RAYMOND P. RUTLEDGE, 2LT, USMC
Raymond Rutledge '27
Lucky Bag
From the 1927 Lucky Bag:
Raymond Poston Rutledge
Festus, Missouri
"Ray" "Rut" "Savvy"
RAY came to us with the sound of the threshing machine still singing in his ears. Listening to that sound, however, was just his summer pastime. School was far more important, for we learned that in the Festus High School Savvy stood one in his class,—a standing he has striven to repeat in his four years with us. We do not know how the soft sound of the sea reached so far inland : but the glamour of the uniform and the desire for the deep penetrated and none of us are sorry.
Plebe year, Ray could keep us at constant attention with his stories and jokes; but since then we have missed them. In their place he has substituted Academic work; and in that field he was very successful. To excel in all things is a high ambition; but it is one which Rut has kept. He has worked at several sports; and he has made good in every one. He grasps all things by putting in the hard work most of us lack.
Raymond is easy to get along with; but just because you can get along with him is no sign that you know him. Far from it, for it takes a long time to know him thoroughly. So remember this when you meet Rut. You will very soon learn to like him, and it will be well worth while to try to know him.
Wrestling: Class (2); Star (3, 2).
Raymond Poston Rutledge
Festus, Missouri
"Ray" "Rut" "Savvy"
RAY came to us with the sound of the threshing machine still singing in his ears. Listening to that sound, however, was just his summer pastime. School was far more important, for we learned that in the Festus High School Savvy stood one in his class,—a standing he has striven to repeat in his four years with us. We do not know how the soft sound of the sea reached so far inland : but the glamour of the uniform and the desire for the deep penetrated and none of us are sorry.
Plebe year, Ray could keep us at constant attention with his stories and jokes; but since then we have missed them. In their place he has substituted Academic work; and in that field he was very successful. To excel in all things is a high ambition; but it is one which Rut has kept. He has worked at several sports; and he has made good in every one. He grasps all things by putting in the hard work most of us lack.
Raymond is easy to get along with; but just because you can get along with him is no sign that you know him. Far from it, for it takes a long time to know him thoroughly. So remember this when you meet Rut. You will very soon learn to like him, and it will be well worth while to try to know him.
Wrestling: Class (2); Star (3, 2).
Loss
Raymond was lost on August 24, 1932 when his plane crashed near Rama, Nicaragua.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Raymond graduated from Festus High School in 1923. He was on the track team, was president of the Athletic Association and a member of the debate team. He gave the valedictorian address at graduation and won $25 in gold for a scholarship.
His brother William graduated from the Naval Academy in 1926.
He was survived by his father, Dr. J. E. of Festus, his sister, Mrs. Howard Cation, and five brothers: Dr. Paul E. Rutledge of Kirkwood; Dr. John F. Rutledge of Crystal City, Missouri; Dr. Richard Rutledge and Owen of Peoria, Illinois; and William of Festus.
He was survived by his father and two brothers; he is buried in Missouri.
Distinguished Flying Cross
From Hall of Valor:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant Raymond P. Rutledge (MCSN: 0-4248), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as an airplane pilot attached to Aircraft Squadrons, Second Marine Brigade, operating in the Republic of Nicaragua. When the crew of a plane of these Squadrons was missing in the dense jungle of Eastern Nicaragua, Second Lieutenant Rutledge found the missing crew and for the next three days, until he was killed in an airplane accident on 24 August 1932, made many flights under extremely dangerous conditions to drop supplies to the stranded crew and to direct a ground patrol that was proceeding to its rescue. He was engaged in this work when his plane crashed in the jungle, killing him and his observer. While attached to these Squadrons, Lieutenant Rutledge had flown over four hundred hours in Nicaragua, frequently under very adverse conditions and over difficult terrain infested with hostile bandits. An aerial attack that he conducted on 23 May 1932, against a large and dangerous force of bandits threatening Neptune Mine was credited by the Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua as a decisive factor in the final dispersion of the bandit force from the mine area. Lieutenant Rutledge, during his service in Nicaragua, had repeatedly displayed a high order of determination, skill and courage. On many long patrol flights in the Eastern Area where flying conditions were particularly difficult and dangerous, he was most tenacious in going through with reconnaissance and other necessary flights, particularly when the vicinity of Puerto Cabezas was threatened by bandits.
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING SECOND NICARAGUAN CAMPAIGN
Service: Marine Corps
Rank: Second Lieutenant
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.
January 1928
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
LT Edwin Conway '20
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT Stephen Cooke '21
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
April 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25
July 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
October 1929
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
ENS Henry G'Sell '26
January 1930
April 1930
October 1930
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
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