THOMPSON C. GUTHRIE, JR., LTJG, USN

Thompson Guthrie, Jr. '34

Date of birth: May 11, 1912

Date of death: April 10, 1939

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1934 Lucky Bag:

THOMPSON CLYDE GUTHRIE, JR.

Pikeville, Kentucky

"Junior" "Tom" "Corporal"

THIS modest young man from Kentucky was passing through Annapolis one day, decided that he liked the place and has been with us ever since. Starting in Plebe Year with the determination to wage a successful war against "Ye Olde Academic Department," he has survived two wives and is in at the finish.

Tom loves to rave about the beautiful horses and fast women of Kentucky, but he says that he is no ladies' man himself; nevertheless, we have the straight dope that the best looking "d. O" in these parts calls him "Clyde, darling" and really means every word of it.

Every spring afternoon he wends his way to Hubbard Hall and does his part, during the course of the afternoon, to make Navy supreme on the water. He pulls a steady oar and loves nothing better than the long jaunts up the river.

Though he is quiet at times, Tom manages to get enough inspiration and incentive during the week-end to carry him through a hard week of academics. For recreation, in the evenings he turns to bridge. Perfectly sane until bridge is mentioned, all at once he becomes unmanageable—we can do nothing with him. Soon the spell is over, and he tackles his work with renewed energy.

Tom possesses, to a remarkable degree, all the characteristics of a true officer and gentleman. We expect to see some day books written on this man who once resided beside the waters of the Severn. Cheerio Tom, good health, good luck and happiness.

Boxing 4. 150 lb. Crew 3, 2. Cross Country 2. Quarter-Deck Society 1. 2 P.O.

THOMPSON CLYDE GUTHRIE, JR.

Pikeville, Kentucky

"Junior" "Tom" "Corporal"

THIS modest young man from Kentucky was passing through Annapolis one day, decided that he liked the place and has been with us ever since. Starting in Plebe Year with the determination to wage a successful war against "Ye Olde Academic Department," he has survived two wives and is in at the finish.

Tom loves to rave about the beautiful horses and fast women of Kentucky, but he says that he is no ladies' man himself; nevertheless, we have the straight dope that the best looking "d. O" in these parts calls him "Clyde, darling" and really means every word of it.

Every spring afternoon he wends his way to Hubbard Hall and does his part, during the course of the afternoon, to make Navy supreme on the water. He pulls a steady oar and loves nothing better than the long jaunts up the river.

Though he is quiet at times, Tom manages to get enough inspiration and incentive during the week-end to carry him through a hard week of academics. For recreation, in the evenings he turns to bridge. Perfectly sane until bridge is mentioned, all at once he becomes unmanageable—we can do nothing with him. Soon the spell is over, and he tackles his work with renewed energy.

Tom possesses, to a remarkable degree, all the characteristics of a true officer and gentleman. We expect to see some day books written on this man who once resided beside the waters of the Severn. Cheerio Tom, good health, good luck and happiness.

Boxing 4. 150 lb. Crew 3, 2. Cross Country 2. Quarter-Deck Society 1. 2 P.O.

Loss

Thompson was lost on April 10, 1939 when his SBU-1 crashed near Del Mar, California, during a training flight.

From The San Francisco Examiner, April 11, 1939:

SAN DIEGO, April 10, -- (AP) – A wing folding in mid-air sent two Navy lieutenants, Glenn L. Dunagan, 29, and Thompson C. Guthrie, 26, to flaming death at nearby Del Mar today.
The plane, attached to Scouting Squadron 2, temporarily basing at North Island here, was engaged in mock gunnery practice in which attacks on an aerial sleeve target were being simulated.
Navy air experts were unable to say whether the dives taken by the plane had weakened its structure.
Observers said the plane was only about 500 feet from the ground when the wing flew off.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

After graduating from the Naval Academy, Thompson was assigned to the Northampton, a new heavy cruiser assigned to the Atlantic coast. In the fall, she was transferred to the Pacific fleet.
Thompson married Pauline Chambers on Christmas Day, 1935, in Pensacola. He was receiving flying training at the time.
Thompson's father was in produce sales in 1920 in Philadelphia and was an auto dealer in 1930 in Pikesville, Kentucky. His mother was Addie, a legal stenographer.

He earned his wings as naval aviator #5240 as an Ensign on June 16, 1937.

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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.