REGINALD M. RAYMOND, LCDR, USN

Reginald Raymond '33

Date of birth: May 20, 1912

Date of death: April 29, 1943

Age: 30

Lucky Bag

From the 1933 Lucky Bag:

REGINALD MARBURY RAYMOND

Shreveport, Louisiana

"Reggie" "Sheets" "Tartan"

Reggie arrived early Plebe Summer, still a trifle damp behind the ears, but nevertheless a Southern gentleman of the old school, suh! When "ac" year rolled around, he settled down to earn his stars and enjoy life at the same time, in both of which he has succeeded. In spite of being a savvy hombre, he was always ready to quit boning to rough-and-tumble during study hours, or sell you an idea of his. And can that guy argue!

When it comes to social life, Reggie is right there among the elite, right in the center of a crowd of girls; drags a new one to every hop, too.

Besides being one of the cogs that made the wheels go 'round in the Lucky Bag and Log organizations he was also up in the money on the tennis team. Want to get taken over the bumps in a little friendly game? Just play a set or two with Reggie, then take a look at the score.

Whether he remains a disciple of King Neptune or takes the other road to cit life, we'll always think of him as a real shipmate and wish him worlds of luck in life.

Tennis 4, 3, 2, 1; Lucky Bag Staff; Log 3, 2, 1; Star 4, 3, 2, 1; N Club; C. P. O.

REGINALD MARBURY RAYMOND

Shreveport, Louisiana

"Reggie" "Sheets" "Tartan"

Reggie arrived early Plebe Summer, still a trifle damp behind the ears, but nevertheless a Southern gentleman of the old school, suh! When "ac" year rolled around, he settled down to earn his stars and enjoy life at the same time, in both of which he has succeeded. In spite of being a savvy hombre, he was always ready to quit boning to rough-and-tumble during study hours, or sell you an idea of his. And can that guy argue!

When it comes to social life, Reggie is right there among the elite, right in the center of a crowd of girls; drags a new one to every hop, too.

Besides being one of the cogs that made the wheels go 'round in the Lucky Bag and Log organizations he was also up in the money on the tennis team. Want to get taken over the bumps in a little friendly game? Just play a set or two with Reggie, then take a look at the score.

Whether he remains a disciple of King Neptune or takes the other road to cit life, we'll always think of him as a real shipmate and wish him worlds of luck in life.

Tennis 4, 3, 2, 1; Lucky Bag Staff; Log 3, 2, 1; Star 4, 3, 2, 1; N Club; C. P. O.

Loss

From Find A Grave:

A native of Tennessee, he moved with his family to Shreveport in 1924, and he graduated from Byrd High School there in 1928. He attended Centenary College in Louisiana before going to Annapolis, from which he graduated in 1933. In 1942, he was an observer with the British Navy in the Mediterranean, after which he was sent to the Pacific. There, he served as executive officer of the submarine USS Scorpion (SS 278). He was killed in the South Pacific while engaging the enemy from the deck of that boat in April 1943, and his body was lost at sea when the vessel had to submerge during a subsequent attack during his burial at sea. The episode is grippingly detailed in veteran submariner Paul R. Schratz's fine book "Submarine Commander." The book also paints a wonderful picture of Raymond as an officer whose personality and ability would doubtless have taken him to flag rank after the war had he lived.

On Friday, April 30, 1943, at reported position 37°N 155°E:

0924 - Lt. Cmdr. R. Raymond, U. S. Navy, was firing a BAR from the bridge railing and received an enemy bullet in the center of his forehead, which passed directly through his head. He was laid on the deck abaft of the deck gun and the firing continued. Realizing that the enemy was not sunk although his hull was riddled with 3" cannon with high explosive, the ship was spun bows on and backed up to 500 yards radar range.
0930 - Fired last torpedo at zero gyro and depth set at 2 feet. Torpedo struck and enemy disappeared in a terrific explosion. When struck, his flag was still at the gaff and he was still firing. No reason can be advanced why no one on deck was injured, except that the enemy must have been firing at our bridge; but if such was the case, I was not conscious of it at the time. The vessel, as well as aircraft were apparently on the watch for us as our radio position and the destruction of the inner patrol vessel on the previous day could give the enemy a good line on our course and speed.
0944 - Secured from battle stations and proceeded on base course at flank speed. The body of Lt. Cmdr. Raymond was being prepared for burial at sea.
0947 - SD radar plane contact at 2 1/2 miles. He was not seen by lookouts, and must have been coming low. Dived to 150 feet. Plane dropped two charges at a considerable distance. The body of Lt. Cmdr. Raymond was lost from the gun platform on this dive.

Other Information

He was promoted to LCDR on October 1, 1942, the same day that Scorpion was put into commission.

From the 1953 edition of the book "Double Three Roundup," published by the class of 1933:

After receiving his commission in June 1933 Reggie reported to the CHESTER for duty where his chief claim to fame was his operation with "Ricky" Haskins of a large motor car with red upholstery. In June 1935 he was ordered to the Submarine School at New London. He rounded out his tour at submarine school by marrying Marjorie Woodcock of New London, Connecticut on 5 October 1935.
His first tour in submarines began in February 1936 on board the CANOPUS with Submarine Squadron 5. With hardly time to get his feet wet, Reggie was detached and ordered to the S-38 in March of the same year. He remained on board the S-38 until August 1938 when he was ordered to Groton, Connecticut for fitting out the SAURY under construction by the Electric Boat Company. The SAURY went into commission early in 1939 and Reggie stayed with her until October 1941. Reggie was picked to observe the British prosecution of their submarine war in the Mediterranean and via a roundabout route he reported to Cairo, Egypt as Naval Observer at the American Legation there. During this tour in Egypt he worked with several British submarines and made several patrols on them in the Mediterranean.
In June 1942 Reggie was ordered to the Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire for duty in connection with the fitting-out of the SCORPION. After commissioning, the SCORPION proceeded to the Pacific and her first war patrol. While returning from her first and most successful patrol the SCORPION encountered a Japanese trawler and sank her in a surface attack. It was during this engagement that Reggie, who was Exec, was killed by Japanese machine gun fire on 30 April 1943.
Reggie was awarded the Silver Star, Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation. On 15 April 1944 a Destroyer Escort, the RAYMON (DE-341), was commissioned and named in honor of Reggie. After a scrappy and outstanding war record worthy of Reggie, the RAYMOND was decommissioned in San Diego in 1946 and at the outbreak of Korean hostilities was recommissioned and is now serving with the Atlantic Fleet.
Reggie was survived by his mother, Mrs. Helen Raymond of Shreveport, Louisiana, and his wife Marge, who married Commander Ralph DeLoach (class of '39) in 1948. They have adopted a French boy, son of an underground worker who lost his life in World War II. The boy was born the summer that Reggie was killed.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Photographs

Silver Star

On Eternal Patrol indicates Reggie received the Silver Star; unable to find citation.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

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.