STUART W. KING, LTCOL, USMC
Stuart King '20
Lucky Bag
From the 1920 Lucky Bag:
Stuart Waller King
Alexandria, Virginia
"Yokel"
HERE'S a man that puts us all to shame when it comes to ideals, traditions, and blue blood. For we have finally discovered that "Yokel" comes from one of the first families of Virginia, in spite of his protestations to the contrary.
We have only to hear his effervescent eulogies on peanut plantations, the tobacco trade, or the "Big Bool" to realize that "Yokel" is a true autocrat of the old school.
"Yokel" is usually of a serious disposition, but when he laughs the rest laugh with him.
In athletics "Yokel" has shown glimpses of previous powers, and rumor has it that the Old Dominion Boat Club isn't what it used to be since "Yokel" left.
But all the time, " Yokel," we inwardly admire your high ideals and self-sacrificing nature, characteristics that are sure to stand you in as good stead as will the many friendships you have cemented at the Academy.
Honors: Buzzard.
The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Stuart Waller King
Alexandria, Virginia
"Yokel"
HERE'S a man that puts us all to shame when it comes to ideals, traditions, and blue blood. For we have finally discovered that "Yokel" comes from one of the first families of Virginia, in spite of his protestations to the contrary.
We have only to hear his effervescent eulogies on peanut plantations, the tobacco trade, or the "Big Bool" to realize that "Yokel" is a true autocrat of the old school.
"Yokel" is usually of a serious disposition, but when he laughs the rest laugh with him.
In athletics "Yokel" has shown glimpses of previous powers, and rumor has it that the Old Dominion Boat Club isn't what it used to be since "Yokel" left.
But all the time, " Yokel," we inwardly admire your high ideals and self-sacrificing nature, characteristics that are sure to stand you in as good stead as will the many friendships you have cemented at the Academy.
Honors: Buzzard.
The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Loss
Stuart died in Japanese captivity, probably on January 12, 1945, following his transport aboard the Hell Ship Enoura Maru. (One listing has December 31, 1944; another has January 19, 1945. Believe that the list here, with January 12, 1945, is more accurate.) Stuart had survived the bombing of the Oryoku Maru in December, and was transferred to Enoura Maru where he died right before reaching Takao, Formosa (Jan. 1) or after that ship, too, was bombed (Jan. 9).
He had been captured upon the fall of Corregidor in May 1941.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In August, 1916, Stuart passed the mental examinations for entrance into the Naval Academy, but the principal passed all his tests. So, Stuart entered V. M. I. as a cadet in the second year having passed examinations for advanced standing. He was in the Class of 1919.
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy in June 1919, Stuart chose the Marine Corps.
He married Mary Louise Cogswell on March 14, 1924, at the Bethel Methodist Episcopal church in Newport News, Virginia. The last she heard from him was a Red Cross prisoner of war message on May 8, 1944. He had been a prisoner at Cabanatuan in the Philippines.
His father Frank Tubman King was a wholesale grocery merchant. His mother was Margaret, brothers Charles and Arthur, and sister Dorothy.
His wife, Mary, was listed as next of kin. He has a memory marker in South Carolina; he is also listed at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
Career
He was once a member of VMI's class of 1919.
At the beginning of the war, he was commanding officer of the Marine Barracks, U.S. Naval Base, Subic Bay, Philippines. That unit, which included 3 officers and 73 Marines, was disbanded on December 22, 1942 and personnel transferred to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. Stuart became "technical advisor" and executive officer to Francis Bridget '21, a patrol plane pilot who was then also the commander of the Naval Battalion. They were involved in action on the Bataan peninsula and later on Corregidor island.
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.
January 1920
January 1921
January 1922
May 1923
July 1923
September 1923
November 1923
January 1924
March 1924
May 1924
July 1924
September 1924
November 1924
January 1925
March 1925
May 1925
July 1925
October 1925
January 1926
October 1926
January 1927
April 1927
October 1927
January 1928
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
April 1929
July 1929
October 1929
January 1930
April 1930
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
2LT Paul Moret '30 (Expeditionary Force, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia)
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
October 1934
January 1935
April 1935
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
1LT Thomas Jordan '26 (Marine Corps Schools, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia)
1LT Harold Bauer '30 (Aircraft One, 1st Marine Brigade, Fleet Marine Force, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia)
1LT Hector De Zayas '32 (1st Marine Brigade, Fleet Marine Force, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia)
2LT David McDougal '33 (1st Marine Brigade, Fleet Marine Force, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia)
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
LT John Welch '23 (Navy Yard, Cavite, Philippines)
November 1940
LCDR Richard Baron '24 (Navy Yard, Cavite, Philippines)
April 1941
LCDR Richard Baron '24 (Navy Yard, Cavite, Philippines)
LT Robert Gallagher '33 (Navy Yard, Cavite, Philippines)
Memorial Hall Error
Stuart is listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall, but not with his classmates in the Class of 1920.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
