HICKORY C. FLOED, ENS, USN
Hickory Floed '24
Lucky Bag
From the 1924 Lucky Bag:
HICKORY CARTER FLOED
Boise, Idaho
"Hickory"
"WHAT, brown socks!"—with these words our hero became aware of the fact that another of his indiscretions had been revealed. Alas! He was to find that, all through his career such imprudences were to be dealt with in a summary manner. But in spite of these, our little "Hickory" has clung to his visions of the ideal. Since the episode of the brown socks, many moons have passed; he has grown older in years, yea, and in experience, but he is as reckless—and lucky—as ever.
At sundry times he has exhibited oratorical powers to a marked degree. As witness the time when, in a cabaret in Philly, he made himself and his companions the center of attraction. And on another and more auspicious occasion, he appeared as the advocate of a strong military policy before a gathering of North Carolina farmers and convinced them of the folly of Disarmament.
The All-Academics have taken up much of his time, but between the rounds he has been able to satisfy his penchant for poetry and good books.
"Hey, 'Hick', how about the countess?"
HICKORY CARTER FLOED
Boise, Idaho
"Hickory"
"WHAT, brown socks!"—with these words our hero became aware of the fact that another of his indiscretions had been revealed. Alas! He was to find that, all through his career such imprudences were to be dealt with in a summary manner. But in spite of these, our little "Hickory" has clung to his visions of the ideal. Since the episode of the brown socks, many moons have passed; he has grown older in years, yea, and in experience, but he is as reckless—and lucky—as ever.
At sundry times he has exhibited oratorical powers to a marked degree. As witness the time when, in a cabaret in Philly, he made himself and his companions the center of attraction. And on another and more auspicious occasion, he appeared as the advocate of a strong military policy before a gathering of North Carolina farmers and convinced them of the folly of Disarmament.
The All-Academics have taken up much of his time, but between the rounds he has been able to satisfy his penchant for poetry and good books.
"Hey, 'Hick', how about the countess?"
Loss
Hickory was lost on November 3, 1926 when his plane collided with another and crashed near Pensacola, Florida. (Information from a distant relative, Dennis Wright, via email on September 22, 2018; also from the Pensacola News Journal on November 4, 1926.) The aviators were "in combat practice" over the Osceola golf course. The other pilot survived and landed his plane.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Hickory was born in Boise, Idaho, and graduated from Boise high school. He attended Alabama’s Marion Institute in August 1919 to be coached for his final examination to the Naval Academy.
His plane collided with another at an altitude of 3,000 feet, and a wing was broken. At 200 feet, he jumped, but his parachute failed to stop his fall.
His father was Fred who died in 1921. His mother was Metta, and sisters were Frances and Marjorie. His father was editor of a newspaper, and his mother was a journalist in 1910 Boise.
Hickory had been at the naval station for about seven months; he was survived by his mother, Mrs. Fred Floed, in Portland, Oregon, which was cited as his home.
He is buried in Oregon.
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.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
