JACK P. DESHAZO, LTJG, USN

Jack DeShazo '25

Date of birth: May 6, 1901

Date of death: August 27, 1930

Age: 29

Lucky Bag

From the 1925 Lucky Bag:

Jack Perry De Shazo

Montevallo, Alabama

"Duke" "Count" "Chisel"

WHAT is leave to Jack without a topsy-turvy descent into the ranks of those fervently in love? "Oh, Gawge, I have finally found the soulmate. I can hardly wait until Graduation when Mildred and I shall march up the Chapel aisle." Should all his prophecies come true, Jack would be guilty of polygamy on sixteen counts. He gained his ability along the line of love-making back in Montevallo where there is a girls' school which, as is generally known, teaches a great many things.

Duke is famous for his bloody combats with the Academic Departments. Generally down for the ninth count in the third month, he does one of those whirlwind comebacks with Duke landing the Department for a knockout in the fourth round. Perhaps Margarette wrote an inspiring letter during the intermission, or more likely Janet proposed a breach of promise suit!

Not only does he score heavily via the Cupid route but he is a rifleman of note, doing extremely well with the old Springfield over on the Rifle Range. A good friend and a steady pal is Duke.

Rifle Team (4, 3, 2, 1); rNAt (4), '25 (3); rNt(2); Block N (1); Class Football (4, 3, 2, 1); Numerals (2, 1); Expert Rifleman.

Jack Perry De Shazo

Montevallo, Alabama

"Duke" "Count" "Chisel"

WHAT is leave to Jack without a topsy-turvy descent into the ranks of those fervently in love? "Oh, Gawge, I have finally found the soulmate. I can hardly wait until Graduation when Mildred and I shall march up the Chapel aisle." Should all his prophecies come true, Jack would be guilty of polygamy on sixteen counts. He gained his ability along the line of love-making back in Montevallo where there is a girls' school which, as is generally known, teaches a great many things.

Duke is famous for his bloody combats with the Academic Departments. Generally down for the ninth count in the third month, he does one of those whirlwind comebacks with Duke landing the Department for a knockout in the fourth round. Perhaps Margarette wrote an inspiring letter during the intermission, or more likely Janet proposed a breach of promise suit!

Not only does he score heavily via the Cupid route but he is a rifleman of note, doing extremely well with the old Springfield over on the Rifle Range. A good friend and a steady pal is Duke.

Rifle Team (4, 3, 2, 1); rNAt (4), '25 (3); rNt(2); Block N (1); Class Football (4, 3, 2, 1); Numerals (2, 1); Expert Rifleman.

Loss

On August 27, 1930, Jack died while flying at the national air races in Chicago with the "Fifth Naval Air Squadron," or "Red Rippers." The squadron commander, Lt. Commander J.H. Chapman, stated that Deshazo "barrel-rolled at the end of the race and didn't come out of the roll. He was a good flier." (The "Fifth Naval Air Squadron" is Fighting Squadron (VF) 5B.)

Other Information

He earned his wings as naval aviator #3432 on December 8, 1928.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Either Jack wanted to finish the race upside down or he did a barrel roll to avoid hitting bleachers when his plane got caught in an air pocket (or propeller wash) created by the two planes that finished ahead of him. He crashed near the grandstand, and one man, a publicity agent, was killed as well. The crash happened as 17 navy planes rounded the last pylon of the 50-mile race.
Jack was born in Bridgeton, Alabama, and his parents named him Jackson. His mother Alta died in 1909, and his father George died in 1927. His cousin J. L. Cross grew up with Jack and his two brothers on their father’s farm at Montevallo, Alabama, “hoeing cotton and eating watermelon.” The brothers all longed to grow up to be army and navy officers, and brothers Thomas and Sidney graduated from the U.S. Military academy. After sea duty, Jack finished his training in Pensacola in December 1928 and was assigned to the 5th flying squadron on the U.S.S. Lexington.
Jack loved stunt flying and was a member of the Caterpillar club in 1929 when he was forced to descend in a parachute into the Pacific. For the last two years, he was a member of the “Unholy Three.” He had wired his sister to watch the race as he was confident he would win and she might hear something that would surprise her. However, she did not listen that day.
Survivors were his brothers, his sister, Mrs. Kathleen DeShazo Norton, his stepmother, Mrs. Sudie DeShazo, and two stepbrothers. Jack is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in the middle of Section 7.

In the Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 141 (September 27, 1930) Jack was listed as a member of Fighting Plane Squadron Five:

Major General Frank Parker, Commanding the Sixth Corps Area, Chicago, Ill., recently addressed the following letter to the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics:
"My dear Admiral:
"It is a most agreeable duty for me to express to you, officially, my admiration for the great feats performed by your Navy Air Force during the recent Air Meet in this City.
The work has been so fine, both in the case of the officers of the flying personnel and of those officers and men connected with the upkeep of the planes, that I would be glad to have each member of the personnel furnished a copy of this letter as a testimonial of the Army's admiration for the skill and courage of these representatives of the Air Force of the Navy."

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.