ELBERT A. PALMER, JR., ENS, USN

Elbert Palmer, Jr. '24

Date of birth: December 12, 1901

Date of death: February 6, 1925

Age: 23

Lucky Bag

From the 1924 Lucky Bag:

ELBERT ALONZO PALMER, Jr.

Saratoga Springs, New York

"Slim"

"NOW fellows, here's the dope," might be fittingly inscribed under this man's picture. "Slim" as a cheer- and dope-spreader has had no equal during his four year's sojourn with us. Each man in the class has been his particular friend.

"Slim", which nickname was given to him on his first public display of his lower limbs at the swimming pool, left the old home town of Saratoga with one purpose firmly fixed in his mind. He had by the process of elimination discarded his possibilities as a lawyer and had definitely decided to be a son of old King Neptune. So the old King has reason to swell with pride. Athletically speaking, this Saratoga chap has been a potential miler for four years—but he just never could get those legs into condition in time for the big meets.

Perhaps the greatest thing that will linger in our minds for years to come is the agility and eagerness with which he jumps up at the first note of reveille in the morning. He was never reported for not being turned out—but how well we remember Plebe year when he was the slave of the then non-reg Fatima.

"I've got to do more boning, fellows."

Sub Squad (4, 3, 2, 1).

ELBERT ALONZO PALMER, Jr.

Saratoga Springs, New York

"Slim"

"NOW fellows, here's the dope," might be fittingly inscribed under this man's picture. "Slim" as a cheer- and dope-spreader has had no equal during his four year's sojourn with us. Each man in the class has been his particular friend.

"Slim", which nickname was given to him on his first public display of his lower limbs at the swimming pool, left the old home town of Saratoga with one purpose firmly fixed in his mind. He had by the process of elimination discarded his possibilities as a lawyer and had definitely decided to be a son of old King Neptune. So the old King has reason to swell with pride. Athletically speaking, this Saratoga chap has been a potential miler for four years—but he just never could get those legs into condition in time for the big meets.

Perhaps the greatest thing that will linger in our minds for years to come is the agility and eagerness with which he jumps up at the first note of reveille in the morning. He was never reported for not being turned out—but how well we remember Plebe year when he was the slave of the then non-reg Fatima.

"I've got to do more boning, fellows."

Sub Squad (4, 3, 2, 1).

Loss

Elbert was lost on February 6, 1925 when he fell overboard from a boat of USS Richmond (CL 9) in Havana, Cuba.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

In January 1920, Elbert was at the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island.

From Find A Grave:

The Ensign was a graduate of the Saratoga Springs High School. He is survived by his mother, his father, Major Elbert A. Palmer, stationed in the Philippines, a sister, Mrs. Albert F. Hilix, formerly of this city, and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Palmer of Coeymans, New York. Mrs. Palmer is now in Washington awaiting the arrival of the body.
Burial was February 14, 1925.

His body was recovered by February 10; he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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.