EDWARD F. DENNEY, LT, USN

Edward Denney '35

Date of birth: April 20, 1913

Date of death: April 12, 1942

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1935 Lucky Bag:

EDWARD FRANCIS DENNEY

Rochester, New York

"Ted" "Ed" "Jack"

I DON'T see this at all!" If you've known Ted at all, you've heard that phrase innumerable times. Ted isn't from Missouri, but you've got to show him. Evidently, he learned his distrust of textbooks and their well oiled phrases at a tender age, because it is one of his basic principles to question everything he hears, or reads, in or out of the classroom. It is, no doubt, a fine habit but it keeps some of his classmates and Profs up after taps trying to punch holes in his arguments. When he isn't dragging, the snake, you'll find Ted on the football field, or either wrestling or swimming. He likes his exercise.

Football 4, 3, 2, 1, NA. Wrestling 4, 3, 2, 1, Numerals. Choir 3, 2, 1. 1 P.O.

EDWARD FRANCIS DENNEY

Rochester, New York

"Ted" "Ed" "Jack"

I DON'T see this at all!" If you've known Ted at all, you've heard that phrase innumerable times. Ted isn't from Missouri, but you've got to show him. Evidently, he learned his distrust of textbooks and their well oiled phrases at a tender age, because it is one of his basic principles to question everything he hears, or reads, in or out of the classroom. It is, no doubt, a fine habit but it keeps some of his classmates and Profs up after taps trying to punch holes in his arguments. When he isn't dragging, the snake, you'll find Ted on the football field, or either wrestling or swimming. He likes his exercise.

Football 4, 3, 2, 1, NA. Wrestling 4, 3, 2, 1, Numerals. Choir 3, 2, 1. 1 P.O.

Loss

Edward was co-pilot of one of two Navy PBY-5 Catalina patrol bombers that crashed near San Francisco, California, on April 12, 1942. Both aircraft were from Patrol Squadron (VP) 84; the squadron was departing for a homeport shift to Norfolk.

Other Information

From Journal and Courier from Lafayette, Indiana:

14 MEN KILLED WHEN TWO U. S. BOMBERS CRASH
Seven Naval Fliers Die in Each Plane in Disasters in Hilly Country East of San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO, April 13. (INS) Fourteen navy airmen were killed and a fifteenth was seriously injured when two navy PBY-5-A patrol bombers crashed in flames in the Livermore hills east of the Alameda naval air station on San Francisco bay, a navy statement announced today. Seven men died in each plane, the navy said.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Edward was born in West Ham, Essex, England, and came with his parents when he was 10 months old to Rochester, New York. In 1920 his father Edward was a spooler for Kodak. In 1930 he worked as a bookkeeper. His mother was Elizabeth, and his sisters, both born in Rochester, were Lorene and Nora.
Edward graduated from West High School in June 1931 where he participated in track. He was also a former chorister at Christ Episcopal Church and was vice president of the Acolyte Guild. Representative Archie D. Sanders appointed him to the Naval Academy.
Edward was survived by his family, his wife Dore, and his daughter Lynne who was born March 15, 1940, in Cavite, Philippine Islands.

Edward is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

From the Democrat and Chronicle on April 14, 1942

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.