HENRY R. DOZIER, CDR, USN

Henry Dozier '27

Date of birth: June 10, 1903

Date of death: November 5, 1944

Age: 41

Lucky Bag

From the 1927 Lucky Bag:

Henry Robert Dozier

Omaha, Nebraska

"Hank" "Doz"

HANK'S first appearance is very striking. You see a neat, well-groomed young man, medium in height and broad of shoulders. He came to the Academy after a high school course and one year of college work at Creighton University in Nebraska. His previous military training won him a place as adjutant in our Plebe Summer organization. He is very athletic, a devotee of football, basketball and lacrosse, but an injury has held him up in this line of activity.

No, don't give up hope yet, ladies. He was a confirmed woman-hater during his first two years, but after trying unsuccessfully several times, his luck changed and since then he has been quite a ladies' man. Paris and London helped to bring about this change for the worse. Hank is inclined to be brilliant in his studies but doesn't allow them to interfere with his education. A trace of Southern blood causes him to lay aside his books when there is something more interesting on the program. His easy-going pleasant manner has won him numerous friends both in and out of the service. A touch of Satan often causes him to get in trouble, but being a politician, he manages to smooth things over and come out on the top. To sum him up, Hank is a real man, good-natured, strong, both physically and mentally, and above all a good roommate which covers a multitude of sins.

Football: A Squad (4, 3) B Squad (1) Class Numerals (4); Lacrosse: A Squad (1) Navy Numerals (4); Basketball: A Squad (4, 3) B Squad (1) Navy Numerals (4).

Henry Robert Dozier

Omaha, Nebraska

"Hank" "Doz"

HANK'S first appearance is very striking. You see a neat, well-groomed young man, medium in height and broad of shoulders. He came to the Academy after a high school course and one year of college work at Creighton University in Nebraska. His previous military training won him a place as adjutant in our Plebe Summer organization. He is very athletic, a devotee of football, basketball and lacrosse, but an injury has held him up in this line of activity.

No, don't give up hope yet, ladies. He was a confirmed woman-hater during his first two years, but after trying unsuccessfully several times, his luck changed and since then he has been quite a ladies' man. Paris and London helped to bring about this change for the worse. Hank is inclined to be brilliant in his studies but doesn't allow them to interfere with his education. A trace of Southern blood causes him to lay aside his books when there is something more interesting on the program. His easy-going pleasant manner has won him numerous friends both in and out of the service. A touch of Satan often causes him to get in trouble, but being a politician, he manages to smooth things over and come out on the top. To sum him up, Hank is a real man, good-natured, strong, both physically and mentally, and above all a good roommate which covers a multitude of sins.

Football: A Squad (4, 3) B Squad (1) Class Numerals (4); Lacrosse: A Squad (1) Navy Numerals (4); Basketball: A Squad (4, 3) B Squad (1) Navy Numerals (4).

Loss

Henry was drowned on November 5, 1944 when he fell overboard from USS Ticonderoga (CV 14) in the Pacific (approximately 16° 21'N 124° 22.5'E). From Ticonderoga's war diary: "2105 An officer fell overboard and his approximate location was reported to the screen but due to conditions of darken ship he was not located." The ship had been engaged in strikes over the Philippines and was earlier that day struck by a kamikaze.

He had recently transferred from USS Yorktown (CV 10). "Left USS Yorktown CV-10 on route to Carrier Division 26. While on route on another aircraft carrier, during lights out, fell off the elevator into the water because the safety ropes were not put back."

Other Information

He earned his wings as naval aviator #3679 on July 28, 1930.

Henry's wife was listed as next of kin. He was also survived by his four children and brother.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Previous to studying at Creighton University, Henry attended St. Cecilia’s School and Creighton Prep. He entered the Naval Academy on July 3, 1923. His last cruise at sea was July 1926 for a total of eight months at sea. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1927, he was an instructor there until assigned to the USS Saratoga beginning on November 15.
Henry’s brother was William Dozier, TV producer of "Batman" and "Green Hornet". In January 1945, Henry’s family moved to Beverly Hills, California, to be near William.
Henry and Loretta’s third child was Angela, born in 1935 in Annapolis, Maryland. Like her mother before her, she was a registered nurse who graduated in 1957 from Mount Saint Mary’s College in Brentwood, California. In 1962 she married Gustavo Colom Argueta, and they had four children: Gustavo, Loretta, Angela and Gabriela. She died on December 21, 2020.

Photographs

All photographs are courtesy of his grandson, Gus Colom, unless otherwise noted.

Aboard either USS Wyoming (BB 32), USS Arkansas (BB 33), USS New York (BB 34), or USS Texas (BB 35) at the Royal Naval Base at Gibraltar while a midshipman on practice cruise. July 31 to August 4, 1924.
Location unknown, but likely outside Dahlgren Hall at the Naval Academy.
Likely aboard USS Yorktown (CV 10); Captain in foreground is almost certainly Joseph Clark
Likely aboard USS Yorktown (CV 10), possibly during her construction/fitting-out in 1943.
Henry, second from right, in what is likely a squadron lounge aboard USS Yorktown (CV 10). A photo on the bulkhead is of Kwajalein, which was raided by Yorktown in late January 1944 ahead of the invasion there.

Bronze Star Medal

Unable to locate a citation for the Bronze Star Medal cited on Henry's memorial marker.

Map

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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.

January 1928

Ensign, USS Saratoga

Others at this command:

LCDR Henry Mullinnix '16
LT Edwin Conway '20
LTjg Theodore Marshall '24

ENS Charles Redfield '26
ENS John Crane '26
ENS Oscar Pate, Jr. '27

ENS Clinton Rounds '27
ENS Arthur Loeser '27
ENS Eugene Lindsey '27

April 1928

Ensign, USS Saratoga

Others at this command:

LCDR Henry Mullinnix '16
LT Edwin Conway '20
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Theodore Marshall '24

ENS Charles Redfield '26
ENS John Crane '26
ENS Oscar Pate, Jr. '27

ENS Clinton Rounds '27
ENS Arthur Loeser '27
ENS Eugene Lindsey '27

Others at or embarked at this command:

LT James Carney '21 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)

July 1928

Ensign, USS Saratoga

Others at this command:

LCDR Henry Mullinnix '16
LT Edwin Conway '20
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Theodore Marshall '24

ENS Charles Redfield '26
ENS John Crane '26
ENS Oscar Pate, Jr. '27

Ensign, USS Saratoga

Others at this command:

LTjg Theodore Marshall '24

LTjg John Crane '26

ENS Henry Twohy '29

Others at or embarked at this command:

LCDR Henry Mullinnix '16 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Paul Thompson '19 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet)

LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)