HAROLD J. VON WELLER, LTJG, USN
Harold Von Weller '33
Lucky Bag
From the 1933 Lucky Bag:
HAROLD JOHN Von WELLER
Albany, Georgia
"Von" "Georgia"
Von was born a "snake," a breaker of hearts. He is the delight of doting mammas; patronizing pappas pronounce him a fine young man; and an English instructor once said that he had the most liquid line of loquacity ever known to flow in a Plebe public speaking class. Sunday evenings he sits, chair tilted back, feet on the table, swapping stories and going one better, the wildest tale of any cruise. His power as a raconteur is that of the Ancient Mariner and no one has ever caught him up on one of those tall stories yet. But who wants to? His yarns are too good to doubt.
During his Plebe Year Von made the goal that saved the Navy record of never seeing its Plebe lacrosse team suffer defeat. However, after the "Dago" Department decided that he should leave '32 to join us, athletics have had to yield him up to fields of academic endeavor in which he has risen to a standing well above mediocrity.
Von is a polished gentleman, deeply versed in the art of social intercourse and a loyal and sympathetic friend.
Football 4; Lacrosse 4; Boxing 4; Class Lacrosse 3, 2, 1; Class Supper Committee; Ring Dance Committee; June Ball Committee; Manager Cut Exchange 1; Log Board 1; 2 Stripes
HAROLD JOHN Von WELLER
Albany, Georgia
"Von" "Georgia"
Von was born a "snake," a breaker of hearts. He is the delight of doting mammas; patronizing pappas pronounce him a fine young man; and an English instructor once said that he had the most liquid line of loquacity ever known to flow in a Plebe public speaking class. Sunday evenings he sits, chair tilted back, feet on the table, swapping stories and going one better, the wildest tale of any cruise. His power as a raconteur is that of the Ancient Mariner and no one has ever caught him up on one of those tall stories yet. But who wants to? His yarns are too good to doubt.
During his Plebe Year Von made the goal that saved the Navy record of never seeing its Plebe lacrosse team suffer defeat. However, after the "Dago" Department decided that he should leave '32 to join us, athletics have had to yield him up to fields of academic endeavor in which he has risen to a standing well above mediocrity.
Von is a polished gentleman, deeply versed in the art of social intercourse and a loyal and sympathetic friend.
Football 4; Lacrosse 4; Boxing 4; Class Lacrosse 3, 2, 1; Class Supper Committee; Ring Dance Committee; June Ball Committee; Manager Cut Exchange 1; Log Board 1; 2 Stripes
Loss
From the Pensacola News Journal on July 27, 1940:
Harold was Corry field instructor who with his student crashed three quarters of a mile west of Old Corry Field.
Witnesses said their plane appeared to have gone into a flat spin at an altitude of about 200 feet just after taking off. Blades of the propeller were bent, indicating the motor was still running when the crash occurred. One propeller blade was flat, leading some to believe something might have gone wrong with the adjustable pitch mechanism.
Both fliers, safety belts secure, had to be extricated from the wreckage, which did not catch fire. Harold’s right foot and his student’s left foot were nearly severed.
A native of Albany, he had just returned from duty at the Charleston Navy yard, where he had been working out of the Norfolk station.
The other officer aboard survived.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In February 1927, Harold gave a patriotic reading at the meeting of the Dougherty chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy of which his mother was president. His brother George, age 7, carried the Confederate flag during the pageant in April 1927.
Harold graduated from Albany High School in 1927. Harold expects to enter Annapolis next year. Don’t you know he will make a dashing sailor! Freshman Y, ’23, ’24; Treas. Sophomore Y, ’24; Pres. Junior Hi-Y, ’25; Hi-Y, ’25, ’26, ’27; Vice-Pres. Drum and Bugle Corps ’26; Journalism Club, ’27. Class Prophecy entitled “In the Garden of Dreams:” Harold Von Weller after astonishing Annapolis with his “beauty and brains,” kindly consented to take charge of Uncle Sam’s Navy. Now the nation rests in peace, for are not Harold and his “devil dogs” on the job in Mexico, Nicaraugua, China, and other places of disturbance?
Harold attended flying training at the air corps primary school in Randolph field, Texas, in March, 1934. Next, he had advanced flying training at Kelly field, Texas.
He married Virginia Pace at the First Methodist church in Pensacola on July 8, 1937. His brother, Lieutenant Phil von Weller was best man.
Harold was survived by his wife, his mother, two brothers Philip and George, and sister, Mrs. Harold Taylor. His father Harold owned his own electric contracting business. He died in December, 1938. In February 1953, his brother Lt. Com. George was piloting a Navy Douglas AJ2T which crashed on take-off from Turner Air Force base in Albany, Georgia.
From the 1953 edition of the book "Double Three Roundup," published by the class of 1933:
Shortly after graduation Von was commissioned Ensign in the Naval Reserve, and on 19 June 1934, he was transferred to the regular Navy. He served a year in the MINNEAPOLIS, and then a short period in the GREER before being ordered to Pensacola for flight training. He was designated Naval Aviator on 16 June 1937, and in that same year he married Virginia Clifford Pace of Pensacola.
From 1937 to 1939 he had duty as a pilot first with Patrol Squadron 14 and then Patrol Squadron 52. In July 1940 he reported for duty as a flight instructor at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola. A few days thereafter, while instructing a student, he was involved in an airplane accident. He died on 26 July 1940 at the Naval Hospital in Pensacola.
Virginia and Von had no children. She has since married A. J. Connell and is now living at 7 N. Kensington Road, Asheville, North Carolina.
He earned his wings as naval aviator #5248 on June 16, 1937. (Note he is listed as "USN" and his name is spelled "VONWELLER".)
Harold is buried in Florida.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook
Memorial Hall Error
Harold is listed in Memorial Hall as a ENS, USNR; he was a LTjg and not a member of the reserves when he was lost.
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 1936
LTjg John Duke '26
CAPT Ernest Pollock '28
LTjg William Pennewill '29
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30
LTjg Lance Massey '30
LTjg William Sisko '31
LTjg Charles Crommelin '31
January 1937
LT John Duke '26
CAPT Ernest Pollock '28
LTjg William Pennewill '29
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30
LTjg Lance Massey '30
LTjg William Sisko '31
1LT Harold Larson '31
LTjg Charles Crommelin '31
LTjg Burden Hastings '33
April 1937
CAPT Ernest Pollock '28
LTjg William Pennewill '29
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30
LTjg Lance Massey '30
1LT Harold Larson '31
LTjg Charles Crommelin '31
LTjg Burden Hastings '33
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
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