GEORGE B. NICOL, CDR, USN
George Nicol '34
Lucky Bag
From the 1934 Lucky Bag:
GEORGE BEATON NICOL
Lima, Ohio
"George" "Nick"
FROM a land where the sea is only a legend comes this cheery fellow to Annapolis and the Navy, thereby fulfilling an ambition and decision of his that neither he nor any of his many friends at the Academy have since regretted. The first three years of George's academics might well be titled, "The Eternal Struggle"—with the Dago Department. Frequently the element of suspense was evident, but, nevertheless, the end of each term has always found him among those present. A famous run-in with the Nav Department after a P-Work and a natural abhorrence of anything connected with Ordnance about completes Nick's academic history.
"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of a good time" seems to be George's philosophy of life, and he follows it amazingly well. His life is a good time, and liberty is his one incessant desire. He never goes at anything half-heartedly and one would usually say that he either goes too far or not far enough.
His Second Class Year found him peerless in the 440 at the Academy, and the proud possessor of an "N" as ample proof of his track ability.
But all his endeavors are not academic and athletic, as his popularity with the fair sex will substantiate. A confirmed Red Mike during Plebe Year, he now has the enviable reputation of being always able to drag in both quantity and quality.
Happy-go-lucky, good natured, humorous, slightly non-reg, and, above all, a true friend; this is the picture of Nick.
Track 4, 3, 2, 1. "N" 2, 1. 2 P.O.
GEORGE BEATON NICOL
Lima, Ohio
"George" "Nick"
FROM a land where the sea is only a legend comes this cheery fellow to Annapolis and the Navy, thereby fulfilling an ambition and decision of his that neither he nor any of his many friends at the Academy have since regretted. The first three years of George's academics might well be titled, "The Eternal Struggle"—with the Dago Department. Frequently the element of suspense was evident, but, nevertheless, the end of each term has always found him among those present. A famous run-in with the Nav Department after a P-Work and a natural abhorrence of anything connected with Ordnance about completes Nick's academic history.
"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of a good time" seems to be George's philosophy of life, and he follows it amazingly well. His life is a good time, and liberty is his one incessant desire. He never goes at anything half-heartedly and one would usually say that he either goes too far or not far enough.
His Second Class Year found him peerless in the 440 at the Academy, and the proud possessor of an "N" as ample proof of his track ability.
But all his endeavors are not academic and athletic, as his popularity with the fair sex will substantiate. A confirmed Red Mike during Plebe Year, he now has the enviable reputation of being always able to drag in both quantity and quality.
Happy-go-lucky, good natured, humorous, slightly non-reg, and, above all, a true friend; this is the picture of Nick.
Track 4, 3, 2, 1. "N" 2, 1. 2 P.O.
Loss
George was lost when his FG-1D Corsair crashed near Cuba on June 7, 1945. He was a member of — and likely the commanding officer of, given his rank — Bombing Fighting Squadron (VBF) 93, embarked in USS Boxer (CV 21).
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
George graduated from Lima Central High School in 1930. College Prep. Athletic Ass’n 3, 2, 1; Class Basketball 3, 2, 1; Varsity Track 2, 3; Troubadours 4, 3, 2, 1; Junior play “Vanity” 3; Follies 3; Senate 2; Hi-Y 4, 3, 2, 1. Ohio Northern. “I believe women prefer blondes.”
He married Adele Virginia Watkins on December 27, 1939, in the Amanda chapel in Los Angeles. She died in 1956.
His father William, a pattern maker in a steel factory, died in 1933. George’s brother Andrew died on December 5, 1944, just hours before George arrived in a Navy fighter plane from Norfolk to see him. His mother died on May 31, 1945, one week before George.
His wife was listed as next of kin. He has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook
From The Lima News on May 5, 1929
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.
