Age: 31

Lucky Bag

From the 1924 Lucky Bag:

DONALD GOSS WILLIS

Sugar Hollow, Vermont

Place: Lightweight Alley.

Time: About 9 A.M. any morning.

"Hey, M.C.! Where's my mail!"

"Hey, M.C.! Where's that letter from Fort Worth?"

And then numerous heads bob out from closed portals and silence "Red" thus——

"Pipe down! Don't you know she has found the Ideal Man she told you she wanted? No more mail from her!"

Such a remark will floor the old "Owl" for he can never think of any come-back with which to squelch his tormentors after they have given him such a stunning blow. Sh!! He's in love, although we've wondered ever and anon how such a Beau Brummel like our "D. G." could still be in love with the same girl after three years.

Concerning athletics, we who know can tell you that "red" is the best conductor for long Round-Bay trips that the crew coaches have ever developed. He also plays football—Heywood Broun chose him for his All-American.

Wine never encountered such a man as "Red," one who takes the present as it comes, but always has a thought for the future.

Determination is second nature with him, and is so strong it is that we can but expect to see him attain no mean height on the ladder of success

Football Squad (4, 3, 2, 1); Crew Squad (4, 3, 2).

DONALD GOSS WILLIS

Sugar Hollow, Vermont

Place: Lightweight Alley.

Time: About 9 A.M. any morning.

"Hey, M.C.! Where's my mail!"

"Hey, M.C.! Where's that letter from Fort Worth?"

And then numerous heads bob out from closed portals and silence "Red" thus——

"Pipe down! Don't you know she has found the Ideal Man she told you she wanted? No more mail from her!"

Such a remark will floor the old "Owl" for he can never think of any come-back with which to squelch his tormentors after they have given him such a stunning blow. Sh!! He's in love, although we've wondered ever and anon how such a Beau Brummel like our "D. G." could still be in love with the same girl after three years.

Concerning athletics, we who know can tell you that "red" is the best conductor for long Round-Bay trips that the crew coaches have ever developed. He also plays football—Heywood Broun chose him for his All-American.

Wine never encountered such a man as "Red," one who takes the present as it comes, but always has a thought for the future.

Determination is second nature with him, and is so strong it is that we can but expect to see him attain no mean height on the ladder of success

Football Squad (4, 3, 2, 1); Crew Squad (4, 3, 2).

Loss

Donald was lost on September 21, 1932 when the plane he was piloting crashed five miles off the coast of Point Loma, California, near San Diego. The other crewman aboard was also killed. The aircraft belonged to (Marine) Scouting Squadron 15-M, which was stationed aboard USS Lexington (CV 2).

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

During Donald's youth, his mother Flora became too ill to care for the children. In February 1902, his father Eugene, a lumber salesman and a Y.M.C.A. secretary, brought Donald from New York City to be cared for by his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Goss, in Vermont. In 1902 Donald’s family moved to Indiana when his father took the secretaryship of the South Bend Y. M. C. A. In May, 1903, his father resigned his position.
In 1909 Flora was granted a divorce in Vermont on the grounds of desertion. She and the children were living in Moretown, Vermont, and the year before, Donald had perfect attendance at the elementary school.
By 1910 Flora was ill again, and Donald and his brother Eugene Paul, who was three years older, were placed in the Kurn Hattin Home for Boys in Rockingham, Vermont. In January 1912, the brothers spent a week with their uncle and aunt, Mrs. E. P. Birkett, of Ferrisburg. In December, Paul received second honors at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River. They were at the Kurn Hattin facility, which included a 150-acre working farm, for three years. [Note: this paragraph was updated based on information from Aaron Nemet via email in August 2024.]
Donald and his brother attended and played baseball for the Pittsford high school team. Donald also attended Vergennes High School in Ferrisburg for one year and Hartford High School in White River Junction. The brothers often stayed with their grandparents in the summer.
After high school, Donald worked in the paper mills at Wilder. In March 1919 he then enlisted in the navy as a fireman before being promoted to machinist mate petty officer third class.
Their sister Marion became Mrs. Vincent Marriotti in 1920. Born in Rome, Vincent was a first violinist with the Boston Symphony orchestra. That year, Marion was a nurse at the Troy Orphanage in Rensselaer, New York, and her mother was a matron. Flora later moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
At graduation from the Naval Academy on June 4, 1924 Donald married Ida Constance Lewis of South Carolina in the chapel. Their daughter June Louise was born in 1925 in Philadelphia.
Donald’s first station was Quantico, and then he was in Hawaii for five months in 1928.
After finishing his course at Pensacola, he served at San Diego and Pearl Harbor. His last duty was with the scouting squadron 15-M attached to the Lexington.
His father was Eugene S. Willis, mother Flora, brother Eugene Paul, and sister Mrs. Vincent Marriotti. His mother divorced, and in 1920, was a matron at the Troy Orphanage in Rensselaer, New York. She later moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
He made the first successful landing after dark on Lexington.

He is buried in Vermont. Donald was survived by his wife, Ida, and his mother.

Photographs

From The Philadelphia Inquirer on October 25, 1925

Memorial Hall Error

Donald is not listed with his classmates in Memorial Hall. This omission was discovered by Mr. Tim Barbosa, who was researching alumni from the classes of 1921-1924.

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 1924

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

Others at this command:

2LT Ronald Boone '20

2LT John Harris '23

2LT Charles Kail '23

September 1924

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

Others at this command:

2LT Ronald Boone '20

2LT John Harris '23

2LT Charles Kail '23

November 1924

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

Others at this command:

2LT Ronald Boone '20

2LT John Harris '23

January 1925

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

March 1925

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

May 1925

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

July 1925

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

Others at this command:

CAPT Arthur Page, Jr. '18

2LT John Harris '23

2LT Charles Kail '23

October 1925

2nd Lieutenant, Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

January 1926

2nd Lieutenant, Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

October 1926

2nd Lieutenant, Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

January 1927

2nd Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

April 1927

2nd Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia