GEORGE O. KUNKLE, LT, USNR
George Kunkle '31
Lucky Bag
From the 1931 Lucky Bag:
George Owen Kunkle
Evansville, Indiana
"Koo"
Although quite convinced that there was no place like the West, George was not completely satisfied. Before long he found that the Academy, in spite of all its inhibitions, was not too great a handicap for his youthful exuberance.
With a steady aim and a cool determination he soon became a high scorer on the varsity rifle team besides making his mark in the savvy sections. His own sapient mind is equalled only by his versatility. "Koo" has made a successful debut in both soccer and football; he has taken enough interest in engines to call them a hobby; and now, a staunch believer in Herpicide, he bids fair to step forth as a clarinet artist.
With George, good nature is paramount. It is his subtle humor coupled with many clever pleasantries that make him our most congenial and sociable friend. Four years have molded "Koo" into one of Navy's strongest links and there is no doubt that he is now well able to take the strain. His only weakness is the O. A. O.
Class Soccer 1931; Class Basketball 3; Class Football 1931; Class Football 1; Plebe Rifle r31t 4; Varsity Rifle rNt 3, 2, 1; Bronze Award in Small Arms Trophy; 1 P.O.
George was a member of the Rifle Team.
George Owen Kunkle
Evansville, Indiana
"Koo"
Although quite convinced that there was no place like the West, George was not completely satisfied. Before long he found that the Academy, in spite of all its inhibitions, was not too great a handicap for his youthful exuberance.
With a steady aim and a cool determination he soon became a high scorer on the varsity rifle team besides making his mark in the savvy sections. His own sapient mind is equalled only by his versatility. "Koo" has made a successful debut in both soccer and football; he has taken enough interest in engines to call them a hobby; and now, a staunch believer in Herpicide, he bids fair to step forth as a clarinet artist.
With George, good nature is paramount. It is his subtle humor coupled with many clever pleasantries that make him our most congenial and sociable friend. Four years have molded "Koo" into one of Navy's strongest links and there is no doubt that he is now well able to take the strain. His only weakness is the O. A. O.
Class Soccer 1931; Class Basketball 3; Class Football 1931; Class Football 1; Plebe Rifle r31t 4; Varsity Rifle rNt 3, 2, 1; Bronze Award in Small Arms Trophy; 1 P.O.
George was a member of the Rifle Team.
Loss
George was lost when USS Erie (PG 50) was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on November 12, 1942 while operating near Curaçao. Though the ship was beached and 173 of her crew survived, George was among the seven who were killed by the torpedoes and subsequent fire.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
George graduated from Benjamin Bosse High School in Evansville, Indiana, in 1927. He also attended the University of Kansas where he was a member of A. S. M. E. in 1933.
After the Naval Academy, he became assistant superintendent of the Abernathy Furniture Company at Leavenworth, Kansas.
He married Elizabeth Macer on November 11, 1933, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Evansville.
In 1940, he and his family were living in Warrensburg, Missouri. He was the chief engineer at the Missouri Public Service company.
His parents were Roy D. and Stella.
From Find A Grave:
George Kunkle's body … was recovered from the torpedoed ship and buried in a cemetery in Willemstad. Later it was disinterred and reburied in Puerto Rico, the nearest US possession. After the war, his wife, Elizabeth (my mother) directed the Navy to have his body cremated and his ashes spread at sea. They were, where many were as well, at the entrance to the Panama Canal. Owen Kunkle, October 26, 2014
In addition to his wife and son Owen, George was survived by his daughter, Ann (who emailed on September 22, 2020), and another son Robert E. Kunkle (USNA '60).
His wife was listed as next of kin.
Remembrances
His son Robert (age 4 when his father was lost), via email in February 2022:
As a person Dad was steady as a rock, a good scholar and all around good guy - per my Mom. Mom and Dad attended high school together in Evansville, Indiana, but Mother did not date or have any use for him in high school or in college. But Dad persisted and sent Mom letters to Northwestern University Alpha Chi Omega house which made her popular in the sorority. No one else received gold embossed U.S. Naval Academy envelopes and stationery! Each summer in Evansville Dad would have ONE date with Mom and gave her a copy of that year's Lucky Bag. Finally, Mom decided to go to June Week in 1931 with Dad's parents. But Dad was quite busy with parades, drills, classes, sports, etc. so he pretty much ignored Mom! Therefore, of course, she fell in love!
Dad graduated with the class of 1931 when there was zero demand for Naval Officers. Starting at the top of the class they were given the option of remaining in the Navy or resigning, but remain in the Naval Reserves 4-6 years(?). He told Mom that he wasn't going to sit on a rusty tin can (destroyer) 3-4 years drawing a paycheck - so he resigned. When the war started Dad went back on active duty as Engineering officer on USS Erie, a "gunboat". The Erie was being converted from a luxury vessel to a gunboat at the Seattle Naval Shipyards. We lived there a year until Dad and Erie shipped out.
[Because the military academies did not award degrees until 1933,] Dad returned to Kansas and entered K.U. to finish his engineering degree. He then worked in the utilities industry in Peoria, Illinois.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook, with the caption: "Degunk" "Chemist" Hi-Y, Chemistry Club, Science Club, Politicians' Club, Minute Men, Vice-President of Minute Men, Vice-President of Chemistry Club, Junior Baseball, Junior Basketball. Be always as merry as you can, For no one delights in a sorrowful man.
Career
George graduated 48th in his class of 441, but his "voluntary resignation was accepted immediately upon graduation." This was not uncommon; many dozens of his classmates did the same (including the men who graduated 9th and 10th in the class).
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.
April 1941
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