WALTER B. BAYLESS, LCDR, USN

Walter Bayless '36

Date of birth: November 10, 1914

Date of death: May 4, 1943

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1936 Lucky Bag:

Walter Burkhart Bayless

Knoxville, Tennessee

"Dub"

When Tennessee sent Dub to Annapolis she gave us no small sample of her population. Six feet two—you've heard of the "tall, dark, and handsome" type? As you might expect leaves have a bad effect on his weak heart. They never fail to put that far-away look in his eyes, and another picture in his locker of some "lil' ol' gal" back home. And if you ever hear him yell, "Who hid my mail?"—clear out! However, he finds better occupation than that for himself here. It takes a good man to make his way in three sports. Just ask the boys on the football squad who has the most determination to win his way to the top. It will be a long time till "at last he hails the moment flying," but when he does he'll be head and shoulders above them all.

Football 4, 3, 2, 1. N; Basketball 4, 3, 2, 1. N; Crew 4, 3, 2, 1. N ; N Club; Two Stripes

Walter Burkhart Bayless

Knoxville, Tennessee

"Dub"

When Tennessee sent Dub to Annapolis she gave us no small sample of her population. Six feet two—you've heard of the "tall, dark, and handsome" type? As you might expect leaves have a bad effect on his weak heart. They never fail to put that far-away look in his eyes, and another picture in his locker of some "lil' ol' gal" back home. And if you ever hear him yell, "Who hid my mail?"—clear out! However, he finds better occupation than that for himself here. It takes a good man to make his way in three sports. Just ask the boys on the football squad who has the most determination to win his way to the top. It will be a long time till "at last he hails the moment flying," but when he does he'll be head and shoulders above them all.

Football 4, 3, 2, 1. N; Basketball 4, 3, 2, 1. N; Crew 4, 3, 2, 1. N ; N Club; Two Stripes

Loss

Walter was listed as missing on May 4, 1943 (and presumed dead on May 5, 1944) in the Pacific after his F4U-1 fighter disappeared after a pre-dawn launch from NAS Maui with Fighting Squadron (VF) 12. His was one of four planes that were lost in this mission.

Other Information

From The Knoxville Journal on June 4, 1944:

Lt. Comdr. Walter Burkhart Bayless, Navy pilot, has been listed on the Navy’s official lists as a casualty, according to word received yesterday by his mother, Mrs. Mamie B. Bayless, Central Avenue Pike.
The letter stated his plane took off with three others from their base in the Hawaiian area on a pre-dawn operational flight, May 4, 1943, and flew into a cloud bank which contained squally winds and heavy rain, which restricted the visibility to zero.
Commander Bayless was graduated from Central High School at the age of 16 and entered Marion Military Institute at Marion, Ala., after which he received his appointment to the Naval Academy.
He made the highest grade in mathematics of the 57 appointees, and graduated from the academy standing 92 in the class of 266. He held letters for football, basketball and crew.
His widow, Carolyn Howard Bayless, and two sons “Smoky,” three, and “Dub,” one, are residing in Coronado, Calif.
“Dub” was born 26 days after his father’s death.
Walter is the son of the late Walter R. Bayless and Mrs. Bayless, and the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Burkhart, Washington Pike.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He has a memory marker in Tennessee.

Rank

Though the Navy's casualty list — and possibly his memorial marker, though there is no picture — have Walter as a CDR, he is listed in the "deaths on active list" of the Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps of 1944 as a Lieutenant Commander. Memorial Hall has LCDR.

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.