JOHN D. HUNTLEY, LCDR, USN

John Huntley '31

Date of birth: December 22, 1907

Date of death: February 1, 1943

Age: 35

Lucky Bag

From the 1931 Lucky Bag:

John David Huntley

Clyde, Ohio

"Jack"

Jack first received the call of the Navy by looking over the great inland sea, Lake Erie. A successful four years in Clyde High School and preliminary training in the industrial word paved the way for entrance to the Naval Academy.

Jack's athletic interests have been confined to track and cross country, and many a spring afternoon he has spent in chasing up and down Farragut Field. He has been a member of the choir for four years, and he takes an enthusiastic interest in the doings of the Radio Club. He has an excellent knowledge of the devious ways of A. C. and radio waves. Few of his classmates can equal his practical knowledge of electricity.

The people back home who are interested in Jack have faith in his future, for they feel as we feel, that his fineness of character, sense of truth and honor will ultimately bring him the success he deserves. Despite his reserve, he can smile; and despite his youth he has dignity. These qualities, we know, will carry him on to the goal which he has chosen.

Choir 4, 3, 2, 1; Glee Club 3, 2, 1; Radio Club 3, 2, 1; Track 4; Cross Country 4

John David Huntley

Clyde, Ohio

"Jack"

Jack first received the call of the Navy by looking over the great inland sea, Lake Erie. A successful four years in Clyde High School and preliminary training in the industrial word paved the way for entrance to the Naval Academy.

Jack's athletic interests have been confined to track and cross country, and many a spring afternoon he has spent in chasing up and down Farragut Field. He has been a member of the choir for four years, and he takes an enthusiastic interest in the doings of the Radio Club. He has an excellent knowledge of the devious ways of A. C. and radio waves. Few of his classmates can equal his practical knowledge of electricity.

The people back home who are interested in Jack have faith in his future, for they feel as we feel, that his fineness of character, sense of truth and honor will ultimately bring him the success he deserves. Despite his reserve, he can smile; and despite his youth he has dignity. These qualities, we know, will carry him on to the goal which he has chosen.

Choir 4, 3, 2, 1; Glee Club 3, 2, 1; Radio Club 3, 2, 1; Track 4; Cross Country 4

Loss

John was lost when USS De Haven (DD 469) was sunk on February 1, 1943 by Japanese aircraft near Savo Island. He was the ship's executive officer.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

John was born in Clyde and graduated from Clyde High School in 1926. He then worked for a year at the National Carbon Co. of Cleveland. He resigned his position to assist at the G. P. Huntley and Son store in Clyde to prepare for the Naval Academy examination. John was appointed to the Naval Academy by Congressman James T. Begg.
On September 1, 1931, in San Pedro, John secretly married Margaret Ridges of Salt Lake City. She was the sister of his brother Karl’s wife.
John was injured aboard the U. S. S. Colorado at San Diego in November, 1931. An officer and five seamen were killed when an anti-aircraft gun exploded during target practice. John sustained a broken arm, several broken ribs and a bruised chest.
His parents were Alton and Anna; brothers were Paul and Karl.
From the News-Messenger, Fremont, Ohio, August 4, 1942:

In the person of Lieutenant Commander John D. Huntley, the village of Clyde has one more name to add to its long list of famous sons and daughters, headed by another war hero, Gen J. B. McPherson, highest ranking officer killed in the Civil war.
A veteran of the Coral Sea and Midway battles, two of the fiercest naval scrapes of the war, Commander Huntley is visiting in Cleveland this week with his wife, Mrs. Margaret Huntley, and his children, John, 7, and Timothy, 3.
. . . Slender and professional-looking, Huntley is like most of the navy heroes of this war. They refuse to be tagged as glamour boys and accept the hardships of battle as part of the daily bill of fare. And like most navy officers, Huntley sings the praises of the enlisted men and calls their performance “superb.”
In Cleveland Monday, Huntley grinned and joked and told a little of his experiences. Perhaps it was modesty, or maybe military regulations, but despite the fact that he made his part in the two battles appear very small, you can’t blame listeners from placing him in the rank of McPherson.
Here’s his story, patched together from his Cleveland talk: His job was to keep a series of anti-aircraft guns blazing away at the Japs in both the battle of Midway and on Coral Sea.
Describes Battle
Speaking quietly, Huntley said, “The planes were diving out of the sun. First you’d see just a small speck. Then the speck would turn into the silhouette of a plane. Next you could see the bomb peel off. At first it would appear to be coming right at you. Then it would become clear that it would miss. Then another speck would appear, and another, and another.”
As those specks approached, Huntley said, the navy gunners fired away with even more accuracy than the displayed in target practice. “None of the Japs got away,” he assured his audience. “We either got them with the anti-aircraft guns or the fighters brought them down. I can say that much about our shooting.”
Speaking of the way life is carried on during and after battle on a carrier, the veteran seaman reported, “Actually, we don’t have any great hardships. The peculiarity of an air war is that it is over quickly. We weren’t troubled with shock and worry. True, some people were injured, but I have talked with many of them since the battles and they are raring to get out and go at ‘em again.”
And the commander is raring to go, too. He’ll report back to the east coast for his new assignment in three weeks, return to that aircraft carrier, and be on the lookout for more “specks from the sun” – the Rising Sun.

From Find A Grave:

Medina Gazette - Lient. Com. John D. Huntley, 35, executive officer aboard the destroyer DeHaven when she was sunk Feb. 1, 1943, in the South Pacific, has been listed as dead by the Navy department. Com. Huntley was a son of Alton Huntley and a grandson of the late Presley Huntley of Troy Corners, the latter a brother of Bion and Clare Huntley now living at Troy Corners. He entered the navy in 1927; and was commissioned an ensign in 1931 upon his graduation from Annapolis. Missing in action since his destroyer was sunk after being bombed by Japanese planes, Com. Huntley had previously served aboard the aircraft carrier Yorktown in the Coral Sea and Midway battles and was aboard the ship when she was sunk. He leaves a wife, who resides in Rocky River and 2 sons; also a brother, A. Karl Huntley also of Rocky Rive

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Wartime Service

He had been aboard USS Yorktown (CV 5) during the Battle of the Coral Sea and when that ship was lost at the Battle of Midway. From Ibiblio:

Lieutenant John D. HUNTLEY, U.S. Navy, Assistant Gunnery Officer and Control Officer, Forward 5" Director.
Lieutenant Huntley, during the battle of May 8, 1942, as Control Officer of the forward 5" director, through his coolness and presence of mind under fire, maintained an effective anti-aircraft fire against various Japanese torpedo and dive bombing attacks. The guns controlled by this director shot down at least three (3) torpedo planes.

He received a letter of commendation for this action.

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.