ERNEST W. WOOD, JR., LCDR, USN
Ernest Wood, Jr. '38
Lucky Bag
From the 1938 Lucky Bag:
ERNEST WETHERILL WOOD, JR.
Garden City, New York
Woodie
Our introduction to Woodie was in the form of enthusiastic admiration of a master pianist and organist, but time has revealed him as a past master of all trades. Gifted with an easy goin' nature, he is always willing to oblige with his own arrangements of popular music. As for the fair sex—he started well as a Red Mike, but alas! Academically Woodie has all the requirements to star, but the aviation world of designing and invention claim his spare (?) time. You can find Woodie almost any night contentedly smoking his pipe—composing or arranging music for our musical club show or perhaps watching photographs "come out" in his darkroom. In four years we have come to know Woodie as a happy-go-lucky fellow with a heart of gold—always a true friend and ever the gentleman.
Musical Clubs 4, 3, 2, Director 1; Glee Club 4, 3, 2, 1; Choir 4, 3, 2, 1; Asst. Organist 4, 3, 2, 1; NA Ten 4, 3; Orchestra 4, 5, 2, 1, Asst. Conductor 2; Boat Club; Radio Club; Trident; Log.: N.A.C.A.; Ensign.
ERNEST WETHERILL WOOD, JR.
Garden City, New York
Woodie
Our introduction to Woodie was in the form of enthusiastic admiration of a master pianist and organist, but time has revealed him as a past master of all trades. Gifted with an easy goin' nature, he is always willing to oblige with his own arrangements of popular music. As for the fair sex—he started well as a Red Mike, but alas! Academically Woodie has all the requirements to star, but the aviation world of designing and invention claim his spare (?) time. You can find Woodie almost any night contentedly smoking his pipe—composing or arranging music for our musical club show or perhaps watching photographs "come out" in his darkroom. In four years we have come to know Woodie as a happy-go-lucky fellow with a heart of gold—always a true friend and ever the gentleman.
Musical Clubs 4, 3, 2, Director 1; Glee Club 4, 3, 2, 1; Choir 4, 3, 2, 1; Asst. Organist 4, 3, 2, 1; NA Ten 4, 3; Orchestra 4, 5, 2, 1, Asst. Conductor 2; Boat Club; Radio Club; Trident; Log.: N.A.C.A.; Ensign.
Loss
Ernest was lost on June 19, 1944 when his F6F-3 Hellcat was shot down west of Guam. He was flying with Fighting Squadron (VF) 27 as the commander of the air group aboard USS Princeton (CVL 23)
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In December 1934, Ernest gave a musical program at his parents’ party. His father was an Army colonel and chaplain at Mitchel Field. Among the guests were Capt. Walter Reed, midshipmen Robert Carter (’38,) and sisters Gretchen and Katherine.
In April 1935, his parents and sister Katherine attended the Naval Academy’s spring play with music composed and directed by Ernest.
In 1920, his family lived in Newport, Rhode Island, and in 1930, his family lived in Fort Amador, Panama Canal Zone. His mother was Antonia.
From the Daily News, New York, on July 17, 1935 (via researcher Kathy Franz):
MIDDIE SOCKS NAZI SLUGGER OF 2 JEWESSES
The midshipman, E. W. Wood of New York, son of Lieut. Col. Ernest W. Wood, Protestant chaplain at Mitchel Field, L. I., returned to his hotel after spending the night in jail and paying 50 marks (about $20) fine for fist fighting, to describe vividly the disorders raging in Berlin.
A woman was knocked down before his eyes, Wood said, and another woman who protested also was felled. The man who hit her, the midshipman said, asked him: “What do you think of that?”
After expressed disapproval, the man asked him: “What are you going to do about it?”
That started the fight which police stopped, arresting Wood.
Several hundred other American middies along the Kurfurstendamm, Berlin’s Great White Way, watched last evening’s anti-Jewish demonstration which lasted until early morning. One Jew was knocked unconscious, others beaten and several show windows broken.
His wife, Evelyn, was listed as next of kin. She continued to live in Annapolis until her death in 2009. Ernest has a memory marker in Annapolis, Maryland.
Photographs
From the Daily News, New York, on July 17, 1935
Career
From naval aviation historian Richard Leonard via email on February 9, 2018:
- NAS Pensacola attached for HTA flight training, 3/10/1941
- Date of rank LTJG from 1 Jul 1941 USN Register, 6/2/1941
- NAS Pensacola designated NA # 8199, 7/22/1941
- VF-41 USS Ranger (CV-4), 12/7/1941
- Date of rank LT from 1 Jul 1942 USN Register, 6/15/1942
- VF-27 (6th CO) NAAS Watsonville, 12/26/1943
- Date of rank LCDR from 1 Jul 1944 USN Register, 3/1/1944
- CVLG-27 (3d CAG) / VF-27 (6th CO) NAS Kahului, 4/26/1944
- CVLG-27 (3d CAG) / VF-27 (6th CO) USS Princeton (CVL-23) PH DFC KIA BNR, 6/19/1944
The Class of 1938 tenth anniversary “Little Luck Bag” wistfully records “. . . Woodie should be here to play the piano.”
Distinguished Flying Cross
From Hall of Valor:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Commander Ernest W. Wood, Jr. (NSN: 0-129880), United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as commander of an air group attached to the U.S.S. PRINCETON (CVL-23), in action in the Marianas Islands from 11 to 19 June 1944. Lieutenant Commander Wood led his group on numerous strikes against enemy airfields and installations in support of our ground forces. He destroyed parked aircraft and severely damaged military positions, later carrying out hazardous reconnaissance flights at low altitudes to determine the damage inflicted on these raids.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 333 (December 1944)
Action Date: June 11 - 19, 1944
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Division: U.S.S. Princeton (CVL-23)
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 1938
LT Bruce Van Voorhis '29 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 6)
LTjg Alfred Tucker, III '31 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg John Phillips, Jr. '33 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg Frank Whitaker '34 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg James Tyler '34 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 6)
LTjg Philip Torrey, Jr. '34 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 6)
January 1939
LT Bruce Van Voorhis '29 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 6)
LTjg Alfred Tucker, III '31 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg John Phillips, Jr. '33 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg Frank Whitaker '34 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg Philip Torrey, Jr. '34 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 6)
October 1939
LTjg John Phillips, Jr. '33 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg Walker Ethridge '34 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 6)
LTjg Frank Whitaker '34 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg Arthur Ely '35 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg Hubert Harden '35 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 6)
June 1940
LT Eugene Lindsey '27 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LT Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 6)
LTjg John Phillips, Jr. '33 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg Walker Ethridge '34 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 6)
LTjg Philip Torrey, Jr. '34 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 6)
LTjg Arthur Ely '35 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LTjg Hubert Harden '35 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 6)
November 1940
LT Eugene Lindsey '27 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LT Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 6)
April 1941
LT Eugene Lindsey '27 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
LT Edward Allen '31 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 6)
LTjg Arthur Ely '35 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
ENS John Eversole '38 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 6)
ENS John Kelley '38 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 6)
ENS Frank Quady '38 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 6)
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
