JOHN F. CHENEY, LT, USN

John Cheney '37

Date of birth: March 25, 1915

Date of death: February 16, 1943

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1937 Lucky Bag:

JOHN FRANCIS CHENEY

Boston, Massachusetts

"John" "Whitey"

John is the kind of a fellow whose ticket to happiness consists of a good pipe, a good dog, and a good book. He likes to sit down so well he made crew his sport, and, like most of us, he is one of that army that serves to push the top-notchers. He has an appreciation of classical music, literature, and femininity, consistently sporting a first section drag. His secret ambition is a pair of dancing feet. The philosophy of life which he follows is wound up in these famous lines: "Let me live in a house by the side of the road, and be a friend to man."

Crew 3. Lacrosse 2. Orchestra 4, 3. C. P. O.

JOHN FRANCIS CHENEY

Boston, Massachusetts

"John" "Whitey"

John is the kind of a fellow whose ticket to happiness consists of a good pipe, a good dog, and a good book. He likes to sit down so well he made crew his sport, and, like most of us, he is one of that army that serves to push the top-notchers. He has an appreciation of classical music, literature, and femininity, consistently sporting a first section drag. His secret ambition is a pair of dancing feet. The philosophy of life which he follows is wound up in these famous lines: "Let me live in a house by the side of the road, and be a friend to man."

Crew 3. Lacrosse 2. Orchestra 4, 3. C. P. O.

Loss

John was lost when USS Amberjack (SS 219) was sunk by a patrol craft on February 16, 1943 near Rabaul.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

John graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1932. In April 1940, John was at the U. S. Submarine Base in Groton, New London, Connecticut. His father was Frank, a motor inspector in an electric shop. His mother was Margaret, and his brothers were Francis and Gerard.

John is remembered at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

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.