VERNE L. SKJONSBY, LCDR, USN

Verne Skjonsby '34

Date of birth: November 3, 1910

Date of death: October 11, 1943

Age: 32

Lucky Bag

From the 1934 Lucky Bag:

VERNE LESLIE SKJONSBY

Hickson, North Dakota

"Verne" "Swede" "Skii"

AFTER four long years of the worst kind of struggle, according to him, Verne found himself ready to step over the threshold of learning. Whether it be a commission (most certainly, sir!) or a degree he claims he will have a vanguard against all the unwashed. To quote himself "I got to have something to show for it or nobody will believe me back in Hickson."

He seems to have been immune from attacks by the Academic Department. The fact is, if the Cosmo or Colliers had the same multiple as math, his standing would have been in minus quantities instead of a lowly three or four. In athletics his prowess as a boxer might be mentioned as predominate. Sunday mornings he had ambitions to be all American halfback for any team that played the biggest upset. He was a genius at picking the losers. Nothing more could be desired in the way of his bridge game, with the exception of an occasional psyche, usually doubled and vulnerable.

He is going out into the big and exceptionally cold world just now, but wherever he may wander to, he will radiate a warmth of friendship and a strength of character that success is sure to follow.

Boxing 4, 3, 2. Reception Committee 3, 2, 1. Lucky Bag Staff. Trident Staff. Star 4, 3, 2, 1. Two Stripes.

VERNE LESLIE SKJONSBY

Hickson, North Dakota

"Verne" "Swede" "Skii"

AFTER four long years of the worst kind of struggle, according to him, Verne found himself ready to step over the threshold of learning. Whether it be a commission (most certainly, sir!) or a degree he claims he will have a vanguard against all the unwashed. To quote himself "I got to have something to show for it or nobody will believe me back in Hickson."

He seems to have been immune from attacks by the Academic Department. The fact is, if the Cosmo or Colliers had the same multiple as math, his standing would have been in minus quantities instead of a lowly three or four. In athletics his prowess as a boxer might be mentioned as predominate. Sunday mornings he had ambitions to be all American halfback for any team that played the biggest upset. He was a genius at picking the losers. Nothing more could be desired in the way of his bridge game, with the exception of an occasional psyche, usually doubled and vulnerable.

He is going out into the big and exceptionally cold world just now, but wherever he may wander to, he will radiate a warmth of friendship and a strength of character that success is sure to follow.

Boxing 4, 3, 2. Reception Committee 3, 2, 1. Lucky Bag Staff. Trident Staff. Star 4, 3, 2, 1. Two Stripes.

Loss

Bill was lost when USS Wahoo (SS 238) was sunk, likely on October 11, 1944, in La Perouse Strait off Northern Japan. He was the boat's executive officer.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Verne was a member of a 4-H club. He attended North Dakota Agricultural College for three years where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Tau.
On September 7, 1937, he married Dorothy Andrade at St. Luke’s Church in Long Beach, California. She was a member of a pioneer Hawaii family. Their son Verne, Jr., was born August 30, 1940, at the Kapiolani maternity hospital in Honolulu.
According to a newspaper, Verne received “another” Silver Star Medal posthumously in 1946.
His father John was a farmer, mother Jessie, sister Joyce, and brothers Joseph and Owen.

His wife was listed as next of kin. Verne has a memory marker in North Dakota; he is also listed at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.

Photographs

From the yearbook of the North Dakota Agricultural College

Silver Star

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Lieutenant Commander Verne Leslie Skjonsby (NSN: 0-73308), United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in the line of duty and in a position of great responsibility in the U.S.S. WAHOO during the SEVENTH War Patrol of that submarine in enemy-patrolled waters from 9 September 1943 to October 1943. He assisted his Commanding Officer in penetrating dangerous, confined and patrolled enemy waters where he contributed to the known destruction of one important enemy vessel. Other damage inflicted upon the enemy by his submarine in this area is unknown since his vessel failed to return from this patrol and it is presumed that he gave his life for his country. His conduct was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Commander in Chief Pacific: Serial 0559 (March 27, 1944)
Action Date: September 9 - October 1943
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Division: U.S.S. Wahoo (SS-238)

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.