ROBERT W. BRIGHTMAN, ENS, USN
Robert Brightman '45
Lucky Bag
From the 1945 Lucky Bag:
Robert Weis Brightman
Clovis, New Mexico
This big healthy hunk of humanity came to the Academy with two years of military experience behind him and fell into the system perfectly. Football and good-looking women occupied most of his time. With blood in his eye, his main ambition was to play against and to beat Army. A little on the non-reg side, Bull ran counter to the ever present Executive department, many, many times. His wavy hair and constant smile were so attractive to the fair sex that few midshipmen surpassed him in popularity. If it takes a he-man to make a naval officer, "Bull" will make a good one.
Varsity Football 4, 3, 7, 1945, N; Newman Club 4, 3, 1.
The Class of 1945 was graduated in June 1944 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Robert Weis Brightman
Clovis, New Mexico
This big healthy hunk of humanity came to the Academy with two years of military experience behind him and fell into the system perfectly. Football and good-looking women occupied most of his time. With blood in his eye, his main ambition was to play against and to beat Army. A little on the non-reg side, Bull ran counter to the ever present Executive department, many, many times. His wavy hair and constant smile were so attractive to the fair sex that few midshipmen surpassed him in popularity. If it takes a he-man to make a naval officer, "Bull" will make a good one.
Varsity Football 4, 3, 7, 1945, N; Newman Club 4, 3, 1.
The Class of 1945 was graduated in June 1944 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Loss
Robert was lost when USS Spence (DD 512) capsized and sank in Typhoon Cobra on December 18, 1944. Three hundred seventeen men were lost from Spence; only 24 of her officers and crew survived.
The men and ships involved in Typhoon Cobra are extensively chronicled in "Down to the Sea: An Epic Story of Naval Disaster and Heroism in World War II" by Bruce Henderson.
Other Information
Unable to determine what Robert's billet was aboard Spence, or when he reported.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Robert participated in a Boy Scout rally in February 1936 and won highest rating for a boy. A member of Troop 12, he became an Eagle Scout.
He attended Sacred Heart School and graduated from Clovis High School in 1938 where he played football. He attended New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell for two years.
Robert was appointed to the Naval Academy by Senator Carl Hatch. On graduation day from the Academy, June 7, 1944, he married Katherine Warner of Suffolk, Virginia.
His father Robert was a locomotive engineer on a steam railroad, mother Mary, sister Dorothy.
His wife was listed as next of kin. He has a memory marker in New Mexico.
Photographs
From the Clovis News Journal on January 17, 1945
Related Articles
Henry Oates '45 and James Reid '45 were also in 6th Company.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
