EUGENE F. BURKETT, LT, USN
Eugene Burkett '20
Lucky Bag
From the 1920 Lucky Bag:
Eugene Field Burkett
Abilene, Texas
"Hiram" "Bucket" "Gene"
WHEN "Gene" (Gene, that 's his pet name, christened by the fair ones of Simmons' College) blew into Crabtown from the wild and woolly prairies of western Texas, he did not impress us exactly as a ranch-man or cowboy, but instead he was a very lovable, modest, ever-serving chap—seemingly a prospective minister's junior, fresh from the Podunk College. But two years as one of Uncle Sam's pampered pets had their effect. On First Class cruise, about the second liberty in New York, as "Burke" shoved off from Grand Central, on a course headed direct for Rector's or Churchill's, he presented to us an example of a regular minister's son.
"Burke" has developed a keen eye for beauty, and he just can't be bothered with anything under a 3.5. Judging, however, from the punctual delivery of the blue envelope stamped "Sweetwater," the little girl he left behind is as yet the prize winner.
In athletics, as well as everything else. "Burke" enters with a lot of pep, and plays the game entirely for the sport and exercise. On the Pennsy team First Class cruise it was rumored that he was giving "Rabbit" Maranville a run for his money at short. Trouble was, "Rabbit" was manager. In his Youngster year he developed quite a love for the gloves. He kept on fooling around with them until he got so rough that they had to award him a medal for champion boxer in the 158-pound class.
His open heart, good nature and ever ready smile will gain him friends everywhere, and his earnestness, loyalty, and readiness to hear responsibility will make him a dependable man.
Honors: Buzzard; Academy Middleweight Boxing Champion, 3; Glee Club, 4.
The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Eugene Field Burkett
Abilene, Texas
"Hiram" "Bucket" "Gene"
WHEN "Gene" (Gene, that 's his pet name, christened by the fair ones of Simmons' College) blew into Crabtown from the wild and woolly prairies of western Texas, he did not impress us exactly as a ranch-man or cowboy, but instead he was a very lovable, modest, ever-serving chap—seemingly a prospective minister's junior, fresh from the Podunk College. But two years as one of Uncle Sam's pampered pets had their effect. On First Class cruise, about the second liberty in New York, as "Burke" shoved off from Grand Central, on a course headed direct for Rector's or Churchill's, he presented to us an example of a regular minister's son.
"Burke" has developed a keen eye for beauty, and he just can't be bothered with anything under a 3.5. Judging, however, from the punctual delivery of the blue envelope stamped "Sweetwater," the little girl he left behind is as yet the prize winner.
In athletics, as well as everything else. "Burke" enters with a lot of pep, and plays the game entirely for the sport and exercise. On the Pennsy team First Class cruise it was rumored that he was giving "Rabbit" Maranville a run for his money at short. Trouble was, "Rabbit" was manager. In his Youngster year he developed quite a love for the gloves. He kept on fooling around with them until he got so rough that they had to award him a medal for champion boxer in the 158-pound class.
His open heart, good nature and ever ready smile will gain him friends everywhere, and his earnestness, loyalty, and readiness to hear responsibility will make him a dependable man.
Honors: Buzzard; Academy Middleweight Boxing Champion, 3; Glee Club, 4.
The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Loss
Eugene was lost on January 7, 1930 when his aircraft crashed during a training flight. He and Ensign John D. Clark were flying an amphibious aircraft that fell 1500 feet into the San Diego bay, according to newspaper accounts at the time.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
From the San Angelo Evening Standard, February 23, 1926:
MIDLAND, Feb. 23. – Lt. Eugene F. Burkett, U. S. N., will go to Alaska in May with officers and men of the naval service to chart land and waterways in the north, leaving his post in San Diego. He is a son of Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Burkett of Abilene, formerly residents of this city.
The commission to which young Burkett has been assigned will map 200,000 square miles of terrain and waterways in Alaska, according to advices received by his parents.
The expedition will consist of six officers and 28 men under them and with Lieutenant B. H. Wyatt [’17] in command. The party will leave San Diego, Cal., about May 1 and it is expected that three years will be required to complete the work as it can be carried on during but four months of each year.
Three special type Loening amphibian airplanes, one Modified Douglas torpedo plane with the aircraft tender Gannet acting as a mobile base are for transportation of supplies for the expedition.
The entire territory to be mapped is mountainous in the extreme and the land areas are cut by innumerable tideware bays, sounds, inlets and fords, some of which are flanked by huge glaciers descending the mountain passes. Peaks rise from 3,000 to 10,000 feet and some of the peaks of the fairweather group extend to 15,000 feet.
At the conclusion of the Alaska survey the thousands of photographs that will be made from the planes will be pieced together to form a gigantic mosaic map.
Eugene had his article “The Need for Aviator Charts” published in the December 1927 issue of the “Military Engineer.” The article stressed the need for maps to be convenient and easy to handle, so that they could be used on a new system with maps being held on rollers.
Eugene was survived by his wife, Martha, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was also survived by his father, the Reverend J.C. Burkett, and two brothers, J.C. Burkett, Jr. and O.S. Burkett, and three sisters, Mrs. Bernice Eranson, Mrs. L.B. Howard, and Mrs. J. Cran Hardin.
From Abilene Reporter-News from Abilene, Texas, on November 2, 1941 (shortly after the sinking of USS Reuben James):
The United States destroyer Reuben James, sent to the Atlantic ocean floor Friday by a torpedo presumed to have been fired by a nazi submarine, had an Abilene boy as one of its officers on its first long cruise, in 1921, it was recalled here Saturday.
He was Ensign Eugene F. Burkett, son of the late Rev. and Mrs. J. C. Burkett, an officer on its maiden cruise to England, Spain and the Mediterranean.
A Midland high school graduate, Burkett was a member of the class of 1916 at Hardin-Simmons university, and was appointed to the U. S. Naval academy by Congressman W. R. Smith, Colorado City. He was a member of the 1920 class at the naval academy, Annapolis.
After a year aboard the Reuben James, Ensign Burkett, later promoted to a naval lieutenancy, was assigned to the naval air corps. He was two years at Pensacola and two years an instructor at the San Diego, Calif., base.
He was an officer on the U. S. navy expeditionary flights to Alaska, and the routes then mapped are still used between San Francisco and Juneau. He was killed on a training flight in January, 1930, and is buried at Arlington National cemetery. On May 31, 1930, the U. S. geographic board named an Alaskan mountain peak Mt. Burkett In his memory.
O. S. Burkett, 534 Cedar, a brother, has a photograph of the Reuben James hanging on a wall of his auditor office in the Alexander building, where it has hung for 10 years.
He was one who recalled the early voyages of the destroyer in the first year of its launching, two decades before a torpedo hit sent it to the bottom, while on convoy duty.
Photographs
"Clark" is Admiral Joseph J. Clark, USNA '18
Distinguished Flying Cross
From Hall of Valor:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Eugene F. Burkett, United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as navigator of the Alaskan Aerial Expedition during the Summer of 1926, materially aiding in successfully performing a hazardous and difficult aerial survey of Southeastern Alaska.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 144 (November 8, 1930)
Service: Navy
Division: Alaskan Aerial Expedition
Rank: Lieutenant
Namesake
Mountain Burkett, in Alaska, is named for Eugene.
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.
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January 1930
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