HOWARD D. PEEPLES, ENS, USN

Howard Peeples '20

Date of birth: July 6, 1897

Date of death: October 1, 1922

Age: 25

Lucky Bag

From the 1920 Lucky Bag:

Howard Docker Peeples

Shawneetown, Illinois

"Peeps" "One Eye" "Foo"

FROM Peeples' record as seen in the Academy Register you'd never guess that this same Scissor Bill goes by the name of "Fou-Fou." Oh, "Fou-Fou" brings back to us those times when we used to "catch a skag where the tendency was good" and at the same time keep our eye peeled for the D. O. But yet if he used to catch, he wasn't so very non-reg. No, not very—"as much as he could get away with" was his motto.

"Peeps" wasn't a savior. What he knew never caused the profs to hesitate about whether to give him a 3.4 or a 3.5. He took his work as it came, studied sometimes, bluffed often, hit a few trees, rejoiced much when a 3.0 graced his marks—just like any of the rest of us non-ratey "buzzards."

Yet he excelled in his unfailing optimism. We have never known him to stay rhino long enough for us to tell whether he was bluffing or not. When the "All Academics" seemed to hit him hardest he could always be cheerful and never let worry come near him. Perhaps it did, but if so he kept his troubles to himself and let us see only that cheery smile.

We do not know upon what duty he will be assigned but we do know that when a little commonsense, a lot of pep, and a willingness to help others is needed, why, "Angel Face" is the man for the job. To whatever J. O. mess "Peeps" goes, we send to them a good officer, a tried companion, and a man well able to uphold the traditions of the Academy.

Honors: Buzzard.

The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Howard Docker Peeples

Shawneetown, Illinois

"Peeps" "One Eye" "Foo"

FROM Peeples' record as seen in the Academy Register you'd never guess that this same Scissor Bill goes by the name of "Fou-Fou." Oh, "Fou-Fou" brings back to us those times when we used to "catch a skag where the tendency was good" and at the same time keep our eye peeled for the D. O. But yet if he used to catch, he wasn't so very non-reg. No, not very—"as much as he could get away with" was his motto.

"Peeps" wasn't a savior. What he knew never caused the profs to hesitate about whether to give him a 3.4 or a 3.5. He took his work as it came, studied sometimes, bluffed often, hit a few trees, rejoiced much when a 3.0 graced his marks—just like any of the rest of us non-ratey "buzzards."

Yet he excelled in his unfailing optimism. We have never known him to stay rhino long enough for us to tell whether he was bluffing or not. When the "All Academics" seemed to hit him hardest he could always be cheerful and never let worry come near him. Perhaps it did, but if so he kept his troubles to himself and let us see only that cheery smile.

We do not know upon what duty he will be assigned but we do know that when a little commonsense, a lot of pep, and a willingness to help others is needed, why, "Angel Face" is the man for the job. To whatever J. O. mess "Peeps" goes, we send to them a good officer, a tried companion, and a man well able to uphold the traditions of the Academy.

Honors: Buzzard.

The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

Howard was lost on October 1, 1922 when he was swept overboard of USS Patoka (AO 9), perhaps during a storm, somewhere in the western Pacific Ocean.

From Find A Grave:

HOWARD PEEPLES, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Peeples of Shawneetown, was accidentally lost at sea on October 1, according to a message received by his father from the Naval department. The young man was an ensign in the U.S.N. and was on the destroyer Patoka. [ed: USS Patoka (AO 9) was a fleet oiler.]
The message reported that the boy is supposed to have fallen overboard during a trip to Shanghai and his disappearance was not noticed until several hours later. An unsuccessful search was made to recover his body.
The boy was visiting home folks last fall and is well known in this city. He left the states in June on the destroyer Paul Jones for an extended cruise and his last letter stated that he had traveled over 12,000 miles.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Howard’s father was Henry M., a clothing merchant. His mother was Catherine who died in 1915. Howard was the youngest of nine children. His sisters were Martha, Hattie, and Katherine. His brothers were Robert, Lawrence, Elmer, Morton, and Thomas.
Howard's hometown Shawneetown flooded during the Ohio River Flood of 1937. It was rebuilt several miles inland.

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.