JOHN O. SPEER, LCDR, USN

John Speer '32

Date of birth: May 25, 1908

Date of death: September 11, 1943

Age: 35

Lucky Bag

From the 1932 Lucky Bag:

JOHN ORIN SPEER

Crafton, Pennsylvania

"Jo" "Galileo" "Asteroid" "Bucket"

"Hey, Galileo, what is that, a water heater?" Say that to Jo and then duck. He is small but serious. Anything and everything to do with the great unknown outside this little planet of ours is of interest to Jo. He is gifted with one of the best qualities of an ardent astronomer, an ability to go for indefinite periods of time with little or no sleep. We really don't know of all Galileo's nocturnal activities, for he is invariably up and going strong at taps and reveille; but a guess that the large boiler which takes up so much room and was of such great interest to the D. O.'s is the center of his activities would not be far wrong. Of course the trips to the far corners of the hall in search of any and everything that a former owner had no further use for may have occupied some of his time.

A rosy little fellow with a small pair of wings and a large bow and arrow has been seen quite often in Jo's neighborhood. Be careful old man, it's leap year.

Boxing (4, 2); 2 P. O.

JOHN ORIN SPEER

Crafton, Pennsylvania

"Jo" "Galileo" "Asteroid" "Bucket"

"Hey, Galileo, what is that, a water heater?" Say that to Jo and then duck. He is small but serious. Anything and everything to do with the great unknown outside this little planet of ours is of interest to Jo. He is gifted with one of the best qualities of an ardent astronomer, an ability to go for indefinite periods of time with little or no sleep. We really don't know of all Galileo's nocturnal activities, for he is invariably up and going strong at taps and reveille; but a guess that the large boiler which takes up so much room and was of such great interest to the D. O.'s is the center of his activities would not be far wrong. Of course the trips to the far corners of the hall in search of any and everything that a former owner had no further use for may have occupied some of his time.

A rosy little fellow with a small pair of wings and a large bow and arrow has been seen quite often in Jo's neighborhood. Be careful old man, it's leap year.

Boxing (4, 2); 2 P. O.

Loss

John was one of 197 officers and crew killed in action when USS Savannah (CL 42) was struck by a German radio-controlled Fritz X glide-bomb on September 11, 1943 while providing gunfire support for the landings at Salerno, Italy.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

John graduated from Crafton High School in 1926.
On June 6, 1932, at the Church of the Nativity in Crafton, he married his school sweetheart, the former Edith Staufer Cruikshank. Ensign Alpha Lyons Bowser (’32) was his best man. During their youth, both John and Bowser belonged to Scout Troop 3 of Crafton.
John's sister was Lucille, and his brothers were Donald and Leslie.

He and his wife were divorced sometime before his second marriage (below) in 1940.

From Find A Grave:

Husband of Edith Bower Speer who resided in Annapolis, Maryland during the war.
John served as a Commander, U.S.S. Savannah (CL-42), U.S. Navy during World War II.
He resided in Pennsylvania prior to the war.
During the Invasion of Salerno, John was "Killed In Action" when the Savannah was hit by a German radio-controlled Fritz X glide-bomb which pierced the armored turret roof of Savannah's No. 3 gun turret, passed through three decks into the lower ammunition-handling room, where it exploded, blowing a hole in her keel and tearing a seam in the cruiser's port side.
John was buried at sea and was awarded the Legion of Merit and a Purple Heart.
Service # O-071532

His wife was listed as next of kin; he was also survived by his son from his first marriage.

Photographs

From his high school yearbook
From his high school yearbook
From The Pittsburgh Press on June 8, 1932
From The Monitor on November 4, 1943
Via Heroes of the United States Naval Academy

Legion of Merit

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Legion of Merit (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Commander John O. Speer (NSN: 0-71532), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as First Lieutenant and Damage Control Officer of the U.S.S. SAVANNAH (CL-42) during the invasion of Italy. Lieutenant Commander Speer worked tirelessly to organize and train a prompt and effective crew in case of enemy attack. On 11 September 1943, when a hostile bomb struck, he was killed but his well-trained crew carried on and succeeded in controlling the flames and saving the ship.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 327 (June 1944)
Action Date: September 11, 1943
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Division: U.S.S. Savannah (CL-42)

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.