REGINALD C. LAMB, JR., LT, USN

Reginald Lamb, Jr. '43

Date of birth: March 11, 1920

Date of death: June 30, 1947

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1943 Lucky Bag:

REGINALD CLAIR LAMB, JR.

Annapolis, Maryland

Nineteen years of life in Annapolis finally convinced Reggie that the Naval Academy was the only place to start his career. Versatility should be his middle name. Besides participating in gym, soccer, track and being active in Log photographic work and the French Club, Reggie managed to eke out a pretty fair name for himself as a wrestler on the varsity. Between workouts, he could usually be found dragging—a different girl every time. Whenever help was needed at the Naval Academy, the call was, "Where's Reggie?" When he gets out in the fleet, the same demand may well continue to exist.

He was a member of the wrestling team and of the LOG staff.

The Class of 1943 was graduated in June 1942 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

REGINALD CLAIR LAMB, JR.

Annapolis, Maryland

Nineteen years of life in Annapolis finally convinced Reggie that the Naval Academy was the only place to start his career. Versatility should be his middle name. Besides participating in gym, soccer, track and being active in Log photographic work and the French Club, Reggie managed to eke out a pretty fair name for himself as a wrestler on the varsity. Between workouts, he could usually be found dragging—a different girl every time. Whenever help was needed at the Naval Academy, the call was, "Where's Reggie?" When he gets out in the fleet, the same demand may well continue to exist.

He was a member of the wrestling team and of the LOG staff.

The Class of 1943 was graduated in June 1942 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Obituary

From the Class of 1943 anniversary book "25 years later…":

Reggie was born on 11 March 1920 in Annapolis, Maryland. He was appointed from South Carolina and entered the Academy on 30 June 1939. Upon graduation, he reported to the cruiser USS HONOLULU. During the time Reggie was aboard, that was until August 1944, the HONOLULU participated in seven major engagements, the most important being the Battle of Tassafaronga, Bombardment of Vila and Bairoko Harbor, the Battle of Kula Gulf and the Battle of Kolombangara.
He then entered flight training which was conducted at Ottumwa, Iowa, Corpus Christi, Texas and at Sanford, Miami, and Jacksonville, Florida. In July 1946 he received further flight training in electronics warfare and anti-submarine warfare. Reggie reported to Fighter Squadron THREE in November 1946. It was on this duty while operating from the carrier USS RANDOLPH that he lost his life in 2 plane crash in the Atlantic on 30 June 1947. He wore the Navy Unit Citation, the American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, the American Area Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Area Campaign with seven bronze stars, and the WWII Victory Medal. Reggie is survived by his wife, Marian Kilmer who is the secretary of the Director of Administration and Logistics at the Naval Academy and their twin sons, Dick who is a senior at Cornell in Mechanical Engineering and David who is at Lehigh in Industrial Engineering. Marian’s address is 9 Stehle Street, Annapolis, Maryland 21401.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

At St. John’s College, he was on the boxing team. He also attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His father was Reginald, mother Ruby, sister Katherine, and brothers Charles and Harold (’45.) In August 1937, Reginald, his father and his brother Harold returned on Holland-America’s SS Rotterdam from Boulogne to Boston.

He has a memory marker in the Naval Academy Cemetery.