HENRY C. GEARING, III, LT, USN

Henry Gearing, III '35

Date of birth: August 6, 1912

Date of death: November 13, 1942

Age: 30

Lucky Bag

From the 1935 Lucky Bag:

HENRY CHALFANT GEARING, III

Washington, D.C.

"Henry"

HENRY possesses a dual personality. The boy: light, jovial, friendly; the man: methodical, serious, studious. On week-ends, the playboy is dragging and care-free; during the week his sturdy nature dominates and keeps him sat. Both widely and well read, he has a faultless choice of literature. He is capable of picking out good points and defects of books with the best of critics. Henry shines in bridge. He could probably take a "bust" hand and make a grand slam in no trumps. Whether it is Culbertson, Sims, or Winslow, Henry excels. Thorough, but entirely human; likeable, but seldom intimate; dignified, but far from aloof—thus Henry's complex nature makes him the reliable, independent, and jolly person that he is.

Basketball Assistant Manager 4, 3. M.P.O.

HENRY CHALFANT GEARING, III

Washington, D.C.

"Henry"

HENRY possesses a dual personality. The boy: light, jovial, friendly; the man: methodical, serious, studious. On week-ends, the playboy is dragging and care-free; during the week his sturdy nature dominates and keeps him sat. Both widely and well read, he has a faultless choice of literature. He is capable of picking out good points and defects of books with the best of critics. Henry shines in bridge. He could probably take a "bust" hand and make a grand slam in no trumps. Whether it is Culbertson, Sims, or Winslow, Henry excels. Thorough, but entirely human; likeable, but seldom intimate; dignified, but far from aloof—thus Henry's complex nature makes him the reliable, independent, and jolly person that he is.

Basketball Assistant Manager 4, 3. M.P.O.

Loss

Henry was lost when USS Juneau (CL 52) was sunk during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942.

He had "joined Juneau as a Lieutenant in 1942."

Other Information

His grandmother was listed as next of kin, though he was also survived by his father, Captain Henry Gearing, Jr., USN, Class of 1907. He has a memory marker in the Naval Academy cemetery. Henry's grandfather was a Commander and Class of 1872.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Henry was on continual sea duty for seven and a half years.
His mother remarried and was now Lolita Burling Smith. His brother was Lucien, uncle Hilyer (’20), and grandmother Ellen.

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.