LOUIS A. DREXLER, JR., CDR, USN
Louis Drexler, Jr. '23
Lucky Bag
From the 1923 Lucky Bag:
Louis Ashton Drexler, Jr.
Bethany Beach, Delaware
"Louie" "Drex" "Mooney" "Fat-Face"
THE state of Delaware has, no doubt, produced many a sea-faring man but none to compare with our "Lou-eye", the old sea dog of the U. S. N. A. There is no need of asking where "Mooney" is from, for it only takes a docile ear to hear the tales of the coast of Delaware, the coastwise schooners, the coast guard and every wreck between Capes Charles and Henelopen.
On observation one realizes why he is called "Mooney" and "Fat-face", for his rotund countenance circumscribes a virile crop of bush which explains the numberless paps—"Improperly shaved".
A great lover of boats, "Mooney" would rather watch the ferry boat than chow, and that's saying something. When our famed "Gov. Harrington" docks, Louie immediately spends the rest of the evening in expounding nautical terms.
Verily he is almost a charter member of our noble institution having spent a meager six years in our midst. Non-reg to the marrow, his name appears in all the records and is known by all the D. O.'s. We congratulate him—he gets away with nearly everything he tries.
Class Rifle (2).
Louis Ashton Drexler, Jr.
Bethany Beach, Delaware
"Louie" "Drex" "Mooney" "Fat-Face"
THE state of Delaware has, no doubt, produced many a sea-faring man but none to compare with our "Lou-eye", the old sea dog of the U. S. N. A. There is no need of asking where "Mooney" is from, for it only takes a docile ear to hear the tales of the coast of Delaware, the coastwise schooners, the coast guard and every wreck between Capes Charles and Henelopen.
On observation one realizes why he is called "Mooney" and "Fat-face", for his rotund countenance circumscribes a virile crop of bush which explains the numberless paps—"Improperly shaved".
A great lover of boats, "Mooney" would rather watch the ferry boat than chow, and that's saying something. When our famed "Gov. Harrington" docks, Louie immediately spends the rest of the evening in expounding nautical terms.
Verily he is almost a charter member of our noble institution having spent a meager six years in our midst. Non-reg to the marrow, his name appears in all the records and is known by all the D. O.'s. We congratulate him—he gets away with nearly everything he tries.
Class Rifle (2).
Loss
Louis was lost on May 12, 1945 when he was killed by a sniper at Okinawa. He was the commanding officer of LST Group Forty-Seven, embarked aboard USS LST 918.
LST Group 47 War Diary
From USS LST 918, Flagship. 1-15 May 1945. Commander LST Group 47 in USS LST 918 at KERAMA RETTO under CTG 51.15 (ComPhibGroupSEVEN) with ship acting as Naval ammunition storage and resupply vessel. No other ships under this command at this time. On 12 May, Commander Louis A. DREXLER, Jr., USN, Commander LST Group 47, was killed in action.
A report of changes in personnel to the group staff noted he was "killed in action on Aka Shima, Kerama Retto; remains interred in U.S. Armed Forces Cemetery, Zamami Shima, Kerama Retto. 5/13/45."
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Louis attended grade school in Bethany Beach and Dover High School. He graduated from Culver Military Academy. At the Academy in 1916 he was a private in the Signaling Corps and in “D” Company. In 1917 he was a member of the German Club.
In March 1917 Louis and his brother Henry Clay were in Washington for the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson.
Louis was recommended by Senator Saulsbury for the Naval Academy in 1917. He started at the Naval Academy in July.
He married Dorothy V. Angel on June 2, 1934 at the University Place Christian Church in New York City. Their children were Joan (nee Batterton,) Louis Drexler, III, and Clay Drexler.
In 1941 Louis was the officer in charge of Navy Recruiting for Western Pennsylvania. On July 26, Louis was blown 25 feet through the hatch of a 40-foot U. S. Naval Reserve cruiser in a triple explosion and fire on the Oakmont Boat Club dock. Louis landed on the dock and received severe burns on his face, hands and arms. He was in the engine room at the time of the first explosion. Luckily, his wife and friends were unhurt on the dock. The boat was cut loose and was completely destroyed. The boat was used in training reserves and in recruiting services.
In December 1941 Louis had to reject with regret the enlistment application of Jack Howe, age 11. The boy wanted to do something for his country. Louis told the boy, “Yours is the spirit that has come down through the years from Captain John Paul Jones, Commodore Perry, and others, whose feats will ever be remembered by civilized people.”
Louis was replaced at the Navy Recruiting Station by Lieut. E. B. Keckler in April 1942. Louis then served at the American naval base in Iceland and as troop officer aboard a transport in the Atlantic.
In September 1943 his family lived in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 1944 Louis was in the Pacific theatre commanding an LST squadron with amphibious invasions. He was at the invasion of Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, and Ie Shima. It was his ships which put ashore a portion of the invasion force that cleared Japanese forces from Corregidor. He also took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima and the initial attacks on Okinawa. He was killed on a small island near Okinawa while in command of a detail surveying prospective storage space for supplies.
Louis was a member of Doric Lodge, No. 30, A. F. and A. M., Millville; Hope Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons, Georgetown; and Evergreen Forest, Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Milford.
His father, a former state senator, was active in local safety affairs and a president of the Del-Mar-Va Eastern Shore Association. His brother was Henry Clay Drexler (’24.) He died in 1924, and a destroyer was named after him.
His wife was listed as next of kin; they were married in 1942. He was also survived by two sons of a previous marriage, Louis III, and Clay (CDR, USCG retired).
Louis is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on January 28, 1942
From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on October 4, 1941
Legion of Merit
From Hall of Valor:
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Commander Louis Ashton Drexler, United States Navy, was awarded the Legion of Merit (Posthumously) for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Commander of a group of Tank Landing Ships, and of landing craft task units at Lingayen, Nsugbu, Kerama Retto, Leyte and Ie Shima, during World War II.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 356 (November 1946)
Service: Navy
Rank: Commander
Family
His brother, Henry Drexler '24, was lost in a gun explosion aboard USS Trenton (CL 11) in 1924.
Related Articles
His wife's first husband, Henry Batterton '23, died in a depth charge accident in 1942.
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.
July 1923
September 1923
November 1923
January 1924
March 1924
May 1924
July 1924
September 1924
November 1924
March 1925
May 1925
July 1925
October 1925
January 1926
October 1926
January 1927
April 1927
October 1927
January 1928
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
October 1930
1LT David Claude '24 (Marine Barracks, Naval Academy)
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
LCDR Robert English '11
LT Joseph Severyns, Jr. '20
LT Samuel Arthur '20
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Slawson '20
LT John Jones '21
LT John French '22
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
CDR Robert English '11
LCDR Lyman Swenson '16
LT Samuel Arthur '20
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Slawson '20
LTjg William Hobby, Jr. '23
LT John Welch '23
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
October 1934
October 1935
January 1936
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July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
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