RICHARD W. MEYERS, LT, USN

Richard Meyers '36

Date of birth: March 12, 1914

Date of death: March 1, 1942

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1936 Lucky Bag:

Richard William Meyers

Columbia City, Indiana

"Dick"

"Pull your knees together" is the cry that goes up when Dick walks in to join the gang for he is the sole possessor of a pair of legs typical of an ambling grizzly. For that matter, no grizzly could be more gruff than Dick is when he sits down to study—his first remark invariably is "Now where in the hell do they get that dope?" Immediately following this we hear muttering about Einstein and three hours to get this. We smile to ourselves for this mask fails completely to hide the true cheerfulness and comradeship that really befits him. Dick likes all sports but his greatest love considering inanimate things only is music. To his other great interest in life, we pay tribute—Miss Columbia City, we heartily approve of your choice.

Track 4; 150 lb. Crew 2; Class Football 1; Art Club; One Stripe

Richard William Meyers

Columbia City, Indiana

"Dick"

"Pull your knees together" is the cry that goes up when Dick walks in to join the gang for he is the sole possessor of a pair of legs typical of an ambling grizzly. For that matter, no grizzly could be more gruff than Dick is when he sits down to study—his first remark invariably is "Now where in the hell do they get that dope?" Immediately following this we hear muttering about Einstein and three hours to get this. We smile to ourselves for this mask fails completely to hide the true cheerfulness and comradeship that really befits him. Dick likes all sports but his greatest love considering inanimate things only is music. To his other great interest in life, we pay tribute—Miss Columbia City, we heartily approve of your choice.

Track 4; 150 lb. Crew 2; Class Football 1; Art Club; One Stripe

Loss

Richard was lost when USS Edsall (DD 219) was sunk on on March 1, 1942 by Japanese surface and air forces. He was the ship's 1st Lieutenant.

Other Information

His wife was listed as next of kin. He has a memory marker in Indiana. (Note that his memorial marker has a different date; unclear why this would be. All other records have the date of Edsall's sinking as his date of loss.)

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.