SAMMY P. BOOTHE, LT, USN
Sammy Boothe '42
Lucky Bag
From the 1942 Lucky Bag:
S. P. BOOTHE
Evanston, Wyoming
Albie, Pinto, Slug
An ardent supporter of the great West, Albie was always willing to expound the attractions of his home state, assuming that at the moment he was not engaged in a desperate tussle with his academics, or perhaps in a serious game of chess. During his years here he demonstrated his athletic prowess not only on the varsity field, but also in an ability to evade so easily the tender clutches of the Physical Training squads.
Football 4, 3, 2, N*; Basketball 4, 3, NA; Choir 4, 3, 2; Battalion Wrestling; 2 Stripes.
The Class of 1942 graduated on December 19, 1941, less than two weeks after the United States entered World War II. The class had previously been scheduled to graduate in February 1942.
S. P. BOOTHE
Evanston, Wyoming
Albie, Pinto, Slug
An ardent supporter of the great West, Albie was always willing to expound the attractions of his home state, assuming that at the moment he was not engaged in a desperate tussle with his academics, or perhaps in a serious game of chess. During his years here he demonstrated his athletic prowess not only on the varsity field, but also in an ability to evade so easily the tender clutches of the Physical Training squads.
Football 4, 3, 2, N*; Basketball 4, 3, NA; Choir 4, 3, 2; Battalion Wrestling; 2 Stripes.
The Class of 1942 graduated on December 19, 1941, less than two weeks after the United States entered World War II. The class had previously been scheduled to graduate in February 1942.
Loss
From Find A Grave:
He was killed when his plane crashed into the sea off the coast of Florida, and his body was not recovered. He had been born in Ogden, Utah, and was an Elder in the LDS Church. He and his wife had had a daughter born a few months before he was killed.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Note: His middle name is Pershing.
In March 1935, Sammy played guard for the Evanston basketball team. In September 1936, he became a member of the University of Wyoming Sigma Nu Fraternity. He was nominated to the Naval Academy by Representative Greever (D., Wyo.)
From the Casper Star-Tribune, November 24, 1939:
ANNAPOLIS, Md., Nov. 24 – A skinny kid from Cleveland, who started the football season as a press-box “spotter,” and an awkward Hercules from Wyoming, have a set-up chance to be story book heroes of the Army-Navy game Dec. 2. [Navy won 10-0.]
Nobody except their mates on the Navy “B” squad ever heard of Boothe and Bount two months ago.
Then Tommy Blount of Cleveland, drew a job "spotting” for the sports writers on Saturdays. He saw all the varsity plays – and, too, he saw why they didn’t work. On weekdays, with the “B” squad, pass plays the varsity couldn’t pull began to click when Tommy did the heaving.
Navy coaches began to sit up and take notice.
Sammy Boothe was green but he learned fast. He found finally he could slap blockers down with a hefty paw and bear-hug ball-carriers to a fare-thee-well. The Wyoming giant wasn’t fast, but he moved sort of majestically over tacklers when he did the ball toting.
Next week, in the annual service classic, the “busy B” boys from the “B” squad get their big chance.
In April 1944, Sammy had completed five months of training at Dallas and was continuing his flight training at Pensacola. After training, he would serve as a flight instructor.
His father was Morris, a hotel proprietor, who died in 1930. His mother was Mrs. Jennie A. Spencer. In 1920 Brigham City, Utah, his mother was divorced. His sisters were Doris, Murual and Ruth, and his brother, Morris, was a mechanic on an electric railroad.
His wife, Mary, was remarried; she drowned in 1974.
Photographs
From the Lucky Bag
From the Lucky Bag
From The Philadelphia Inquirer on November 27, 1941. Note William Chewning '42 is his classmate and also in Memorial Hall.
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