NICHOLAS J. PUSEL, 1LT, USMC
Nicholas Pusel '30
Lucky Bag
From the 1930 Lucky Bag:
NICHOLAS JACOB PUSEL
Grafton, North Dakota
"Nick" "Puzzle"
A RATHER willing and somewhat worldly wise lad was he when once more feeling the urge of the sea, which he had known as a boy, Nick left North Dakota to enter the Academy.
He brought with him, among other things, a love of distances. A true disciple of Nurmi and Ritola, he has traveled many miles while in the Academy. In the fall he was to be seen jogging over hill and dale with the harriers. When snow covered the ground he shifted the scene of his performances to the boards behind the gym and after the thaw to the cinders on Farragut Field. In the summer it was a mighty good liberty boat that could shove off with Puzzle still half a block away.
Nick had the jump on the Academic Departments. Try as they might they could not quite catch up with him. His work while not consistently stellar was punctuated by flashes of genius.
By no means a "red mike," in the strict sense of the word, Nick confines his seriousness with the fair sex to his mother and sister.
"Puzzle" has proved himself a hard worker and a man blessed with unusual stick-to-it-ive-ness. He has the application that will help him get along in the fleet.
Track 4, 3, 2, 1, Numerals 3; Cross Country 2, 1, NA 2, Numerals 1; 2 P.O.
NICHOLAS JACOB PUSEL
Grafton, North Dakota
"Nick" "Puzzle"
A RATHER willing and somewhat worldly wise lad was he when once more feeling the urge of the sea, which he had known as a boy, Nick left North Dakota to enter the Academy.
He brought with him, among other things, a love of distances. A true disciple of Nurmi and Ritola, he has traveled many miles while in the Academy. In the fall he was to be seen jogging over hill and dale with the harriers. When snow covered the ground he shifted the scene of his performances to the boards behind the gym and after the thaw to the cinders on Farragut Field. In the summer it was a mighty good liberty boat that could shove off with Puzzle still half a block away.
Nick had the jump on the Academic Departments. Try as they might they could not quite catch up with him. His work while not consistently stellar was punctuated by flashes of genius.
By no means a "red mike," in the strict sense of the word, Nick confines his seriousness with the fair sex to his mother and sister.
"Puzzle" has proved himself a hard worker and a man blessed with unusual stick-to-it-ive-ness. He has the application that will help him get along in the fleet.
Track 4, 3, 2, 1, Numerals 3; Cross Country 2, 1, NA 2, Numerals 1; 2 P.O.
Loss
Nicholas was lost on October 23, 1935 when his aircraft collided with another and crashed near Fort Barrancas, Florida during pilot training.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Nicholas was born in Moose Lake, Minnesota, where his father was a blacksmith in 1910. Nicholas graduated from Grafton high school in North Dakota. In June, 1926, Nicholas stopped in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on his way to Chicago to take the entrance examination for the Naval Academy. At the examination was Robert Haven '30 of Grand Forks who was killed in January 1935.
Nicholas served with the marines in San Diego and Bremerton, Washington. He spent a year in China stationed on the U.S.S. Fulton, and then a year and a half at Manila on shore duty.
Nicholas and Evelyn had a son, William G., born October 15, 1933, in Canacao, Philippines.
Nicholas’ father died in 1921; his mother Jennie in 1958. His sister Margaret became a Navy nurse (LCDR) and is buried with Nicholas in Arlington National Cemetery.
He was married in Washington state on July 18, 1932 to Evelyn N. Gresham of Hartford, Ct.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Related Articles
Robert Coates '30 was the pilot of the other plane and was also killed in this crash.
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.
October 1930
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
October 1934
January 1935
April 1935
LT James Craig '22
LTjg John Duke '26
LTjg Ralph Smith '26
LTjg Robert Coates '30
1LT Harold Bauer '30
LTjg Vernon Hain '31
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31
ENS Edward Allen '31
LTjg Robert Mackert '31
October 1935
LT James Craig '22
LT Richard Moss '24
LTjg John Duke '26
1LT Ernest Pollock '28
LTjg William Pennewill '29
LTjg Robert Coates '30
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30
LTjg Lance Massey '30
1LT Harold Bauer '30
LTjg Robert Mackert '31
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
