HAROLD D. SHRIDER, LTJG, USN

Harold Shrider '37

Date of birth: March 9, 1914

Date of death: December 23, 1941

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1937 Lucky Bag:

HAROLD DELMAR SHRIDER

Fremont, Nebraska

"Slick" "Cap'n Bligh" "Caesar"

Learning to be a maker of naval traditions has furrowed the brow of the lad who, in the summer of '33, strode in No. 3 Gate to enter the Naval School. He is still striding, but now it is over hurdles and around that 440, not to mention the Flying Squadron route to be the first Youngster in over a decade to ring that Japanese Bell. But he does other things, too: between Quarter Decking, personifying Cap'n Bligh, managing publicity, and frequenting Carvel, he "gets around." He has been a good friend and roommate for four years—that's saying plenty.

Track 4, 3, 2, 1, N. Trident Society 4. Ring Dance Committee. Quarterdeck Society 4, 3. Two Stripes.

HAROLD DELMAR SHRIDER

Fremont, Nebraska

"Slick" "Cap'n Bligh" "Caesar"

Learning to be a maker of naval traditions has furrowed the brow of the lad who, in the summer of '33, strode in No. 3 Gate to enter the Naval School. He is still striding, but now it is over hurdles and around that 440, not to mention the Flying Squadron route to be the first Youngster in over a decade to ring that Japanese Bell. But he does other things, too: between Quarter Decking, personifying Cap'n Bligh, managing publicity, and frequenting Carvel, he "gets around." He has been a good friend and roommate for four years—that's saying plenty.

Track 4, 3, 2, 1, N. Trident Society 4. Ring Dance Committee. Quarterdeck Society 4, 3. Two Stripes.

Loss

From Find A Grave:

Lt. Harold Shrider, 27, U.S.N., husband of the former Harriet Hoenig, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis J. Hoenig, Tudor Arms apartments, was killed in the crash of his plane at sea, Mrs. Shrider was advised last night. Mrs. Shrider had just returned from the west coast with her parents.
According to official information Lt. Shrider perished when his plane crashed into the sea as it took off from an airplane carrier. His gunner also was killed. The bodies were not recovered and memorial services were held at sea aboard the carrier.
Lt. Shrider was son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John H. Shrider of Fremont, Neb. A sister, Mrs. Roy Mills lives at Beatrice. He was graduated from Iowa State college and the United States Naval Academy. He completed his course at the Pensacola, Fla., naval aviation training school.
Lt. and Mrs. Shrider were married a year ago.

Harold was a member of Scouting Squadron (VS) 3, flying from USS Saratoga (CV 3); the date of the crash was December 23, 1941. Saratoga had been on a resupply mission to Wake Island until this day, when it was cancelled; she then operated "around Midway Island area for approximately 1 week."

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Harold was president of his senior high school class. He served as toastmaster for the class’ December reunion banquet. Harold attended Iowa State college at Ames and took second place in the mile run in the inter-fraternity indoor meet in April 1932. He was a member of Delta Upsilon. He also attended Midland college and Hall’s Preparatory school.
He then was notified by Congressman Edgar Howard of his selection for an appointment to the Naval Academy. Per the Fremont Tribute on February 2, 1937: At President Roosevelt’s inauguration on January 20, 1937, Harold marched in the parade as platoon leader of the honor company. In a recent letter to his parents, he related marching from three to four hours in the pouring rain in the inaugural parade. He said he was practically exhausted and soaking wet when he finished, but had had an excellent view of both President Roosevelt and Vice President John Nance Garner during the procession.

From the Fremont Tribune, May 21, 1931:

FORENSICS CUP IS AWARDED TO HAROLD SHRIDER

The forensics cup, a covered award at Fremont high school each spring, was presented to Harold Shrider, member of the graduating class, during a special assembly at the high school Thursday morning. Edwin Gidley and Paul Mandrell, seniors, ran him close competition, it was reported, both receiving honorable mention. Rosalie Teas won the cup last year.
Awarding of the cup is based on the judgment of the coaches of opposing teams who have heard the Fremont debaters during the year, J. Arthur Nelson, forensics coach explained. These coaches are asked to submit the name of the individual on the Fremont team whom they would like to have as a member of their own team.
Shrider, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Shrider, has been an outstanding member of the debate teams at Fremont high school for the past two years. He captained the team which went to the finals in the Midland invitation tournament last year and which won 30 out of 33 debates, and was captain again this year when the team won the Midland championship and lost only one debate during the season.
As an extemporaneous speaker, he received honorable mention at the Nebraska Wesleyan tourney, which is equivalent to a state meet last spring; and this year placed third at this tournament and second in the district contest at Plattsmouth.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Career

Harold reported to NAS Pensacola for flight training on June 30, 1939 as an Ensign. He was promoted to LTJG on June 3, 1940; on July 22, 1940 he was designated naval aviator #6562. (Information from Richard Leonard, naval aviation historian.)

Memorial Hall Error?

Harold is not listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall. While not an obvious error, inclusion on the panel for crashes like this—which appears to be incidental to a combat flight—has been inconsistent across WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

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.