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
July 1936
ENS Clark Hood, Jr. '35 (USS New York)
ENS Joseph Evans '36 (USS New York)
ENS Richard Meyers '36 (USS New York)
ENS David Zabriskie, Jr. '36 (USS New York)
ENS James Southerland, II '36 (USS New York)
January 1937
ENS Clark Hood, Jr. '35 (USS New York)
ENS Joseph Evans '36 (USS New York)
ENS Richard Meyers '36 (USS New York)
ENS David Zabriskie, Jr. '36 (USS New York)
ENS James Southerland, II '36 (USS New York)
April 1937
LTjg James Kyes '30 (USS New York)
LTjg George Stone '31 (USS New York)
September 1937
CAPT Paul Moret '30
LTjg Samuel Dealey '30
1LT Harold Larson '31
LTjg Albert Gray '31
LTjg Charles Crommelin '31
LTjg John Spiers '32
LTjg John Phillips, Jr. '33
CAPT Ernest Pollock '28 (Training Squadron (VN) 2D8)
LT William Pennewill '29 (Training Squadron (VN) 1D8)
January 1938
CAPT Paul Moret '30
LTjg Samuel Dealey '30
1LT Harold Larson '31
LTjg Albert Gray '31
LTjg Charles Crommelin '31
LTjg John Spiers '32
LTjg John Phillips, Jr. '33
LTjg Robert Isely '33
CAPT Ernest Pollock '28 (Training Squadron (VN) 2D8)
LTjg Alden Irons '31 (Training Squadron (VN) 2D8)
July 1938
LT John Waldron '24 (USS Saratoga)
LT Gerald Dyson '27 (USS Saratoga)
LT William Pye, Jr. '28 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
LT John Yoho '29 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
LTjg John Spiers '32 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
LTjg James Reilly '32 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
LTjg Albert Major, Jr. '32 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
ENS David Taylor, Jr. '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
ENS Paul Riley '37 (USS Saratoga)
ENS William Mason, Jr. '37 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Black '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Osborne Wiseman '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Smith '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Vincent Sim '38 (USS Saratoga)
January 1939
LT Gerald Dyson '27 (USS Saratoga)
LT John Yoho '29 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
LTjg John Spiers '32 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
LTjg James Reilly '32 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
LTjg David Taylor, Jr. '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
ENS William Hulson '36 (Aircraft, Battle Force)
ENS William Mason, Jr. '37 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Black '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Osborne Wiseman '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Smith '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Vincent Sim '38 (USS Saratoga)
October 1939
LT Harrington Drake '31 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
LTjg John Spiers '32 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
LTjg John Ennis '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
ENS Raymond Vogel, Jr. '36 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
ENS William Mason, Jr. '37 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Smith '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Lenard Reichel '39 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Claude Goodman, Jr. '39 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Norman White '39 (USS Saratoga)
June 1940
LT William Hank '25 (USS Saratoga)
LT Harrington Drake '31 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
LT John Spiers '32 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
LTjg John Ennis '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 3)
ENS Edward O'Hare '37 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Norman White '39 (USS Saratoga)
November 1940
CDR William Sample '19
LT William Pennewill '29
LT Finley Hall '29
LT John Yoho '29
LT Lance Massey '30
LT George Bellinger '32
LT Martin Koivisto '32
LT John Spiers '32
LT Daniel Gothie '32
LT Dewitt Shumway '32
LT Albert Major, Jr. '32
LTjg John Phillips, Jr. '33
ENS Frank Peterson '33
LTjg Charles Brewer '34
LTjg Walker Ethridge '34
CAPT Floyd Parks '34
LTjg Charles Ware '34
LTjg Frank Whitaker '34
LTjg Philip Torrey, Jr. '34
LTjg Victor Gadrow '35
LTjg John Powers '35
LTjg Allan Edmands '35
LTjg Roy Krogh '36
LTjg Porter Maxwell '36
LTjg Richard Hughes '37
LTjg Frank Henderson, Jr. '37
LTjg John Thomas '37
LTjg John Boal '37
ENS Harry Howell '38
ENS Eric Allen, Jr. '38
ENS James Ginn '38
ENS Oswald Zink '38
ENS Frank Case, Jr. '38
ENS Howard Fischer '38
ENS Edmundo Gandia '38
ENS Charles Reimann '38
ENS Howard Clark '38
ENS Roy Hale, Jr. '38
ENS Leonard Thornhill '38
ENS Osborne Wiseman '38
ENS John Eversole '38
ENS Jep Jonson '38
ENS Roy Green, Jr. '38
ENS Marion Dufilho '38
2LT James Owens '38
ENS William Brady '38
ENS Charles Anderson '38
ENS Carl Holmstrom '38
ENS Charles King '38
2LT John Maclaughlin, Jr. '38
ENS William Tate, Jr. '38
2LT Douglas Keeler '38
ENS Harry Bass '38
ENS John Kelley '38
ENS John Erickson '38
ENS William Lamberson '38
ENS Donald Smith '38
ENS Frank Quady '38
ENS Richard Crommelin '38
ENS Robert Seibels, Jr. '38
ENS Alphonse Minvielle '38
April 1941
LT William Pennewill '29
LT Finley Hall '29
LT John Yoho '29
LT William Sisko '31
LT George Bellinger '32
LT Martin Koivisto '32
LT John Spiers '32
LT Archibald Greenlee '32
LT Daniel Gothie '32
LT Albert Major, Jr. '32
LTjg John McCormack, Jr. '33
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
