REYNOLDS C. SMITH, LCDR, USN

Reynolds Smith '32

Date of birth: March 10, 1909

Date of death: September 5, 1942

Age: 33

Lucky Bag

From the 1932 Lucky Bag:

REYNOLDS C. SMITH

Alma, Michigan

"R. C." "Smitty"

That there is an end to everything was proved to Doc (his father is a doctor) as he dismounted the step of the W. B. & A. and thereby finished the long trip from Michigan to the U. S. N. A. Two summers at Culver Naval School, and a natural love for the sea, had fixed in him a single purpose—a naval career.

As other than a spectator, Doc has had no interest in athletics; his chief and sole ambition having been to possess a more thorough knowledge of boats and things pertaining to the sea. Even girls haven't been able to tear him from his ambitions; he has never "dragged" unless forced to by some designing or unlucky classmate.

Here, at the Naval Academy, fellows are very closely associated; so, a young man must be exceedingly fine to win and hold the respect of all with whom he mingles. Doc does just that thing.

Equally good in knowledge of ships or "radiator sessions." May you be as fine a Naval Officer as you give promise of being, Doc.

2 P.O.

REYNOLDS C. SMITH

Alma, Michigan

"R. C." "Smitty"

That there is an end to everything was proved to Doc (his father is a doctor) as he dismounted the step of the W. B. & A. and thereby finished the long trip from Michigan to the U. S. N. A. Two summers at Culver Naval School, and a natural love for the sea, had fixed in him a single purpose—a naval career.

As other than a spectator, Doc has had no interest in athletics; his chief and sole ambition having been to possess a more thorough knowledge of boats and things pertaining to the sea. Even girls haven't been able to tear him from his ambitions; he has never "dragged" unless forced to by some designing or unlucky classmate.

Here, at the Naval Academy, fellows are very closely associated; so, a young man must be exceedingly fine to win and hold the respect of all with whom he mingles. Doc does just that thing.

Equally good in knowledge of ships or "radiator sessions." May you be as fine a Naval Officer as you give promise of being, Doc.

2 P.O.

Loss

Reynolds was lost when USS Gregory (APD 3) was sunk near Guadalcanal by Japanese surface forces early in the morning of September 5, 1942.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Reynolds attended Alma high school, Alma College and Indiana’s Culver Military Academy.
In 1940, Reynolds, his wife Madeline, son Ross, age 1, and daughter Betsey, age 2 months, lived in Hamden Town, New Haven, Connecticut. In 1935, he was living in Washington, D. C., and his Canadian-born wife lived in Boston.
His father was Rayburn, a general practice physician, mother Inez, and sister Marion.

His wife was listed as next of kin; he has a memory marker in Michigan. He was also survived by his mother and "two small children" (from Lansing State Journal on September 16, 1942).

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.