WENDELL G. OSBORN, LCDR, USNR

Wendell Osborn '27

Date of birth: October 23, 1905

Date of death: November 13, 1942

Age: 37

Lucky Bag

From the 1927 Lucky Bag:

Wendell Gullefer Osborn

Greensburg, Indiana

"Check" "Brute" "Ozzy"

CHECK'S earlier life was spent in Greensburg, a town famous for a tree growing out of the courthouse tower. After four years at Culver and three in the National Guard, he came here to add more honors, both academically and athletically, to his long list. He entered the Academy with a wonderful athletic record, and has proved his right to it, having three Army-Navy football games to his credit.

Check's life here has been an interesting one, and he has experienced every thrill that the Academy affords. His military ability won for him the position of Plebe five-striper. His love of adventure carried him up to the fourth deck Plebe year, and he experienced plenty of it, so he tells us. His great hobby is to possess non-reg clothing, and this proved very disastrous to him on more than one occasion.

His ability to make friends is unequaled. Not until Second Class cruise, however, did he offer any encouragement to the girls, but fate was against him. His big heart, broad smile, and good fellow- ship have made him a friend never to be forgotten. He is the type of man who makes us want to go "down to the sea in ships."

May the best of luck be with you always. Check, and we hope to see you as Admiral with the most non-reg cap that has ever been devised.

Football: A Squad (3, 2, 1) Block N (3, 2, 1) Navy Numerals (4) Plebe Team; Swimming: Class (3) Class Numerals (3); Water Polo: Class (4) Class Numerals (4); Ring Committee.

Wendell Gullefer Osborn

Greensburg, Indiana

"Check" "Brute" "Ozzy"

CHECK'S earlier life was spent in Greensburg, a town famous for a tree growing out of the courthouse tower. After four years at Culver and three in the National Guard, he came here to add more honors, both academically and athletically, to his long list. He entered the Academy with a wonderful athletic record, and has proved his right to it, having three Army-Navy football games to his credit.

Check's life here has been an interesting one, and he has experienced every thrill that the Academy affords. His military ability won for him the position of Plebe five-striper. His love of adventure carried him up to the fourth deck Plebe year, and he experienced plenty of it, so he tells us. His great hobby is to possess non-reg clothing, and this proved very disastrous to him on more than one occasion.

His ability to make friends is unequaled. Not until Second Class cruise, however, did he offer any encouragement to the girls, but fate was against him. His big heart, broad smile, and good fellow- ship have made him a friend never to be forgotten. He is the type of man who makes us want to go "down to the sea in ships."

May the best of luck be with you always. Check, and we hope to see you as Admiral with the most non-reg cap that has ever been devised.

Football: A Squad (3, 2, 1) Block N (3, 2, 1) Navy Numerals (4) Plebe Team; Swimming: Class (3) Class Numerals (3); Water Polo: Class (4) Class Numerals (4); Ring Committee.

Loss

Wendell was lost when USS Juneau (CL 52) was sunk at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Wendell was a native of Michigan. He graduated from Culver Military Academy as an honor cadet in 1923. He played football and basketball, was president of the senior class, president of the Y. M. C. A., vice president of the Cadet club and a member of the Glee Club. He also attended Greensburg High School.
At the Naval Academy, he played center on the football team. The Indianapolis News, November 26, 1926, reported that “his work against Princeton was considered exceptionally good as in that game he broke through the Tiger pivot and “smeared” many plays before they got under way.” He was to play center in the Army game at Chicago.
On July 29, 1927, he married Lena Louise Appel in the First Presbyterian church in Portsmouth, Ohio. They had a daughter, Priscilla.
He resigned from the Navy in 1929 to enter private business. First, he was with the Michigan Bell Telephone Company. Eight years later, he became head of the radio sales department of the Detroit News.
Wendell was recalled to active duty as a reserve officer in October, 1940.
His father was John, an attorney, and his mother was Grace.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Photographs

From the Portsmouth Daily Times on December 18, 1942
From The Indianapolis News on November 26, 1926
From the basketball page of the 1922 Culver Military Academy yearbook
From the 1923 Culver Military Academy yearbook
From the football page of the 1923 Culver Military Academy yearbook

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.