LEWIS B. PRIDE, JR., ENS, USN
Lewis Pride, Jr. '41
Lucky Bag
From the 1941 Lucky Bag:
LEWIS BAILEY PRIDE, JR.
Madisonville, Kentucky
Do you want to know someone who's always willing to eat, sleep, fight, or start a party? A fellow who'd lend you money, always help with a problem, and not borrow your ties? Well, then, you should know Bailey, for he's all of that!
Bailey's right straight out of the mountains of "Kaintucky," if you don't believe it, why ask him. Yes-siree, right out of the woods, and he's always been out of the woods except for a few brief skirmishes with the academic department plebe year and then a little set-to with the medical boys as regards to the eye-sight. He says he's legally blind in a couple of states, but don't let him fox you because he's plenty sharp, blind or not.
His record as a crew man is a very good one. He concentrated on crew, but he was always available whenever the battalion need to win a football game or a boxing match. It's true that all in all he's a well-rounded fellow, and the "Pride of the Navy."
Crew 4, 3, 2, Captain 1; Secretary-Treasurer Class 1941, Battalion Boxing 4, 3, 2; Battalion Football 4, 3; Battalion Pistol 3, 2.
The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.
LEWIS BAILEY PRIDE, JR.
Madisonville, Kentucky
Do you want to know someone who's always willing to eat, sleep, fight, or start a party? A fellow who'd lend you money, always help with a problem, and not borrow your ties? Well, then, you should know Bailey, for he's all of that!
Bailey's right straight out of the mountains of "Kaintucky," if you don't believe it, why ask him. Yes-siree, right out of the woods, and he's always been out of the woods except for a few brief skirmishes with the academic department plebe year and then a little set-to with the medical boys as regards to the eye-sight. He says he's legally blind in a couple of states, but don't let him fox you because he's plenty sharp, blind or not.
His record as a crew man is a very good one. He concentrated on crew, but he was always available whenever the battalion need to win a football game or a boxing match. It's true that all in all he's a well-rounded fellow, and the "Pride of the Navy."
Crew 4, 3, 2, Captain 1; Secretary-Treasurer Class 1941, Battalion Boxing 4, 3, 2; Battalion Football 4, 3; Battalion Pistol 3, 2.
The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.
Loss
Lewis was lost when USS Oklahoma (BB 37) was sunk on December 7, 1941 by Japanese aircraft during the raid on Pearl Harbor.
Other Information
His body was recovered but not identified until 2015. He is now buried in Kentucky. He was survived by his parents.
Photographs
From the Lucky Bag
From the Lucky Bag
From the "Stripers" page of the Lucky Bag
Namesakes
USS Pride (DE 323) was named for Lewis and was sponsored by his mother.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5480 is named in Lewis' honor.
Pride Elementary School and a street in Madisonville, KY are also named for him.
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.
April 1941
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